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Calgary Herald

Edmonton breaks ground on $1.3B Capital Line South LRT expansion

The latest expansion project for Edmonton's sprawling LRT lines broke ground on Thursday, that will, once completed, connect the current Heritage Valley transit centre on Ellerslie Road to Century Park by way of 111 Street. Article content Article content With plans to construct one underpass, two overpasses, and two additional LRT stations, the project is expected to take about five years to build and cost nearly $1.4 billion, barring any overruns on time or budget. The Capital Line South LRT expansion was prioritized in the city's ongoing transit buildout to accommodate what it expects will be 15,000 daily riders once complete because of the area's ballooning population. Article content Article content 'We are growing as a city. We have had over 140,000 people move here in the last three years. We're going to be a city of 1.25 million people projected by the end of this year. We can't stop building transit. We can't stop building ways for people to move,' said Edmonton's deputy mayor and ward papstew Coun. Michael Janz at the groundbreaking ceremony. Article content 'Alberta's provincial government is pleased to have committed $365 million in provincial funding for this project. Now this total includes a recent approval at the city's request to reallocate $41 million in provincial funding from the Metro Line and the Valley Line West LRT projects to support this Phase One of the Capital Line South LRT project,' Dreeshen said. Article content Article content Phase One of the project will add a high-floor LRT connecting the existing Century Park LRT station and spanning 4.5 km to the Heritage Valley Transit Centre, which is currently a park and ride, but will also get an LRT station as part of the expansion. The expansion includes an underpass under 111 Street and 23 Avenue as well as two new bridges over Blackmud Creek and Anthony Henday Drive. Phase one will also add an operations and maintenance facility on the south side of Anthony Henday Drive and a Twin Brooks LRT station. Article content Article content Dreeshen said the province's support for Edmonton's LRT projects ties into the Alberta government's plans to create an 'optimal passenger rail system' for Alberta. Further, he said the province expects to have a passenger rail master plan completed by the summer, which will outline a 15-year plan to create commuter and regional rail services around the province, including connecting Edmonton and Calgary's mass transit systems.