$7.75B capital budget focuses on renewing Edmonton's existing infrastructure

City administration unveiled a $7.75 billion capital budget Thursday for council to consider that focuses on balancing major maintenance of Edmonton's aging infrastructure with new construction.

After more than a year of analysis and planning, the 2023 to 2026 capital budget outlines the path city administration recommends city council take in maintaining existing infrastructure and what new projects will be undertaken.

Should the budget pass as proposed, $3.3 billion would be spent on building new projects and $2.2 billion reserved to maintain existing infrastructure, like roads and facilities.

The proposed budget also includes $4.4 billion in previously approved projects, including the Valley Line Southeast and West LRT lines, Metro Line expansion to Blatchford, Yellowhead Trail freeway conversion and Terwillegar Drive upgrades.

Some of the new projects include $270 million toward the High Level Bridge and $127 million for the Hawrelak Park rehabilitation projects.

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Administration is also recommending the city replace the more than 40-year-old original LRT cars, which comes with an estimated price tag of $241 million.

Other new investments include:

• A fire station in Cumberland and Walker
• 100 Street Pedestrian Bridge
• Real-time LRT communication infrastructure
• Harbin Gate reinstallation
• The Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre

While the new Lewis Farms Recreation Centre remains funded, the budget proposes a scaling down of the original plan for the elite aquatic centre to save the city money for other emerging needs.

"We are planning for our city's growing future while keeping an eye on the bottom line," said Stacey Padbury, chief financial officer.

RECONSTRUCTION VS. REHABILITATION

According to administration, $3.5 billion is needed to address renewing all current city assets, but only approximately a little more than half that, $1.89 billion, is available.

Adam Laughlin, deputy city manager of integrated infrastructure services, said Edmonton has more than nine million assets across the city, valued at greater than $31 billion.

That includes around 11,000 kilometres of roads and alleys, 5,000 kilometres of sidewalks, 600 kilometres of trails and 20 leisure centres.

Last budget cycle, the city earmarked $1.8 billion in spending on managing its existing infrastructure needs. That figure has since grown by 22 per cent, a reflection of a growing city, Laughlin said.

"(Infrastructure) needs to be kept in good repair to ensure that, from a life cycle management perspective, we are not letting our assets fall into a condition where it becomes a reconstruction versus a rehabilitation," Laughlin added.

An example of that, he added, is the Hawrelak Park renewal project, which will close the park to the public starting in spring 2023 for up to three years. Laughlin says there are 10 kilometres worth of utilities there that need to be renewed sooner rather than later.

A City of Edmonton construction sign in Hawrelak Park on Dec. 1, 2021. (John Hanson/CTV News Edmonton)

"If there is a failure, it means other types of impacts," Laughlin said. "So we want to get ahead of that before it becomes a reactive issue. We want to take a proactive approach."

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Ultimately, administration wants to prevent the city from getting into a "larger infrastructure deficit."

Some of the other renewal projects include $30 million for EPS vehicle replacement, $2 million to improve the city's traffic management software

Thirty-four per cent of the budget is anticipated to be funded by debt financing, with 23.1 per cent and 15.6 per cent coming from provincial and federal government grants, respectively.

The remaining 27 per cent is projected to come from retained earnings, financial reserves, and potential property tax hikes from 2023 to 2027 of 0.68 per cent for net operating costs of new growth projects and an estimated 3.74 per cent overall split over the next seven years for debt servicing costs.

"While renewal isn't always obvious, not renewing over time becomes more obvious to residents who use the assets," Padbury said.

MAKING THE MOST OF WHAT'S AVAILABLE

The Rossdale Power Plant redevelopment, Touch the Water Promenade, Indigenous Interpretive Park at River Crossing, and demolition of the Edmonton Coliseum are among some of the more than 70 unfunded projects in the proposed budget.

Others include the 135 Street and Anthony Henday Drive southwest interchange, 142 Street traffic circle replacement, and four-lane widening projects of 215 Street from Webber Greens Drive to Stony Plain Road, Parsons Road to Ellerslie Road, and 34 Street to Sherwood Park Freeway.

Some council priorities, like building retrofits to enhance climate resiliency and $91 million toward the affordable housing growth funding strategy, also have unfunded proposals.

City council will first consider the capital budget proposal, one of four other budgets, on Oct. 31 and finalize over the next two months.

"We are being strategic with how we are proposing those dollars," Padbury said. "We need to because Edmonton, like the rest of the world, is experiencing a period of sobering economic challenges.

"And while we are emerging from the most serious effects of the pandemic, there is still significant economic uncertainty," she said, adding that factors like inflation and supply chain hiccups continue to challenge the city.

"We are making the most of (all) available resources," Laughlin echoed.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson