Edmonton city council approves $1B LRT expansion project

EDMONTON -

The City of Edmonton is moving forward with expanding the LRT Capital Line farther south.

On Tuesday, city council approved funding to extend the Capital Line from Century Park to extend to the Heritage Valley Park and Ride.

The new 4.5-kilometre addition will cost more than $1 billion. But, the expense will be split three ways between the city, the province, and the federal government.

Council noted how quickly the south end of the city is growing, and to avoid further congestion, an LRT line would help alleviate traffic on the roadways.

“This is a great day for south Edmonton,” Ward 10 Coun. Michael Walters said.

“You can’t ever build your way out of congestion with more roads.”

The LRT will include a new stop in Twin Brooks, and a new elevated station in Heritage Valley.

“Adding a major piece of transportation infrastructure like this is really important,” Walters explained.

“This is an extension that we have been advocating for basically my whole time on council.”

Construction could begin as early as next spring and will take up to five years to complete.

“It’s a pretty significant capital project to continue to create jobs and economic activity here in the city of Edmonton,” Walters added.

Eventually the plan is to extend the Capital Line all the way to the airport.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson