Terwillegar Drive Expansion at risk in budget deliberations: councillor
A south Edmonton councillor says the ongoing Terwillegar Drive Expansion is at risk as local politicians look for ways to save money during tight budget deliberations.
In a blog post on Thursday, Ward pihêsiwin Coun. Tim Cartmell wrote "it has been suggested by some of my Council colleagues that the Terwillegar Drive project be reduced in scope or halted."
The project was approved in 2019 and construction started last year.
"To stop now, it just doesn’t make sense," resident Dave Rumbold told CTV News on Friday. "The areas where the construction has happened has made a big difference. The bottlenecks have been moving down to where the construction is continuing."
Terwillegar Drive is being converted into an expressway in three phases, with Phase 1 including wider roads, improved intersections, bus lanes and a shared-use path.
In his blog post, Cartmell said "some Councillors have suggested that improvements to the ramps that connect Whitemud to Terwillegar should be eliminated."
Cartmell says the current ramp is "profoundly unsafe" and called on "ticked off" residents to write to other councillors to keep the project in the budget.
Roughly $40 million is needed for the next phase, about $4 million a year on a $3.4 billion budget, according to Cartmell.
The next phase is slated to cost $142 million, according to Building Edmonton.
"If you’re contemplating spending more time to save money that will only be consumed by inflation while you take the time to redesign, I think that’s penny-wise and pound-foolish," Cartmell told CTV News on Friday.
"I don’t want to talk about 2019 anymore. I want to talk about 2023. I want to get to talking about pragmatic climate change, I want to talk about building better transportation transit and roadway networks."
The Terwillegar Drive Expansion was not discussed during the three-day public budget hearings earlier this week, and there are no official proposals to change plans yet.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6953326.1720210424!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
CRTC posts independent report on Rogers outage, says company made necessary changes
An independent report into the 2022 Rogers outage says the company lacked several protections and redundancies that could have either prevented the outage or ended it sooner.
Ottawa woman, cancer survivor, 49, wins $70 million, plans to help community
An Ottawa woman, who has survived cancer and has overcome addiction, has won $70 million with Lotto Max.
Church must pay $104 million to victims of historical abuse in Newfoundland
The Roman Catholic Church has been ordered to pay settlements totalling $104 million to 292 survivors of historical abuse in Newfoundland and Labrador, including those at the now infamous Mount Cashel orphanage in St. John's.
Eight-year-old boy pulled from water covered in blood after bite at Montreal beach
An eight-year-old boy from Los Angeles had his vacation to Montreal include a dramatic moment when a creature swimming underwater bit him causing a bloody scene at Jean Dore beach.
Earth's core has slowed so much it's moving backward, scientists confirm. Here's what it could mean
Deep inside Earth is a solid metal ball that rotates independently of our spinning planet, like a top whirling around inside a bigger top, shrouded in mystery.
Democrats start moving to Harris as Biden digs in
Amid the ongoing fallout from U.S. President Joe Biden’s debate performance, talk in many top Democratic circles has already moved to who Kamala Harris’ running mate would be.
Montreal Liberal MP Anthony Housefather named to new antisemitism adviser role
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather says he is 'looking forward to making a real difference' as the government's new special adviser on Jewish community relations and antisemitism.
Canada continues Copa run against Venezuela
History is at stake for both Venezuela and Canada when they meet on Friday in Arlington, Texas, in the second Copa America quarter-final.
Ronaldo starts for Portugal as Kolo Muani and Camavinga come in for France in Euro quarter
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo started for a fifth straight match at the European Championship in the quarterfinals against France, for which Randal Kolo Muani and Eduardo Camavinga were promoted from the bench.