Edmontonians may be surprised to learn their light rail transit system (LRT) and urban planning is the envy of other Canadian cities.<\/p>\n
Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand is in Edmonton to learn about the city\u2019s LRT network \u2014 which his 18-person strong delegation believes will help inform their own TramCit\u00e9 project. Their city is currently working to relocate underground infrastructure \u2014 water mains and sewer lines \u2014 to make room for an underground section of railway and two underground stations.<\/p>\n
Both Marchand and Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack spoke of the budding partnership on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a really wonderful opportunity for us to share our experience about what we\u2019ve learned between municipalities,\u201d said Knack. \u201cOur two cities are facing very similar issues. It\u2019s a common thing we see in a lot of larger cities across the country, including the challenge of providing services in our winter weather.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is providing us with a very unique opportunities for our cities to align on urban best practices and innovative mobility solutions. Very excited to be able to share some of our experiences while having greater opportunity to learn from our counterparts.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Edmonton\u2019s rail network currently sits at 30 stations between three lines, the Quebec city inspired by it will have up to 29 stations when it opens in 2033.<\/p>\n
Marchand said Edmonton\u2019s LRT system, built to winter conditions, was a better model to follow compared to systems in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. He added he is impressed with the extent of urban planning in Edmonton.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might be something common for you guys, but for us when we look at Edmonton we look at a lot of good practices that we\u2019re not doing at the same pace,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re in your own city you think that everything is better, but as another city from another part of Canada \u2014 we know for sure we have a lot to learn from you.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing you\u2019ve done about looking forward to two million citizens and being prepared to not only welcome them but include them in the city, being able to participate and commute. When we look at what you\u2019re doing and what you have done already in the last decades, we\u2019re kind of jealous.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are lessons to be learned from both sides, Knack said. He cited snow removal as something done very well out east which he would like to see Edmonton follow \u2014 though he cautioned that most municipalities in Quebec have substantially higher snow removal budgets compared to western cities.<\/p>\n
While Edmonton and Alberta in general have a reputation of being car and oil-centric, Knack said the city has been a hotbed of support for alternative transportation for decades, though getting public transportation constructed has been an ongoing process.<\/p>\n
Noting the average cost to keep a car on the road can run a household up to $10,000 a year, he added it is important for municipalities to provide as many options for transportation as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always a balance when we\u2019re dealing with limited infrastructure funding,\u201d said Knack. \u201cWhich is something we\u2019ve worked with the federal government on in trying to figure how in the future we can continue to better fund municipalities which are responsible for about 60 per cent of the infrastructure with about 10 per cent of the tax dollars that come in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Comparing budgets<\/p>\n
Construction of Edmonton\u2019s Valley Line is still underway, with the extension from Downtown to West Edmonton Mall anticipated to be complete in 2029 at a budgeted cost of up to $2.7 billion \u2014 on top of the $1.8 billion spent on the initial line from Downtown to Mill Woods. Work also continues on the Capital Line extension to Ellerslie Road, which is currently estimated to cost $1.4 billion. The city is still in the planning phase of expanding the Metro Line to Castle Downs, which currently has $20 million budgeted for land acquisition and no current estimates on what the project will need to be completed. Extending the line from NAIT to Blatchford cost $328 million. In total, the expansion of the network costs $5.9 billion.<\/p>\n
Costs for the projects are split three ways between the city, province and federal government. In the Capital Line expansion, the province is providing $300 million, with $365 million coming from the federal government and $573 million from the city. Edmonton paid roughly $800 million for the initial Valley Line, the province contributed $545 million and the feds provided $400 million. For the Valley Line west expansion, the province is kicking in $1.04 billion, the feds are contributing $948 million and the city has pitched in $444 million.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, constructing the TramCit\u00e9 from scratch is anticipated to cost $7.6 billion. Quebec City is contributing $750 million to the project, with the federal government contributing $1.44 billion and the rest being covered by the Quebec Pension Plan.<\/p>\n
ebowling@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don\u2019t miss the news you need to know \u2014 add EdmontonJournal.com<\/a> and EdmontonSun.com<\/a> to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.<\/a><\/p>\n You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal<\/a> | The Edmonton Sun.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Edmontonians may be surprised to learn their light rail transit system (LRT) and urban planning is the envy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[99354,212702,49,48,40109,23752,194008,24738,212703,212704,4170,210243],"class_list":{"0":"post-545565","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton","8":"tag-andrew-knack","9":"tag-bruno-marchand","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-canadian-cities","13":"tag-edmonton","14":"tag-municipalities","15":"tag-quebec-city","16":"tag-underground-infrastructure","17":"tag-underground-stations","18":"tag-urban-planning","19":"tag-west-edmonton-mall"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}