3 Edmonton mayoral candidates call for construction changes after West End work expands

The sound of drills, semi-trucks coming in and out, and workers directing traffic, all have become the new normal for Edmontonians getting to and from the west end.

Blocked intersections and lines of traffic are commonplace on Stony Plain Road since Valley Line West LRT construction started. But now, accelerated work on intersections continues due to a council motion made by Andrew Knack.

“What we were going to have if we didn’t take a different action is that every one of those intersections in the west end was going to be closed or partially opened for two years, at the same time we closed the Wellington Bridge. Of the eight intersections, six are now complete before the Wellington Bridge closed,” Knack said.

The bridge on 102 Avenue is the latest roadblock for drivers to get around. It closed on Monday to be rebuilt.

One candidate for mayor decided to take on a “lived experience” and see what the delays feel like.

Michael Walters posted a video on social media trying to go from 149 Street to the Wellington Bridge closure using Stony Plain Road. According to the video, he started at around 7:45 a.m. and got to the bridge at 8:10. About 25 minutes to go 3.1 kilometres.

“I feel like gas has been poured on the fire this week,” Walters said after a Wednesday night debate, referencing the Wellington Bridge closure.

“I think about veteran councillors like Tim Cartmell and Andrew Knack trying to look at the people in the West End in the eye, allowing that to happen. This is an accountability issue and a governance issue,” Walters said.

When Cartmell was asked about the council vote to speed up construction, he didn’t seem too pleased to be lumped in with all the councillors.

“This idea that because you’re on council and council endorses something doesn’t mean that individuals endorse something,” Cartmell said. “There’s been this steadfast refusal to plan these things out and sequence them. There are no excuses here. If I’m the mayor, this changes. Immediately. If I have to do it myself, it will change.”

Much of the construction is in Andrew Knack’s ward as councillor for Nakota Isga, and he introduced the motion for the accelerated work. He says the program has “seen success” and can take it to other projects.

“There’s still a lot of construction in the west end, but had we not taken this approach… You would not be able to move anywhere in the west end,” Knack said. “Why I made this motion from the very start was that I did not want to see a scenario where the Wellington Bridge closed and Stony Plain Road/142 Street was in the state that it was for the last 3 years.”

The accelerated road work is expected to end by November. But there is still work to do before the Valley Line West LRT opens for riders, expected in about two years. The three candidates decrying the construction say changes are needed across the board.

“There’s gotta be some sort of planning so that you’re not shutting every major artery down, causing even more damage to the environment, because I’ve seen more and more people sitting in their cars idling than ever before, so clearly this process isn’t working,” said Rahim Jaffer.

“There’s a plethora of strategies that could’ve been deployed,” Cartmell said before he suggested some, such as having lanes that reverse with the flow of traffic and buying automated barrier shifters.

“We’ve got to start using different tools to plan these things. These four years have been the most difficult to get around that I can remember at any time since I’ve lived here. We need better leadership,” Walters said.