‘A nightmare’: Capital Line LRT construction leads to crawling commute in southwest Edmonton
Posted May 25, 2026 6:13 pm.
Construction season is ramping up in Edmonton, and people living in Twin Brooks finding out the hard way.
The residents of the south side neighbourhood woke up Monday to new road closures and detours affecting their morning commute.
Crews completely closed off an access point to Twin Brooks – at 12 Avenue and 111 Street – for the Capital Line south LRT extension.
The impact was felt immediately by those living near the job site.
“It’s a nightmare for cars,” said Carolyn Dornan, a resident of Twin Brooks for the past 32 years.
“My wife was getting a ride from somebody and it took them 20 minutes to go from 19th Avenue to 12th Avenue,” said resident Barry Thompson, who added that car ride usually takes “about two minutes.”
With the access point closed for construction, all residents are being rerouted south three blocks to 9th Avenue, an intersection that has been modified to four lanes to accommodate the heavier traffic flow.
But the city is still recommending drivers leave 15 minutes earlier than usual for their commute and avoid travelling during peak hours when possible.
The area’s city councillor, Jon Morgan, says he wants more than one access point into Twin Brooks. He says he’s pitched to the province the idea of reopening the 119 Street connection to the Henday.
“Unfortunately there’s some hurdles there to getting that access reopened,” said the councillor for Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi. “I think some of that is tied to the provincial lands that are south of Ellerslie Road.”
With the work scheduled to last 10 weeks, emergency services are making adjustments for quicker dispatches from south of the Henday, and there is an emergency access point.
But those in the neighbourhood say they wanted all this done much, much sooner.
“We moved to this neighbourhood with the idea that our kids would be able to hop on the LRT and go to university. And our oldest is already finished her first year, and she’s probably going to be done before it’s completed,” said Kyle Krembil, who moved to Twin Brooks seven years ago.
Once the work is all wrapped up and 12 Avenue is reopened, work crews will move down the road to 9 Avenue, so that stretch can be completed as well.
–With files from Elliott Knopp
