Stony Plain Road, 124th Street intersection set to re-open

The intersection of Stony Plain Road and 124th Street in Edmonton is expected to re-open to traffic and pedestrians next week, as crews wrap up construction on that section of the Valley Line West LRT, the City of Edmonton and Marigold Infrastructure Partners announced Friday.  

The intersection shut down completely on April 21 to allow crews to accelerate work on the LRT line.

"We were going to be in this zone in a heavy way for about a year-and-a-half, and we've condensed that into seven weeks," Jonathan Cox, construction manager with Marigold Infrastructure Partners, the company building the line, said during a media availability Friday.

Cox added that the intersection should open a few days earlier than originally scheduled. 

"It is huge," he said. "It's just because of the change of the rules about how we can access and which lanes we keep open."

Brian Latte, the city's director of the Valley Line West, said the progress reflects well on the contractor.

"We're really optimistic that they're just going to continue this effective work through the balance of this year until the end of the project," Latte said at the media availability. 

The Valley Line West LRT is now about 40 per cent complete, Cox said. 

It is expected to open in 2028. 

Businesses frustrated

For weeks, businesses on the corner of Stony Plain and 124th Street could only be accessed by the sidewalk. 

Some businesses nearby the closed-off area also felt the impact, including the Vetrina Cafe, which opened just south of Stony Plain Road last fall.

"It was good. It was many customers," owner Fikra Moese told CBC News Friday. "Now it's very low … because of construction."

Gallery and shop owners have noticed the impact, including the owner of the Lando Gallery, Brent Luebke, who says the signage is insufficient for pedestrians and motorists. 

"When people do come to the area, they just don't know where to go," Luebke told CBC News Friday.

From his gallery, he said he has seen a lot of vehicles doing U-turns when they meet the fenced-off area to the north, and pedestrians are equally as lost. 

Luebke said he wants the city to put up signs farther down the street to give people more advanced notice.

More construction 

Other intersections along the Valley Line West route are still under construction, including the 156th Street interchange and 159th Street/Meadowlark at 89th Avenue, which are set to remain closed until mid-July, the city said. 

The subsequent phase of work will start next week, moving up the road to 139th Street and Stony Plain Road in a previously unplanned closure for nine weeks.

Starting June 10, the intersection at 142nd Street and Stony Plain Road will also be partially closed for nine weeks, the city said.

The decision to simultaneously close both intersections will reduce long-term disruption to the neighbourhood, businesses and commuters, the city said in a news release Friday.

'The new normal' 

Latte, of the City of Edmonton, said municipal officials are discussing a similar approach on other projects that would see roads and intersections completely closed to speed up work. 

"If there's something that we can do at a location that's similar, that has the same results, absolutely it's something we would consider," Latte said. 

Cox acknowledged that there may have been some skeptics because of previous city projects that were delayed.

The Valley Line Southeast LRT, for example, was  nearly three years behind schedule when it opened in November 2023. The Walterdale Bridge replacement was two years behind when it opened in September 2017.

But Cox described the accelerated approach as "the new normal."

"We can deliver in these time frames," he said.