The City of Edmonton broke ground Thursday morning on a $186-million transit garage in the city’s northeast.
The 500,000 square-foot facility will be located at the corner of Yellowhead Trail and Fort Road. The land, which was once home to the Canada Packers plant, has sat vacant for more than 20 years.
Currently the brick smokestack is all that’s left of the old plant. It was given historical designation and will be worked into the design of the transit garage.
Once built, the garage will be the size of 10 football fields. It will house 300 buses, administrative and operational space and a credit union. It’s hoped the new facility will bring some life to the neighbourhood.
“There’s going to be approximately 700 employees in and out of this building on any given day and that certainly bodes well for the areas of Balwin and Belvedere,” Ward 7 City Councillor Tony Caterina said.
“We hope that those employees choose to do their shopping here, and lunches and possibly even move to the area to be close to work.”
“This project is significant for both the community and also for the city of Edmonton as a whole,” Linda Cochrane, city manager, added. “With a modern design and capacity to potentially house electric buses, the Northeast Transit Garage plays a key role in serving generations to come with better transit choices.”
Construction is expected to be complete by early 2019.