After much anticipation for many shoppers in the Edmonton area, the Premium Outlet Collection Mall near the international airport will open its doors to the public on Wednesday morning.
Hundreds of people are expected to attend the mall’s grand opening, so airport officials are urging mall goers and air travellers to give themselves extra time to get where they need to go.
READ MORE: Outlet mall at Edmonton airport blends online and in-store shopping
Police and peace officers, as well as parking staff, will be on hand from May 2-6 to direct traffic. The airport’s Emergency Operations Centre will also be open, in order to deal with any issues that may arise.
“We are doing it as a proactive measure, not that we’re expecting traffic jams or traffic issues, but if something does happen we want to be able to respond to it right away,” said Steve Maybee, VP of operations for Edmonton Airports.
Updated traffic delays will be posted on the airport’s website. Maybee said airport officials have been working on a traffic management plan for several months in order to mitigate traffic tie ups.
Watch below: There are different access routes to the mall, depending which way you’re coming from. Daintre Christensen explains.
Nearly 90,000 vehicles use Airport Road at Highway 2 on a daily basis. Late last year, Leduc County Mayor Tanni Doblanko said the province reassured council upgrades in the area would be sufficient to accommodate traffic.
While the area doesn’t fall within Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson’s jurisdiction, he said Monday that the city asked questions about traffic congestion, given the city runs transit service to and from the airport.
“All of the roadway improvements the airport has made — those widened turn bays, those long queuing spaces — are designed to accommodate the traffic that will be generated by the outlet mall,” Iveson said.
Accessing the mall from the north
People heading to the mall from Edmonton should exit the QEII at Airport Road. There are two entryways to the outlet mall from the north, one on Outlet Collection Way immediately after exiting the highway and another a bit farther down on Airport Road on Airport Perimeter Road. (See map below).
Accessing the mall from the south
Drivers heading to the mall from the south should also exit at Airport Road and head west towards the Edmonton International Airport. The mall can be accessed by turning south on Airport Perimeter Road.
Parking
There are 2,226 parking stalls at the mall and room for overflow parking if needed.
Travellers are not allowed to park at the mall and head to the airport to catch a flight. EIA said cars parked at the outlet mall will be towed after six hours.
The 428,000-square-foot mall will be home to more than 100 retailers and six anchor tenants, including H&M, a Nike Factory Store and Marshalls. Some of the stores, including Marshalls, will not open until the summer.
READ MORE: 70 Edmonton airport outlet mall tenants announced
The stores open on Wednesday, May 2 at 10 a.m.
Watch below: Take a sneak peek inside the outlet mall near EIA