The City of Edmonton has chosen Marigold Infrastructure Partners to build the western extension of the Valley Line LRT.
The city named its preferred proponent for the project in a media release on Friday morning. The city said Marigold Infrastructure Partners will design, build and partially finance the 14-kilometre Valley Line West LRT project.
The city is still in final discussions with the company, but said the contract is expected to be finalized by the end of the year. Construction on the western leg of the LRT line is scheduled to begin next year and is expected to take five to six years to complete.
The city launched its procurement process for the project in January. Proponents were asked to provide technical submissions, including draft designs and plans to demonstrate their ability to meet the city’s technical requirements. From there, teams were asked to submit a financial proposal.
The city said it evaluated all of the proposals and the team with the lowest financial bit was selected.
“We’re confident our rigorous competitive process has culminated in the selection of a strong team to deliver the Valley Line West LRT at good value for Edmontonians,” Valley Line director Brad Smid said in a media release.
Marigold Infrastructure Partners is made up of team members Colas, Parsons, Standard General, Francl Architecture, Fast & Epp and Stantec.
“As partners of MIP, Colas — whose subsidiary Standard General has delivered projects in Edmonton since 1969, and Parsons — building on their decades-long legacy of delivering P3 projects in Alberta, are proud to help the city build Edmonton and meet its long-term strategic goals for the city,” Xavier Fenaux, with Colas Canada, said in a media release.
The $2.6-billion Valley Line West project includes funding commitments from both the provincial and federal governments. The west leg is the second phase of the Valley Line, a 27-kilometre low-floor urban style LRT line that will connect Mill Woods to Lewis Farms.
The first phase of the Valley Line into southeast Edmonton is currently under construction and behind schedule.
On Thursday, the city provided an update on the southeast Valley Line project and said while it is trending late, city officials are not yet at the stage of seeking compensation for the delayed work.
“I think they’ve made significant progress this last year,” Jason Meliefste, acting deputy city manager of Integrated Infrastructure Services, said of the contractor. “They certainly know that they’re converging on the completion date as set out on the project agreement, which has been set for December of this year. Obviously at this point we don’t think that that’s realistic.
“Our first priority is being able to deliver something that’s safe, of sufficient quality, that meets the reliability and expectations of citizens. And we’re not interested at this point to think about taking potential shortcuts or anything like that that would compromise or jeopardize the end project.”
The city anticipates the Valley Line West project will generate 8,800 jobs in the province and 2,700 across Canada. An economic assessment of the project estimates construction will generate $760 million in wages in Alberta and another $209 million throughout the country.