Edmonton city councillors say they are disappointed with the latest setback in the Valley Line LRT to the city’s southeast, but say they will hold the company behind the project accountable.
On Friday, TransEd — the public-private partner building the extension — said 30 concrete piers under the elevated tracks of the line need repairs. That’s up from the 21 piers the company said needed repairs in early September.
The 13-kilometre LRT extension project connects Mill Woods to downtown Edmonton and was originally supposed to open in December 2020.
“Just like the vast majority of Edmontonians, I am frustrated,” Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said Monday. “I know we were expecting to have this southeast LRT two years ago and it’s still delayed.”
Sohi said the city will continue to hold TransEd accountable for the ongoing delays.
“It is their responsibility to fix all the mistakes and they should have avoided this from happening to start with,” Sohi said. “We expect them to fix all the cracks in the pillars and we want to make sure that when the LRT is open, it’s safe for people to use.
“We want to make sure we get the product that we paid for.”
pihêsiwin Coun. Tim Cartmell echoed the mayor’s disappointment.
“Clearly something’s gone wrong here in the design and construction process and it needs to be remedied,” Cartmell said Monday.
“I get the frustration. I get the exasperation. I really feel for the people involved. Our administration is as frustrated as anyone. They’re not at fault here and no one intends to make a mistake. So in this particular instance, it’s gone wrong without intent.”
Cartmell said while the city will not be on the hook for the direct costs of the delays, there are other costs at play here.
“We are certainly taking a reputational hit and that reputational hit then speaks to increased costs to future projects,” he explained. “There’s the cost of lost confidence. There’s the cost of people counting on this project being complete and making investment decisions or purchasing homes in particular places or locating a business in a particular place.
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“The cynicism accumulates. The exasperation accumulates. The frustration accumulates.”
That said, Cartmell stressed he’s not a fan of the “piling on” that goes with placing blame. He reiterated there will be financial remedies available to the city.
“There is some of the ancillary services that the city’s offering that we’re going to have to be recouped for. That will be part of the whole reconciliation between our administration and the contractors involved,” he said.
“At the end of this, someone has made an error that they really, really regret. That goes a long way. We talk about their livelihood, we talk about their reputation. Or should at least think about those repercussions.”
TransEd has not provided a timeline for when the repairs will be complete. The company said Monday that it anticipates its next update to be in a few weeks, in the form of a news conference.
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