EDMONTON – With a shortfall in funding of just over $500 million, questions continue on when construction will start on the LRT to Mill Woods. Comments made by the Federal Finance Minister in Edmonton Tuesday failed to bring any answers, though.
When asked about the idea of a national transit strategy – something Mayor Don Iveson has been a strong advocate of – Minister Jim Flaherty said he’s “not a big fan of fancy big national programs.”
“I’d much rather take the approach that we have been taking – deal with the City of Edmonton, deal with their applications, deal with the various other municipalities in Canada, deal with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Because nobody knows local needs more than people locally.”
The federal minister’s stance is not entirely surprising, given that mayors from across the country have been lobbying for a national transit strategy for years.
Iveson responded to Flaherty’s comments Wednesday morning, saying: “obviously, there’s some work to do to convince them that LRT funding is a priority for Edmonton. I think it’s a priority for all major Canadian cities.
“But if he doesn’t want to talk about a national strategy, that’s up to him. I want to talk to him about an Edmonton strategy to get LRT moving again.”
The $1.8 billion Valley Line, which would see the LRT extended from downtown to Mill Woods, is still short $515 million. Council learned of the shortfall in June.
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The City has committed $800 million to the Valley Line and Ottawa has committed up to $250 million from P-3 Canada. That means the expansion project will have to be a public/private partnership.
The original plans called for the LRT expansion to open by 2019. Last summer, Mayor Stephen Mandel said 2020 or 2021 was a more “reasonable” timeline.
Even though the funding issue remains a roadblock, the City of Edmonton’s Naming Committee revealed Wednesday that it has approved the names of the stops and other features on the future line, which will one day connect the city’s downtown and Mill Woods.
You can see the names and learn more about the Valley Line on the City of Edmonton’s website.
The public is also invited to see the final design Thursday, at an open house scheduled at City Hall from noon to 7 p.m.
With files from Vinesh Pratap, Global News
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