City celebrates completion of first major LRT station upgrade in Edmonton

The City of Edmonton is celebrating the completion of its first upgrade of a major LRT station.

One of the original five stations on the capital line LRT, the Stadium Stadium has been around for 40 years and needed a facelift, according to the city.

“As you can imagine, certain components of the station were approaching the end of their lifecycle, and were in need of renewal,” said Bruce Ferguson, manager of LRT expansion and renewal for the city.

Redevelopment work started in 2020. There’s a new platform on the west side of the tracks for event traffic from Commonwealth Stadium, street-level ramps at the end of each platform and heated shelters, a security office and public washrooms.

There are also changes that improve sightlines, which can make transit users feel safer, Ferguson said.

“The whole station is now much larger, it’s got better lighting, very limited areas as far as sight lines go, so you can see where you’re going — you can see what’s happening on the platform,” Ferguson explained.

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“I think people are feeling much more comfortable on this platform and at this station than they were in the past.”

The city hopes the changes will help improve transit safety.

“We have added security guards to the station, so they’re proactively patrolling throughout the station’s hours of operation,” said ETS branch manager Carrie Hotton-MacDonald.

Ward Métis Coun. Ashley Salvador said it’s important to acknowledge the ongoing issues around transit safety and security and that it’s a challenge every major Canadian city is facing.

“These changes aren’t going to rectify all of these issues that we’re experiencing on transit, but they’re steps in the right direction,” Salvador said.

Increased Access

The Stadium station is a critical connection to Commonwealth, said Hotton-MacDonald.

“Somewhere between 45 and 50 per cent of attendees that are at Commonwealth typically use our service to get to and from (events),” Hotton-MacDonald said.

With a busy summer of events planned, including the Luke Combs concert this weekend and a new Elks season around the corner, the hope is more people might be inclined to use the station, the city said.

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“We’ve got this new west platform so people can come directly out of Commonwealth Stadium, right to the platform and right onto the train, so I think it’ll flow much better as well,” Ferguson said.

The Elks organization said it hopes it benefits them too.

“We see a lot of our fans actually use the LRT and come in through a certain gate, so we are hoping to see increased attendance with more accessibility to the stadium,” said Vanessa Potter, chief financial officer for the Edmonton Elks.

A portion of the $50 million in funding for the upgraded station was provided through the federal Public Transit Infrastructure Fund and the provincial Green Transit Incentive Program.