The federal government announced Tuesday that it would be giving nearly $31 million to the City of Edmonton to fund the 50 Street CP Rail grade separation and widening project, freeing up a previous investment from the city.
In April 2022, the city had to increase the cost of the project by $34.3 million. Administration said the cost increase was due to many factors, including geopolitical trade conflicts, disruptions in the construction industry due to COVID-19, increased demands from other infrastructure spending and significant cost increases of several commodities specific to the project.
Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced in Edmonton that the Canadian government would be contributing most of that cost increase to the project under the National Trade Corridors Fund.
“Today’s announcement by Minister Alghabra will actually free up that $30 million. We can either reduce that debt servicing cost, which will help taxpayers, or we can use this additional money to do additional work that is required in our city,” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.
Edmonton city council has been trying to find hundreds of millions of dollars in savings and reallocations in the 2023-26 operating budget so that the funds can be redirected toward core services.
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The total project cost of the 50 Street project is estimated to be around $179.6 million. The funding announced Tuesday is on top of $39 million already contributed by the federal government.
The city said the project is on budget and on track to be completed by the fall of 2027.
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