Giving people 'certainty' the LRT will come to north Edmonton: Sohi

Residents want to see LRT in the north Councillors are eager to get the LRT to the city’s north, but residents feel forgotten. CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson reports.

Edmonton city councillors are eager to see an LRT expansion to the north side move up the priority list.

A train to Castledowns and St. Albert has been planned for decades, but some north side residents feel like it may never be built.

“We keep getting delayed and delayed and it’s really getting frustrating and there doesn’t seem to be a promise or a guarantee that this is actually going to happen,” said Lynnette Thompson, a north Edmonton resident.

“It seems that north Edmonton gets the short end of the stick. Whether it’s recreation facilities, schools or transportation, as citizens honestly we’re angry and we’re frustrated.”

On Tuesday, a new transit plan presented to councillors ranked the expansion from Blatchford to St. Albert behind the expansion to the future hospital site south of the Henday.

“I think in the past the conversation has really been a north side versus south side,” said Ward Anirniq Coun. Erin Rutherford.

“This is important for advancing City Plan, this is important for economic growth and population growth in the northwest.”

Edmonton has a number of LRT projects on the go, including the train to Mill Woods slated to open this summer, construction to expand into the west end and from NAIT to Blatchford has also begun. The $1 billion extension south to Heritage Valley just needs a builder.

“The only part that does not have access to mass public transit is the northwest and Castledowns,” said Sohi. “It’s about fairness, it’s about equity, it’s making sure that … we’re connecting the LRT to all quadrants of our city.

“I think it’s important that we give people certainty that the LRT will get there.”

In Tuesday's meeting, the mayor put forward a motion to give the LRT projects to Castledowns and south to the fiture hospital site equal priority.

"It really showed that for this council, investment in the north is investment in the whole city," said Rutherford.

Sohi added that the three north Edmonton councillors have been pushing hard for the north LRT expansion and that delaying the project again would be “unacceptable.”

In 2019, the price tag for the expansion to Castledowns was $2 billion. In Tuesday’s report, part of that line would be a bridge over Yellowhead Trail and the CN Calder railway yard, which is estimated to cost over $200 million.

“Federal government and provincial government will be putting together proposals and ideas and funding for us to make our cities climate resilient,” said Sohi.

There is no solid timeline for the expansion north, Rutherford is hopeful construction could start by the end of the decade.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson