2.

LRT Transit Priorities (Update)

Strategic Options, Extension Planning and Proposed Stages of
Construction

Recommendation
That the following segments be the next construction priorities for funding LRT
expansion:

1. Capital Line South from Century Park to Ellerslie Road

2. Metro Line North from Blatchford to Castle Downs

Previous Council/Committee Action

At the May 25/27, 2020, City Council meeting, the following motions were passed:

1. That a Special City Council meeting be scheduled on Monday June 1, 2020, at

9:30 a.m.
2. That the May 25, 2020, Integrated Infrastructure Services report CR_8266, be
referred back to Administration and that Administration return to the June 1,
2020, Special City Council meeting with an updated LRT project prioritization
report (including a recommendation and associated Light Rail Vehicle purchase
strategies) to accelerate use of the balance of transit infrastructure grants
previously committed to Edmonton, over and above the dollars allocated to
West and Blatchford extensions), as well as, any additional funds that become
available through transit stimulus and/or long term provincial and federal transit
funding commitments.

At the May 3/4, 2016, City Council meeting, the following motion was passed:

1. That subject to confirming cost and available funding, the priority for LRT
construction be approved as follows, and that the funding for design be the first
priority in Phase 1 of the Federal Transit Stimulus funding:

(a) Valley Line, Downtown to Lewis Farms (LW-1, LW-2, LW-3),

(b) Metro Line, NAIT to Blatchford (HNW-1, including potential upgrades near
Kingsway Mall & NAIT).

2. That the following three LRT design projects be prioritized for further work with
the Phase 1 Federal Transit Stimulus funding (alphabetically listed):

ROUTING - Special City Council | DELEGATION - J. Meliefste / B. Ferguson

June 1, 2020 - Integrated Infrastructure Services CR_8337
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 LRT Transit Priorities (Update) - Strategic Options, Extension Planning and
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(a) Capital Line, Century Park to Ellerslie (HSW-1 to update preliminary

engineering),
(b) Downtown Connector, University to Bonnie Doon (LE-1 for concept
planning),
(c) Metro Line, North Blatchford to Campbell Road (HNW-2, HNW-3 for
preliminary engineering).

Executive Summary

Administration continues to advance the multiple LRT network expansion projects to

develop an integrated transportation system that supports ConnectEdmonton and the
City’s strategic goals of Healthy City, Urban Places, Regional Prosperity and Climate
Resilience. To achieve the draft City Plan’s vision of attracting an additional one million
residents and 520,000 new jobs, a fully built out mass transit system with transit
supportive land use will be necessary. This report focuses on construction sequencing
and seeks Council approval to affirm the next LRT network expansion priorities based
on the original evaluation criteria (which remains valid), the work completed over the
past four years, unallocated grants currently available and any potential future
provincial or federal stimulus funding.

Integrated Infrastructure Services report CR_3314 formed the basis of Council’s

decision on May 3/4, 2016. The report (including attachments) is provided in
Attachment 1.
 

Report
The LRT Network forms an integral part of the infrastructure backbone that supports
the long term vision for growth as contemplated within past and current long term
plans for the City of Edmonton. A summary of the construction, procurement and
design activities over the past four years for various segments of the LRT Network are
identified in Attachment 2.

Progress and Developments since 2016

While work progressed on the construction, procurement and design of the LRT
priorities identified in CR_3314, a number of other events have taken place that have
influenced and reaffirmed which LRT projects should advance next.

● Council Approval of ConnectEdmonton (Edmonton’s Strategic Plan 2019-2028)

● The draft City Plan will be advanced for Council’s consideration in late 2020.
The Mass Transit Study, which accompanies the draft City plan, notes various
adjustments including removing the Downtown Connector from LRT Network
Plan.

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 LRT Transit Priorities (Update) - Strategic Options, Extension Planning and
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● The Government of Alberta and the Government of Canada committed to invest

up to $2.94 billion for the LRT network expansion in Edmonton of which a total
of $2.25 billion has been allocated for the Valley Line West (Downtown to Lewis
Farms) and Metro Line (NAIT to Blatchford) projects.
● Parking operational changes at the existing end of line station at Century Park
● Completion of Heritage Valley Park and Ride and Transit Centre
● Finalization of the Heritage Valley Neighbourhood Area Structure Plan (first two
readings received on May 12, 2020). The area has strong potential for transit
supportive development.
● Commencement of construction of the Campbell Road Park and Ride.
● Plans for the construction of a new Hospital and Health Campus in Heritage
Valley along the proposed Capital Line alignment south of Ellerslie Road have
advanced. Site work for the Hospital and Health Campus is anticipated to begin
in 2020 and is expected to open to the public in 2030.
● Preliminary designs have been completed for the Metro Line Northwest and
Capital Line South, including updated cost estimates (Attachment 3).

Project and Land Use Readiness

Both the Capital Line and Metro Line extensions are at the same state of readiness
from a design perspective (Checkpoint 3), however from a project readiness
perspective, the Capital Line is better positioned to commence construction sooner.
The Capital Line extension will be built on land that is already owned by the City or is
to be acquired from the Government of Alberta. In order to advance the Metro Line
extension beyond Blatchford, further work is still underway with CN on an agreement
for the crossing of Walker Yard. There are also over 35 full and partial property
acquisitions required along the North Metro line. As a result, it is expected that
construction could begin on Capital Line as early as 2021, while construction on Metro
Line, if funded today, could not likely begin until 2023/2024.

Administration undertook a study in 2019 to assess the market potential for transit
oriented development along the LRT network. Indications are that the Heritage Valley
is an area of strong growth and is in a better position of readiness to develop transit
supportive land uses along the Capital Line extension than the Metro Line extension. It
is noted that the development potential of an area is related to a number of factors,
with LRT as one significant positive attribute.

Operations and Maintenance Facility Considerations

As part of the Capital Line South project an Operations and Maintenance Facility has
been planned directly north of the Heritage Valley Park and Ride. This facility would
provide operational benefits as well as deferring the need for the Llew Lawrence
Storage Facility (located in Montrose), currently within the budget for the Metro Line
LRT (NAIT - Blatchford) extension.

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 LRT Transit Priorities (Update) - Strategic Options, Extension Planning and
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The Operations and Maintenance Facility planned along the Metro Line Northwest
extension is proposed within the Rampart area. Since the Metro Line extension to
Castle Downs does not include a facility, the South Operations and Maintenance
Facility would accommodate the fleet growth required for this extension, if constructed
first.

Light Rail Vehicles (LRV) Strategies

Both the Capital Line and Metro Line extensions include significant LRV purchases to
accommodate the projected ridership and to ensure adequate service levels elsewhere
on the system. The existing LRT fleet also includes 37 Siemens U2 model units that
are approaching the end of their service life. If all high-floor LRV growth and
replacement units were combined, there is a potential need for over 142 LRVs over the
short to medium term, at an estimated total cost of approximately $900 Million (LRV
costs related to the expansion of the Metro Line Northwest and Capital Line South
have been included in the overall project cost estimates provided in Attachment 3).

The City of Calgary operates the same LRV high floor model as the Edmonton and
Calgary has also identified the need for LRV procurement for both replacements and
their planned low-floor Green Line. Given the potential high volume of units that will
need to be procured between the two cities, there is an opportunity to develop a
coordinated financing and procurement strategy in order to secure the best competitive
price.
Next Steps

If Council approves the recommendation contained in this report, Administration will

undertake the following:

● Convey Council’s decision regarding LRT Prioritization to the Provincial

Government to secure the balance of the Provincial LRT and Federal ICIP
funding
● Engage the Governments of Canada and Alberta regarding potential additional
funding opportunities for extensions further south of Ellerslie, North of
Blatchford and for LRV procurement

● Advance work on the Capital Line extension, more specifically:

○ Prepare a Business Case and Capital Profile for Council’s consideration in
Fall 2020 including discussions with funding partners to determine the
amount and timing of funding, and to ensure scope and budget are aligned
and manageable for the City

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 LRT Transit Priorities (Update) - Strategic Options, Extension Planning and
Proposed Stages of Construction

○ Review service capacity challenges on the existing Capital Line and

integration of this project with other priority corridors in the new Mass Transit
network of the draft City Plan
○ Continue work on the environmental studies and permits necessary to
support the project
○ Review ongoing work at the LRV storage facility in Montrose and reassess
operations of the Heritage Valley Park-and-Ride, shuttle service and
associated transit priority measures in light of the potential of advancing the
Capital Line South extension
● Continue to investigate short term and long term LRV financing and
procurement strategies with other Canadian jurisdictions such as Calgary
● Continue discussions with CN Rail on an agreement necessary to secure a
crossing of Walker Yard
● Explore property acquisition along the Metro Line on an “opportunity basis”
● Undertake an update to the priority list beyond the two segments recommended
in this report to consider the overall mass transit network and optimal transit
infrastructure investments

Public Engagement

Although public engagement was not undertaken directly for this LRT Network
prioritization, it was undertaken as part of the 2016 LRT Prioritization work and has
been an essential part of the development of the Capital Line South and Metro Line
Northwest projects. Public engagement programs were undertaken for the concept
plan and preliminary design. Further public and indigenous engagement was
completed between 2017-2019 for both projects. Feedback from this engagement
helped shape the preliminary designs.

Corporate Outcomes and Performance Management

Corporate Outcome(s): ​Edmontonians use public transit and active modes of transportation

Outcome(s) Measure(s) Result(s) Target(s)

Edmontonians use public transit and Transit ridership (rides/capita) 89.6 (2018) 105 (2019)
active modes of transportation.

Journey to work mode (percent of survey 26.1% 25.9% (2018)

respondents who select auto passenger, transit, (2016)
walk, cycle or other)

The City of Edmonton has sustainable Edmontonians’ assessment: Access to 68% (2017) 70% (2018)
and accessible infrastructure. infrastructure, amenities and services that improve

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 LRT Transit Priorities (Update) - Strategic Options, Extension Planning and
Proposed Stages of Construction

quality of life (percent of survey respondents who

agree/strongly agree)

The City of Edmonton has a resilient City Asset Sustainability (actual expenditure on 0.94 (2017) 1.00 (2018)
financial position. capital infrastructure divided by required
expenditure)

Risk Assessment

Risk Risk Description Likeli Impact Risk Score Current Potential

Element hood (with current Mitigations Future
mitigations) Mitigations

Financial If the next LRT project is 4- 3- 12 - Continue Continue advancing

not prioritized the City Likely Major Medium advancing discussions with the
may forgo funding discussions with Federal and
opportunities from the the Federal and Provincial
Provincial and Federal Provincial Governments on
governments. Governments on potential funding
potential funding opportunities.
opportunities.

Attachments
1. CR_3314 Long Term Funding Plan for the LRT: Strategic Options, Extension
Planning and Proposed Stages of Construction
2. Summary of Progress on Council Approved LRT Priorities
3. Updated Project Estimates

Others Reviewing this Report

● G. Cebryk, Deputy City Manager, City Operations
● M. Persson, Chief Financial Officer and Deputy City Manager, Financial and
Corporate Services
● S. McCabe, Deputy City Manager, Urban Form and Corporate Strategic
Development
● B. Andriachuk, City Solicitor

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