The long-delayed $1.8 billion Valley Line LRT has hit a snag again

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“On behalf of TransEd, I want to say how disappointed we all are,” TransEd CEO Ronald Jonkas said Wednesday

Publication date:

August 10, 2022 • 1 hour ago • 4 minutes read • 19 comments Edmonton’s $1.8 billion Southeast Valley Line LRT has been delayed indefinitely again due to cracks in many of the LRT track support pillars, was announced on Wednesday, August 10, 2022. Photo by Larry Wong/Postmedia

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Edmonton’s long-delayed Valley Line Southeast LRT will no longer be open this summer, and it’s unclear how long the latest setback will last.

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Standing outside the as-yet-unopened Davies LRT station on Wednesday, TransEd LRT CEO Ronald Jonkas said cracks were found in many of the concrete pillars under elevated LRT tracks. Crews are working to determine the cause and additional construction will be needed to strengthen the piers.

There are 18 pillars that may need to be repaired. That’s more than a third of the 45 piers across the new line.

1. Valley Line Southeast LRT delayed again until Q1 2022 due to impact of COVID-19, continued testing

2. The opening of Edmonton’s $1.8 billion Valley Line southeast LRT has been pushed back for a third time to summer 2022.

“On behalf of TransEd, I want to say how disappointed we all are and that we deeply regret the inconvenience this unfortunate and unfortunate delay may cause Edmontonians,” Jonkas said.

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The company won’t be able to offer a revised opening date until it finishes analyzing the problem in the coming weeks, then decides on a design to fix it. The piers are still safe to walk and drive under, according to Joncas.

The 8-mile South East line, the city’s biggest infrastructure project to date, was originally due to open in December 2020 after construction began in spring 2016. The 11-stop line will run from Mill Woods to downtown and is the first stage of the Valley Line, with the Western Line to Lewis Farms in the early stages of construction.

This is the fourth time the southeast opening has been moved. TransEd said late last year that the COVID-19 pandemic had caused additional delays, but that trains would run through the summer of 2022.

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The project is a public-private partnership, or P3, and under the terms of the contract with the City of Edmonton, TransEd is responsible for engineering and construction. The company will bear the cost of this delay as well as the additional construction work to strengthen the piers.

TransEd LRT CEO Ronald Jonkas said Wednesday, August 10, 2022, that the $1.8 billion Southeast Valley Line LRT is once again delayed indefinitely due to cracks in many of the LRT rail support posts. Photo by Larry Wong/Postmedia

Testing of parts of the LRT line will continue, but train travel on the elevated track is currently suspended.

Yonkas said they are investigating thermal expansion — the metal in the columns expands and contracts with temperature fluctuations — as the cause of the problems. The problem may be in the rails on top of the platform, but the investigation is still ongoing.

“Thermal expansion, or the temperature difference in Edmonton, has been factored into our design from day one,” Jonkas said.

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“What has happened now is that the behavior of what we found is different from our models.”

The cracks were first discovered around July 16 by city inspectors. Adam Laughlin, deputy city manager of the City of Edmonton’s Integrated Infrastructure Services, said TransEd informed them last week that the problem would require “significant” repairs.

“Disappointing, disappointing”

Count. Keren Tang’s Ward Karhiio covers many of the southeast neighborhoods waiting for LRT service, but that anticipation continues to turn into disappointment.

She said that shortly after she was elected last year, she heard from an elderly couple who couldn’t wait to get on the train from the Gray Nuns stop.

“They were asking if they could be the first group of people to get on the train and experience it. Since then, I think about them all the time,” Tang said.

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“These are people who want LRT, people who are already very passionate about public transit as good for our city. And I worry about how (delays) this project could affect public participation in public transportation systems.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Amarjit Sohi said the latest delay makes for a “disappointing, frustrating and sad day for Edmontonians.”

He wants city staff to review the management of P3 projects, saying they come with oversight issues and a lack of transparency. The City Council decided in 2012 to make the Valley Line Southeast a P3 to take advantage of federal government funding.

“TransEd as a public-private partnership did not deliver on this project as expected. They are responsible for this and will be held accountable to get the job done and open a line that is safe for everyone,” Sohi said.

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“They are responsible for any cost overruns, if any. … But that’s no consolation to the people who have been waiting for this LRT for 30 years.”

Tang said the situation calls into question public confidence in P3 models for large capital projects.

“It really makes me wonder, is this the best investment for the public sector? After all, when something like this comes up again, I’ll certainly be very skeptical of it.

Ward County Metis. Ashley Salvador also represents many communities awaiting southeast access to the Valley Line.

“I share some of those concerns about additional oversight,” she said.

“I’m looking for certainty when we will finally be able to operate this critical piece of infrastructure.”

City Manager Andre Corbould said the major project management review will offer lessons for future work on the West Valley Line LRT.

But he stressed that Edmonton taxpayers are not on the hook for the latest LRT delay.

“Under the terms of the P3, this deficiency is the responsibility of TransEd. Of course, we as a community are the ones who remain disadvantaged.”

Edmonton’s $1.8 billion Southeast Valley Line LRT is again delayed indefinitely due to cracks in many of the LRT track support posts. Photo by Larry Wong/Postmedia

masmith@postmedia.com

@meksmith

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