Cracks in piers delay opening of Edmonton light rail line

Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
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Valley Line Southeast project delayed.
TransEd

TransEd, the agency charged with providing new LRT in Edmonton, Alberta, announced a delay in its Valley LIne Southeast LRT service commencement.

Work on this LRT line has been underway since 2016, and service was expected to begin this summer. However, according to TransEd CEO Ronald Joncas, recent city and TransEd inspections revealed cracks in some of the piers supporting the elevated tracks. Engineering investigations are underway now, and preliminary findings point to the need to strengthen some of the piers. No further details around what caused the cracks were provided, and a new opening date has not been set.

The construction of this initial stage of the Valley Line Light Rail Transit project is set to provide LRT service along 8 miles from downtown Edmonton to Mill Woods. The line will incorporate an elevated station with a transit center and Park & Ride facility, along with a transfer point to existing LRT routes at Churchill Square. This stage of the line’s construction includes 11 stops.

The agency notes that Valley Line Southeast is different from Edmonton’s current high-floor LRT system. The new line will have new, low-floor, urban-styled trains that will provide more pedestrian-friendly access with at-street-level stops. In addition, in commercial and residential areas, embedded tracks will be integrated into the established design and traffic flow of the area.

Read more articles about track structure.

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