The City of Edmonton officially launched its 2024 construction season on Tuesday, with an ambitious agenda of over 200 infrastructure projects planned, designed, and built throughout the year. These projects encompass a wide range of categories, including transportation (80 projects), facilities (60 projects), LRT expansion and renewal (16 projects), and open spaces (over 50 projects).
This substantial investment in infrastructure is expected to generate thousands of jobs directly from the projects. “2024 will be another busy year for construction in our city,” said Craig Walbaum, acting deputy city manager of integrated infrastructure services with the City of Edmonton. “We understand construction impacts the roads and pathways residents rely on every day. We are grateful for people’s patience during our construction season.”
One of the most notable projects this year is the Warehouse Park project, which will transform a parking lot into a vibrant multi-use green space between 106th and 108th streets and Jasper Avenue to 102nd Avenue. The finishing touches are also being applied to Centennial Plaza, a renewed outdoor public space near the Stanley A. Milner Library designed to provide a lively gathering place in the downtown core.
“The most important part of an exciting public library space that’s in the downtown core is vibrancy, right? So bringing people from all across the city and beyond to the public library and having a place to really come and gather is central to our vision and central to the core of what we do,” said Sharon Day, executive director of customer experience at Edmonton Public Library.
Major road projects continuing this season include the Yellowhead Trail freeway conversion and the Terwillegar Drive expansion. The Valley Line West LRT is now in its third year of major construction, with substantial work taking place along the LRT alignment, including the elevated guideway for the future Misericordia Hospital and West Edmonton Mall stations.
“I appreciate your patience, as your commute over the next few months may take a little longer than usual,” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi. “Your understanding is crucial in making these transformative projects a reality.”
Work is also progressing on the Lewis Farms rec centre and park project, a supportive housing project in Holyrood, and the three-year Hawrelak Park renewal project. Additionally, 17 Edmonton communities are slated for neighborhood renewal this year.
“We’re fixing more neighborhoods now than we ever were before,” said Sohi.
All of these projects align with the City Plan, which envisions Edmonton as a city of two million people. “Rather than a defined time, City Plan looks at (a population of) two million — and we do it in 250,000 increments,” explained Walbaum.
Residents can stay informed about road closures and project timelines through the city’s interactive traffic disruptions map available on the city’s website.
