Valley Line West LRT construction plagues Stony Plain Road businesses
Company building Valley Line West LRT closes portion of the main road for season
Businesses along Stony Plain Road say they are struggling while construction on Edmonton's next LRT line blocks their shops — and keeps some customers away.
Parts of the main thoroughfare are ripped up with some sections closed off altogether, as Marigold Infrastructure Partners builds the 14-kilometre Valley Line West LRT from downtown to Lewis Farms.
Dennis Aronyk, who's owned Revolution Cycle on Stony Plain at 151st Street for 32 years, told CBC News he's lost significant revenue since construction on the line started in 2021.
"It's been more disruptive than I ever would have imagined," Aronyk said.
The road in front of the shop is ripped up and the cross-streets are blocked off, so customers must detour down 149th Street and back up 100th Avenue to access the building from the back.
"Almost every customer I talk to feels compelled to tell me how much of a hassle it was getting here," Aronyk said. "I know that is keeping probably 10 customers away for everyone that makes it here."
He said long-time returning customers are keeping the business going.
Several other shops in the same strip mall have closed and are sitting empty with real estate signs in the window.
Down the road at 148th Street, Theo Psalios, owner of Little Village Greek take-out restaurant, said he lost 30 per cent of his business when construction blocked access to his parking lot last fall.
"It was slow, it was really slow, nobody's coming through the door and you have to adjust really quickly especially when you're working with perishable products."
Businesses blindsided
A stretch of six blocks from Groat Road to 139th Street is completely closed to traffic and pedestrians.
The City of Edmonton said Marigold has informed the public that the road is expected to remain closed until November this year.
Ward Nakota Isga Coun. Andrew Knack said the goal is to get work done as quickly as possible on that portion of Stony Plain.
Knack, who is a huge proponent behind the west leg of the Valley Line, said he's spoken to local businesses, who feel the company didn't communicate the plans as well as they could have.
"I think they felt a little bit blindsided by that change," Knack told CBC News.
Backhoes and construction crews are busy at work directly in front of Vi's for Pies at 134th Street.
Co-owner Josh Lawrence said they were told earlier this spring that Marigold was going to close Stony Plain completely, to speed up construction.
"Like any business owner, you panic," he said, worried he'd have to curb production, and in turn, cut staff hours.
"My passion is this place, so the fear was, 'Are we going to be able to make it through the summer, let alone the six years that the whole thing is going to go on for?'"
Lawrence said about 75 per cent of their customers are patrons who've been going to the restaurant for decades, and are keeping the place thriving.
A dental office, travel agent, hair salon and cafe restaurant are also in the same commercial complex.
Lawrence said he's not optimistic that the work will be finished by the end of the construction season.
No end in sight
Knack, who lives near the Jasper Place library around 156th Street, said the $2.7 billion project is the biggest in the city's infrastructure history, and is going to take time. But It's unclear how much time.
Meilai Ha, Valley Line West partnerships manager with the City of Edmonton, said Marigold is still working on the detailed design of the alignment.
Marigold aims to finish construction in 2027, which will be followed by testing and commissioning of the line, Ha said in an email statement.
"The schedule for the testing and commissioning is still in development."
Aronyk said although the road in front of his shop is ripped up and fenced off, crews seldom are actually working on that strip.
"There's no end in sight unfortunately," Aronyk said.
Psalios said he hopes the train brings people to the area.
"When it's finally done and it's driving back and forth in front of us, I hope it's filled with people. I'll be really upset if we're going through all this and the train is pretty empty," he said.
Marigold posts updates and videos to social media platforms, on what's happening along the construction line.
The latest shows a rendering of the future Meadowlark Stop on Meadowlark Road near 88A Avenue. Construction is ongoing as our team conducts utilities relocations and roadworks.
Valley Line West and Valley Line Southeast will make up the 27-kilometre Valley Line LRT, linking Lewis Farms to Mill Woods through downtown. The southeast portion of the line is being built by TransEd Partners.
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