Valley Line Southeast LRT delayed again until first quarter of 2022 as a result of COVID-19 impacts, lengthy testing

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Edmontonians will have to wait until next year to hop on the Valley Line Southeast LRT line with the opening again delayed.

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TransEd, the group of companies chosen to construct the $1.8-million project, announced Tuesday morning that the LRT trains won’t be open to passengers until the first quarter of 2022, but didn’t provide a specific timeline. The 13-kilometre line from Downtown to Mill Woods was initially expected to open in December 2020. For the last year, TransEd has said this first leg of the Valley Line would open before the end of 2021.

But TransEd spokesman Dallas Lindskoog said the testing process, compounded by multiple COVID-19 cases among workers, has led to another delay. There hasn’t been specific major issues found during testing and commissioning, but Lindskoog said each phase of the line takes time to ensure everything is working up to contractural standards.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the project hard with many workers needing to isolate as well as a delay in receiving necessary materials due to supply chain issues.

“The biggest delay that we’ve seen right now has been the impacts of COVID-19. That combined with just getting the testing done and doing that carefully without taking any shortcuts, those two things have pushed us into the first quarter of 2022,” Lindskoog said.

“We have had various things across the project that have been from out of country that at times have been delayed because of COVID-19. We’ve had professionals from out of country that needed to come in and do certain testing on various components of the project that weren’t able to come into the country when we first thought they’d be able to, that caused delays.”

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As a result of COVID-19 impacts from 2020, TransEd had previously been granted a 74-day project extension. But Lindskoog said the 2021 delays haven’t been taken into account. The new long stop date for the project is Feb. 27, 2022, meaning if LRT service isn’t up and running by then, TransEd could face financial penalties per the contract agreement.

Also on Tuesday, train testing began across the 260-metre Tawatinâ Bridge over the North Saskatchewan River. Work around the area continues with the shared-use path underneath the LRT bridge and surrounding trails expected to open to pedestrians by the end of November.

More to come. 

duscook@postmedia.com

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