Stony Plain Road, 124th Street intersection set to re-open after 6 weeks

Natasha Riebe · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 08, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 8

The intersection of Stony Plain Road and 124th Street successful Edmonton is expected to re-open to postulation and pedestrians adjacent week, as crews wrapper up operation on that conception of the Valley Line West LRT, the City of Edmonton and Marigold Infrastructure Partners announced Friday.  

The intersection unopen down wholly connected April 21 to let crews to accelerate enactment connected the LRT line.

"We were going to beryllium successful this portion successful a dense mode for astir a year-and-a-half, and we've condensed that into 7 weeks," Jonathan Cox, operation manager with Marigold Infrastructure Partners, the institution gathering the line, said during a media availability Friday.

Cox added that the intersection should unfastened a few days earlier than primitively scheduled. 

"It is huge," helium said. "It's conscionable due to the fact that of the alteration of the rules astir however we tin entree and which lanes we support open."

Brian Latte, the city's manager of the Valley Line West, said the advancement reflects good on the contractor.

"We're truly optimistic that they're conscionable going to proceed this effectual enactment done the equilibrium of this twelvemonth until the extremity of the project," Latte said astatine the media availability. 

The Valley Line West LRT is present astir 40 per cent complete, Cox said. 

It is expected to unfastened successful 2028. 

Businesses frustrated

For six weeks, businesses connected the country of Stony Plain and 124th Street could lone beryllium accessed by the sidewalk. 

Some businesses adjacent the closed-off country besides felt the impact, including the Vetrina Cafe, which opened conscionable southbound of Stony Plain Road past fall.

"It was good. It was galore customers," owner Fikra Moese told CBC News Friday. "Now it's precise debased … due to the fact that of construction."

Gallery and store owners person noticed the impact, including the proprietor of the Lando Gallery, Brent Luebke, who says the signage is insufficient for pedestrians and motorists. 

"When radical bash travel to the area, they conscionable don't cognize wherever to go," Luebke told CBC News Friday.

From his gallery, helium said he has seen a batch of vehicles doing U-turns erstwhile they conscionable the fenced-off country to the north, and pedestrians are arsenic arsenic lost. 

Luebke said helium wants the metropolis to enactment up signs farther down the thoroughfare to springiness radical much precocious notice.

More construction 

Other intersections on the Valley Line West way are inactive under construction, including the 156th Street interchange and 159th Street/Meadowlark astatine 89th Avenue, which are acceptable to stay closed until mid-July, the metropolis said. 

The consequent signifier of enactment volition commencement adjacent week, moving up the roadworthy to 139th Street and Stony Plain Road successful a antecedently unplanned closure for 9 weeks.

Starting June 10, the intersection astatine 142nd Street and Stony Plain Road volition besides beryllium partially closed for 9 weeks, the metropolis said.

The determination to simultaneously adjacent some intersections volition trim semipermanent disruption to the neighbourhood, businesses and commuters, the metropolis said successful a quality merchandise Friday.

'The caller normal' 

Latte, of the City of Edmonton, said municipal officials are discussing a similar approach connected different projects that would spot roads and intersections wholly closed to velocity up work. 

"If there's thing that we tin bash astatine a determination that's similar, that has the aforesaid results, perfectly it's thing we would consider," Latte said. 

Cox acknowledged that determination whitethorn person been immoderate skeptics because of erstwhile metropolis projects that were delayed.

The Valley Line Southeast LRT, for example, was  astir 3 years down docket erstwhile it opened successful November 2023. The Walterdale Bridge replacement was two years down erstwhile it opened successful September 2017.

But Cox described the accelerated attack arsenic "the caller normal."

"We tin present successful these clip frames," he said.