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

The intersection of Stony Plain Road and 124th Street in Edmonton is expected to re-open to traffic and pedestrians next week, as crews wrap up construction on that section of the Valley Line West LRT, the City of Edmonton and Marigold Infrastructure Projects announced Friday.  

The intersection shut down completely on April 21 to allow crews to accelerate work on the LRT line.

"We were going to be in this zone in a heavy way for about a year-and-a-half, and we've condensed that into seven weeks," Jonathan Cox, construction manager with Marigold Infrastructure Projects, the company building the line, said during a media availability Friday.

Cox added that the intersection should open a few days earlier than originally scheduled. 

"It is huge," he said. "It's just because of the change of the rules about how we can access and which lanes we keep open."

Brian Latte, the city's director of the Valley Line West, said the progress reflects well on the contractor.

"We're really optimistic that they're just going to continue this effective work through the balance of this year until the end of the project," Latte said at the media availability. 

The Valley Line West LRT is now about 40 per cent complete, Cox said. 

It is expected to open in 2028. 

For six weeks, businesses on the corner of Stony Plain and 124th Street could only be accessed by the sidewalk. 

Some businesses nearby the closed-off area also felt the impact, including the Vetrina Cafe, which opened just south of Stony Plain Road last fall.

"It was good. It was many customers," owner Fikra Moese told CBC News Friday. "Now it's very low … because of construction."

Gallery and shop owners have noticed the impact, including the owner of the Lando Gallery, Brent Luebke, who says the signage is insufficient for pedestrians and motorists. 

"When people do come to the area, they just don't know where to go," Luebke told CBC News Friday.