Valley Line West Light Rail Transit (LRT) — Edmonton, Canada
Client
- City of Edmonton
Project Value 
$2.6 B
Market
Rail, Transportation
Services
Alternative Project Delivery
The Valley Line West LRT expansion is a 14-km extension from downtown to Lewis Farms in west Edmonton featuring an elevated guideway, expansion of the Gerry Wright Operations and Maintenance Facility, a new storage facility, and a backup control centre at Lewis Farms. It also features comprehensive systems integration, testing, and commissioning. The line will have 14 street-level stops, in addition to two elevated stations, and traffic signals for managing crossings.
The $2.6-billion design-build-finance LRT project is the second stage of Edmonton’s light rail expansion being developed in two stages:
- Valley Line Southeast between Mill Woods and 102 Street downtown, completed in 2024 and;
- Valley Line West between 102 Street downtown and the Lewis Farms Transit Centre.
In a joint venture with Colas, we are responsible for the design and execution of the entire project. As part of the joint venture, we have delivered all systems, civil, architectural, and landscape architectural design for the Gerry Wright and Lewis Farms storage facilities.
Key Features Of The Valley Line West LRT Project
Elevated Guideway
The signature structure is approximately 2-km of elevated guideway supporting dual track through two elevated stations along 87 Avenue. Our solution uses a constant depth precast segmental box girder constructed primarily in simple spans by an overhead conventional gantry. Significant milestones were reached in the third quarter of 2022 with the first precast segment cast, the first piers being cast, and the completion of the drilled shafts. Segment erection was completed at the end of 2025.
Gerry Wright Operations and Maintenance Facility
This portion of the project includes lead tracks, four ladders, storage and maintenance buildings, a track bridge over a utility corridor, and access and circulation roads in extremely tight space conditions. Track types in the yard include ballasted, direct fixation, embedded, and shop tracks. The facility has a full public address system, IP-based CCTV cameras, and a data centre. The project-wide fiber optic system ties into a backbone that runs the length of the existing Valley Line Southeast and Valley Line West.
Additional Features
- Street Level Stops & Elevated Stations
- New storage facility and backup control centre at Lewis Farms
- Appurtenances related to light rail transit infrastructure, including systems integration, testing, and commissioning.
- Traffic signals in place of gates, bells, and crossing arms to manage LRT and multi-modal crossings
- A new bridge crossing Groat Road at Stony Plain Road and another crossing Anthony Henday Drive at 87 Avenue
- Connections to transit centres at Jasper Place, West Edmonton Mall and Lewis Farms, and an expanded Park & Ride at Lewis Farms Transit Centre
- A transfer point with the existing LRT system (Capital and Metro lines) at Churchill Square
- An LRT connection to major destinations, including Norquest College, MacEwan University, the Misericordia Hospital and West Edmonton Mall
- Low-floor urban vehicles and operations, including step-free boarding
Construction Timeline
Construction on this project started in 2021 is expected to be complete by 2028.
Sustainability
As the main designer, we have the lead role in construction specifications development, preparing the Envision Annual Self-Assessment and LEED applications for the two maintenance facilities, as well as coordinating with a third-party CxA.
Additionally, LEED design reviews for the Gerry Wright OMF and Lewis Farms storage facility have been completed, and both are on track to achieve LEED Silver. Our energy modeling team achieved double digits on the energy models for Gerry Wright and Lewis Farms.
Dive Deeper: Lessons Learned
Major urban transit projects are no longer judged solely on how efficiently they move people. Increasingly, they are also expected to strengthen community resilience, protect municipal infrastructure, and respond to the realities of climate change. The Edmonton Valley Line West LRT project offers a clear example of how thoughtful stormwater management can deliver these outcomes, even within tight urban constraints.
Project Awards
- 2024 Top 100 Canada’s Biggest Infrastructure Projects, Rank No. 31 from ReNew Canada
- 2023 Top 100 Canada’s Biggest Infrastructure Projects, Rank No. 28 from ReNew Canada
- 2022 Top 100 Canada’s Biggest Infrastructure Projects, Rank No. 30 from ReNew Canada
