C O M P A N Y O V E R V I E W
City of Edmonton
Edmonton Light Rail Transit S Expected to Improve Quality
Brad Smid, Program Manager for the City of Edmonton, di LRT project will have on surrounding communities and how Written by: Lindsey Ryan
Produced by: Mike Magno
System Project is y of Life in Edmonton
iscusses the anticipated effect the Valley Line w the P3 partnership has played a role.
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CITY OF EDMONTON
Construction is complete on the Metro Line 4
January 2015
CONSTRUCTION
An artist’s rendering of Wagner Station on the Valley Line LRT
T
he Valley Line, Stage 1 is a $1.8B low-floor urban LRT line that, upon completion, is expected to build a more compact, sustainable city, offering more transportation choices to Edmontonians while providing high-quality infrastructure to the city as well. The project, Edmonton’s first P3 (public-private partnership), is a 13 km LRT line between downtown
and Mill Woods. With the Metro Line coming to completion this year, the Valley Line is the City’s newest priority. In regards to the Valley Line, Brad Smid, Program Manager for the City of Edmonton, explains that the Request for Qualifications process (RFQ) has been completed and they began the Request for Proposals process (RFP) this fall. Upon completion, the Valley Line w w w. E d m o n t o n . c a / v a l l e y l i n e
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PARTNERING WITH PURPOSE
Image credit: DIALOG
As the Lead Consultant for the Owner’s Engineering Team, AECOM is proud to support the delivery of Edmonton’s first low floor urban style light rail transit system. Our aim is to serve our community through our commitment, our work and our passion. Combined with our innovative, technical solutions, AECOM will continue to do what we do best — deliver solutions that create, enhance and sustain the world’s built, natural, and social environments.
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CITY OF EDMONTON will have multiple positive effects on the community. Smid states, “This project is a real transformative project for Edmonton; we are really trying to shift towards a more compact urban form in the city while also improving the livability and making it a more dynamic city. So the LRT—the Valley Line specifically—is one of the catalyst projects that the city is proceeding with to really kick off the transformation.” More Than Just a Transit Project The project will be completed in
SUPPLIER PROFILE
CONSTRUCTION
several phases and is currently undergoing the RFP process. This process will last about 15 months and in this time the three privatesector teams invited to bid on the project will make submissions to show that they understand the requirements of the project, followed by their design submissions in early 2015, and finally submitting their financial proposals in the fall of 2015, which will determine the winning private-sector contractor. Smid expresses the importance of the project and how it will affect the city. He explains that the City has been working to transform the
AECOM
With nearly 100,000 employees — including architects, engineers, designers, planners, scientists and management and construction services professionals — serving clients in more than 150 countries around the world following the acquisition of URS, AECOM is a premier, fully integrated infrastructure and support services firm. The company is a leader in all of the key markets that it serves, including transportation, facilities, environmental, energy, oil and gas, water, high-rise buildings and government. AECOM provides a blend of global reach, local knowledge, innovation and technical excellence in delivering solutions that create, enhance and sustain the world’s built, natural and social environments. Website: www.aecom.com
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CITY OF EDMONTON
CONSTRUCTION
communities of Edmonton and strengthen the connection between transportation, land use and quality of life among residents. “We’re really looking to tie communities together and really support some redevelopment and infill development in mature neighborhoods and enhance the quality of life for Edmontonians. One might think of LRT as a transportation project, and it is, but it’s about more than just moving people from point A to point B; it’s really about linking communities, providing highquality infrastructure and improving quality of life,” Smid details.
Brad Smid
Government Funding When asked how such a large project is being funded, Smid replies, “It’s being funded by all
An Edmonton skyline w w w. E d m o n t o n . c a / v a l l e y l i n e
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CITY OF EDMONTON
Churchill Square on New Year’s Eve
THE STEWART GROUP:
MOVING THE FUTURE The Stewart Group is an innovative strategy firm that has created a track record of success delivering special advisory services to governments and private sector clients interested in building sustainable public transportation systems. We are helping the City of Edmonton with project oversight, governance and procurement support including the creation of a successful funding advocacy campaign. Together with the Edmonton team we have achieved a remarkable milestone: the launch of the Valley Line P3 Project.
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three levels of government —the city is taking the lead on this and is contributing $800M of the $1.8B, the provincial government of Alberta is contributing up to $600M, and the federal government is contributing $400M, which includes a $250M contribution from PPP Canada.” According to Smid, obtaining the funding from all three levels of government can often be a challenge so receiving the support and commitment from city council and the other levels of government has really allowed the project to move forward. Because this is the city’s first P3 project, other unique challenges have arisen as well. “This is the city’s first P3 contract so it’s a whole different way of delivering a project and we’ve had to develop new procurement documents — such as the RFQ and the RFP, and the draft project agreement— and it’s quite a change from what our city council, citizens and our administration is used to doing. It’s a good challenge; it’s been very interesting and rewarding for our team to go through this and I think it will have great results,” Smid continues, “It’s very innovative and quite unique.” Despite the challenges, there are not many P3 transit projects so Smid is excited for what it will bring to the city of Edmonton.
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CITY OF EDMONTON 2nd Floor, City Hall 1 Sir Winston Churchill Square Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T5J 2R7 780-496-4874 www.Edmonton.ca/valleyline