Traffic lights around Valley Line West construction still being optimized: Edmonton officials

Drivers in downtown say it's taking a long time to get around, especially on 104 Avenue. CTV News Edmonton's Connor Hogg has more.

The City of Edmonton has responded to drivers frustrated with the downtown commute along 104th Avenue.

“The traffic is held up between four and five different lights depending on turning lanes and such,” Barbara Dhoedt, a downtown resident, said Tuesday. “It’s just taking too long to get anywhere.”

In a statement to CTV News Edmonton, city officials said the intersections along 104 Avenue – between 105 Street and 121 Street – are currently operated by Marigold Infrastructure Partners, the company hired to build the Valley Line West LRT.

“Achieving optimal traffic flow during construction is difficult due to lane and speed reductions and the fact that the permanent infrastructure required to optimize consecutive signals hasn’t been installed yet,” Valley Line West LRT project director Brian Latte said in a statement on Tuesday.

Latte continues in his statement to say the traffic lights are “operating on a fixed cycle to allow safe movement for both pedestrians and vehicles” during LRT construction.

Once the Valley Line West LRT is complete and permanent traffic infrastructure is in place, “detection loops” and pedestrian triggers will be added to help reduce wait times at the intersections.

The west leg of the Valley Line LRT is expected to be complete in 2028, followed by a testing period before the line is operational and open to the public.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Connor Hogg