A major west-end intersection was partially closed to traffic Friday, a day after another one east of it re-opened after several weeks, as crews advance work constructing Edmonton’s new LRT line. Crews building the Valley Line West, which will run a 14-kilometre route between downtown and Lewis Estates, partially closed Stony Plain Road at 149 Street on Friday to work on transforming the intersection to accommodate the east-west LRT line. The city said in a Friday morning media release that the intersection will be partially closed for about nine weeks. On Thursday, the intersection of Stony Plain Road and 142 Street fully reopened to traffic after two months of partial closure. Brendon Unrau, superintendent of the project for Marigold, said shutting down intersections allows crews to complete the work in less time. “Normally, when we build intersections, we have to do it in a lot of different phases -- the sequencing would work from corner to corner to corner -- but on this project, this year, the city’s allowed us to shut down these major intersections so that we can work the whole thing through,” Unrau told media on Friday. “It gives us a lot more space, and it lets us get the work done a lot quicker.” Brian Latte, the City of Edmonton’s Valley Line West director, said the decision earlier this year to put an accelerated work plan into place has been successful, acknowledging the disruptions to daily lives but adding its for the short term. “It’s a significant inconvenience for a short period of time in place of a moderate or much higher inconvenience for a longer period of time,” Latte told media. Signs posted near the Stony Plain Road/149 Street intersection let drivers know of the road work they’re approaching. Transit bus route No. 7 will follow a modified route during the latest intersection work, using 149 Street, Stony Plain Road, 142 Street and 107 Avenue. Construction of the line, which started three years ago, is slated to be finished by 2028, followed by testing.
