Yellowhead conversion, bridge update approved

Two major long-term infrastructure projects are inching ahead as the $1-billion Yellowhead Trail freeway conversion project was approved to begin expropriating land, and the $24-million rehabilitation of the 106 Avenue Bridge over Wayne Gretzky Drive got the go-ahead for a design update from city council’s executive committee with no debate Friday.

“That’s just the beginning of the process for us,” said Ward 8 Coun. Ben Henderson of the Yellowhead Trail plans.

The expropriation of six properties will move forward to upgrade the Yellowhead Trail freeway. The massive project, adding interchanges and removing intersections, is slated to be done in late 2026. The federal and provincial governments are each contributing up to $241.6 million.

So far, city talks with property owners who will be impacted have not led to any voluntary agreements to acquire properties, according to a city report. Although those negotiations aren’t yet complete, the city is moving forward with the expropriation process to ensure the project moves forward on time.

One property, including 14204, 14210, and 14220 Yellowhead Trail NW, is owned by the city and has several tenants, but the city would only move forward in the expropriation process with Mcdonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited and Suncor Energy Products Partnership. Five other parcels of land on Yellowhead Trail, 66 Street and Fort Road were listed in the report.

“It doesn’t even necessarily mean that there’s an antagonistic process happening — sometimes it’s easier for a landowner to go through the formal (expropriation) process,” said Henderson.

The committee authorized a slight increase of up to $130,000 for AECOM Canada Ltd. to complete the 106 Avenue Bridge over Wayne Gretzky Drive, which is already under construction.

The initial plan was to have construction work complete by November 2018, but it turned out to be a bigger project. City administration found that the plan completed by a previous engineering consultant didn’t adequately consider all risks associated, creating an “optimistic” construction schedule.

A competitive bidding process for the bridge’s new design plans might have led to at least a one-year delay, according to a city report, potentially pushing construction into 2020, so the city decided to single-source the contract to AECOM. The project is now on track for successful completion this summer, and city administration considers the consultant services provided to be “cost-effective and proportionate to construction costs,” according to a city report.

“The further you go with design, the less you get caught off guard by surprises later on,” said Henderson, who added it was a standard approval.