Judge to rule on injunction to halt LRT construction
Court of Queen’s Bench Associate Chief Justice John Rooke will decide Wednesday whether to grant an emergency injunction that could bring construction of Edmonton’s $1.8-billion Valley Line LRT to a standstill.
The court action, filed by Save Edmonton’s Downtown Footbridge advocate Eric Gormley, argues the city did not get the necessary approval from the province under a 1975 agreement within the original Capital City Recreation Park plan.
The Cloverdale Footbridge is scheduled for demolition in September.
Gormley believes the City of Edmonton requires formal approval from the provincial government under the 1975 agreement before it can develop within the river valley.
“We are cautiously optimistic that we will get a favourable decision,” said Gormley, standing outside of the Edmonton Law Courts building Tuesday after the hearing.
If approved, the injunction would stop all work on the Valley Line between planned stops in the Quarters and the Muttart Conservatory, potentially costing the city — and by extension, taxpayers — hundreds of thousands of dollars a week in delays until the issue is resolved.
Should a permanent injunction be approved without hope of remedy, Quinn Nicholson, a spokesman for the City of Edmonton, warned breaking existing contracts could cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The river valley is our city’s most important asset, we need public transit that respects the river valley, not wrecks it,” said Kristine Kowalchuk, also a member of the Save Edmonton’s Downtown Footbridge advocacy group, which has been vocal in its opposition to the river valley route of the project.
Nicholson said neither the municipal government nor the provincial government were aware of the 1975 agreement while the project was in the planning stage. However, they believe a bylaw adopted in 1985 gives the city the authority they need to move forward.
“The city’s position is we have the authority from the province to do this project,” said Nicholson, who questioned why the province would have already given the city $600 million for the project if it did not approve of the development.
While it might appear that by funding the project the provincial government is aware and in agreement with the Valley Line LRT plan, Gormley believes getting provincial approval required under the 1975 agreement “might not be so easy” with new ministers in provincial cabinet.
In the courtroom, arguments ranged from the validity of the injunction itself — whether Gormley could prove damages in the case, or whether an injunction was an appropriate remedy — to whether bylaw amendments circumventing the 1975 agreement meant the agreement itself was no longer valid.
Nicholson said there have been plenty of opportunities for public input into the Valley Line LRT over the seven years of planning and this injunction request was more about opponents “going after technicalities.”
“We have kind of vetted this one to death,” Nicholson said.