Terwillegar Drive Expansion is at risk. Making life less safe for Southwest Edmonton families.
As part of the current 2023-2026 budget deliberations, it has been suggested by some of my Council colleagues that the Terwillegar Drive project be reduced in scope or halted. Specifically, some Councillors have suggested that improvements to the ramps that connect Whitemud to Terwillegar should be eliminated.
I very strongly suggest that all concerned residents of southwest Edmonton contact Mayor Sohi and other all Councillors and express their support of the Terwillegar Drive project. Their emails are listed below on how you can share your support for this project.
As residents of southwest Edmonton know very well, the Whitemud westbound ramp that curls under and leads to Terwillegar southbound is profoundly unsafe. This lane backs up onto Whitemud during the PM peak, leaving drivers stationary in the fast lane of Whitemud, while vehicles behind approach at 80 kph or more. This is the primary spot for afternoon collisions on the Whitemud. This has been known for decades.
The next stage of the Terwillegar Drive project would widen and streamline this ramp and remove this critical safety concern.
It would also rebuild the Rainbow Valley bridges which have now reached critically bad condition, construct the southbound dedicated bus lane from 53rd avenue to 40th avenue, and construct the pedestrian bridge that will connect southwest communities to Whitemud Ravine and 119 street trails.
This next stage connects what has already been built to the rest of the city. Without this phase, the work already completed has very limited value.
Roughly $40M is required to fund stage 2. To borrow this amount would require about $4M a year, on a $3.4B budget.
Some Councillors want to delay the project to TAKE OUT the portion of the design that would address the safety concerns on that ramp. Redesign will take time, and the inflation costs incurred while delaying the project would likely consume any money saved. So, delaying won’t save money but will remove the ramp, deliberately retain an unsafe condition, and risk cancellation of the project completely.
This is not city building. And it is not good governance. You need to make your voice heard.
This is your call to action. Please email all of Council & Mayor Sohi to express your support.
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