The City of Edmonton has selected Capital Line Design-Builders to design and build Phase 1 of the Capital Line South Extension from Century Park to just north of Ellerslie Road.

The city will now enter into negotiations with Capital Line Design-Builders (consisting of Ledcor and AECOM) with the goal of awarding the contract by the end of May 2024.

Construction of the 4.5-kilometre extension is scheduled to begin later this year and is expected to take four to five years, followed by testing and commissioning.

“We’d like to thank the bidding teams for participating in our procurement. We’re confident our fair and rigorous competitive process will ensure Phase 1 of the Capital Line South Extension will result in excellent value for Edmontonians and further strengthen our mass transit network,” said Bruce Ferguson, branch manager of LRT Expansion and Renewal with the City of Edmonton.

The city launched its Capital Line South procurement process in June 2022 and shortlisted two bidders in March 2023. Both bidders provided technical submissions, including draft designs and plans, to demonstrate their ability to meet the city’s rigorous technical requirements. Both bidders passed and were invited to submit a financial proposal. The city evaluated these proposals to ensure they met financial requirements, and the team with the highest combined technical and financial score was selected as the preferred bidder.

An economic assessment of the project estimates construction will generate $330 million in wages in Alberta and another $100 million throughout the country. The project is expected to generate 3,700 jobs in the province and another 1,700 across Canada.

The $1.1-billion project has funding commitments from the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta and the City of Edmonton.