Edmonton city councillors finalized a decision Wednesday to boost the budget of the Capital Line south LRT extension.
The initial budget of $1.1 billion is now locked in at $1.34 billion for the 4.5-kilometre line from Century Park to Ellerslie Road.
City staff says inflation, supply chain issues, and labour availability are to blame for the cost increase.
“It has nothing to do with cost overruns or anything else. We have always tried to trim it down and we did in this case as well to bring the cost down. But this is the real cost to build this piece of infrastructure to make sure people in the south have access to public transit,” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.
Councillors Cartmell, Hamilton, and Principe voted against the borrowing bylaw that was needed to complete the deal. It passed anyway, 9-3.
Ottawa and the province are chipping in more than $700 million, while Edmonton’s portion is $585 million. The city says the extension will take four to five years to build.