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Why It Feels Like the Entire City Is Under Construction
- anand4716
- Aug 27
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 26
And what we should do about it.
If you’ve been through central Edmonton lately, you might feel like half the city is a construction zone. Everywhere you turn there are barriers, detours, and closed lanes. Too often, it feels like projects all start at once, creating a perfect storm of noise, delays, and unpredictability.
But this doesn't have to be our norm. We can reduce disruption, improve efficiency, and restore trust in how our city grows. Here’s how:
1. Break the Hidden Delay Cycle: Planning to Funding to Building
Most of the delays happen long before shovels hit the ground. Projects often spend years in planning and engagement with no clear start date - and no sense of what the budget will be and if the City can afford it.
Residents are rarely given the full tradeoffs when asked what they want. By the time a final cost estimate is ready, Council may need to wait until the next four-year budget cycle to approve it. This creates a logjam where multiple large projects begin at the same time, causing widespread disruption.
For example, the Lewis Farms Rec Centre went through many engagements before Council realized the full price of the build, and put off approving their budget. When it was finally approved, the delay had further increased costs. Now due in 2028, the project will cost over $300 million, straining the City's ability to maintain and service its existing centres.
A more compact and predictable process, with a maximum budget and a general sense of when the project will be funded, before detailed planning and engagement, would help make engagement more relevant. By giving residents a clear timeline and some certainty that the project they are contributing to will actually be built, the process becomes more transparent and meaningful.
2. Favour Smaller, Shorter-Term Projects
We should maintain what we have before moving on to new mega-projects (which I'll define here as projects over $100 million). But we should also consider phasing projects to allow for construction on the first phases to be completed and usable sooner.
We should also create more replicable designs. Not every firehall, rec centre, or library needs to be a custom architectural showcase. Many could follow a proven template that is faster to build, more efficient to operate, and far more affordable.
Starting smaller and building smarter means fewer overlapping disruptions and less time waiting for the next crew to arrive.
3. Create a Construction Coordination Authority and Keep Residents Informed
Technology can help us cut down on chaos. Building Information Systems (BIM) allow contractors and city teams to coordinate, but we can take this further by making more information accessible to residents.
Imagine a public dashboard that shows where and when projects will be happening, so you can plan ahead and give timely feedback. The Valley Line LRT has a separate call-in for accessibility challenges, but residents have asked for more accessible walkways to get across 104 Street safely by bike and wheelchair. A standardized public system could help address these challenges before they become major barriers.
This approach also extends to the smaller frustrations. Communities that simply want a couple of speed bumps are sometimes told they must wait years for a full neighbourhood renewal.
That is why I would launch a “Spot it, Send it, Solve it” challenge within my first 90 days as Councillor. This new process would let residents flag issues such as abandoned construction barriers, overflowing garbage, or problem properties. I would love to see an app where users could see how many others have reported the same problem, and track a guaranteed timeline for response.
