Edmonton City Council will soon be making important decisions regarding the 4-year budget cycle. Over the course of November and December, members of City Council will deliberate and discuss how we go about paying to build the city that we envision for ourselves in the City Plan, the Bike Plan, and many other strategic planning documents.
We have had the opportunity to review the budget documents and understand that there are many difficult decisions in front of Council.
There are many opportunities to invest in building a more equitable and safe community overall. This includes the opportunity to invest in housing for our most vulnerable, readying ourselves for the impacts of climate change, and building a more efficient and inclusive transportation system.
It will be key for you to reach out to your councillor to convey the following;
- Implementing the City’s Bike Plan so it serves all Edmontonians
- Fixing missing sidewalks and links to make our cities more walkable
- Infrastructure upgrades for a climate-resilient city
We’re encouraging Council members to make sure that our current investments align with the City’s goals. If we are currently funding projects that misalign with our goals of being a more liveable, equitable, and climate-resilient City, and we’re not funding projects that do achieve these goals, we need to make changes.
We have developed a letter-writing tool (click here to access) for you to draft a meaningful and effective letter to communicate these points. The Board of Paths for People will attend a public hearing for the Budget process to speak on behalf of our community and share your letters.
Budget Deep Dive
There are many opportunities to invest in safer, more liveable streets within the budget proposals.
There are many funded proposals to celebrate, including streetscaping projects, neighbourhood renewal, fixing missing sidewalk links, Urban Tree Canopy Expansion, and the High Level Bridge rehabilitation. This means that if Council approved the budget as presented by Administration, these projects would be funded. We need to fight to protect these projects from the chopping block.
Unfortunately, there are some unfunded projects within the budget. Council will need to add these projects to the budget if we are going to build them.
| Approach 1 Accelerated Process | Approach 2 Regular Project Delivery Process | Approach 3 Hybrid Approach |
| $155 million | $198 million | $201 million |
| – Less opportunities for engagement, emphasis on information sharing – Completion of majority of the District connectors and near term priorities – Highest chance of meeting 2026, highest risk | – Typical engagement process – Project is developed first before construction expenditures are approved – Completion of majority of the District connectors and near term priorities – Lower chance of meeting 2026 timeline, moderate risk | – Includes funding of supplemental renewal projects where alignment exists – Longer timeline to Complete of majority of the District connectors and near term priorities – $111.8 million 2023-2026, $89.2 million 2027-2030 – High chance of completion by 2030 |
- All approaches include:
- planning, design, constructions, communications, engagement, wayfinding and bike parking;
- Finding synergies with other projects (Renewal, etc.)
- Fleet and equipment requirements to support expanded bike network
- General implementation through adaptable infrastructure, similar to the Downtown Bike Grid
- Permanent measures implemented where possible
- NOTE: The chance of completion comparison between approach 1/2 and 3 are not comparable, as approach 1 and 2 use 2026 as the target, while approach 3 uses 2030
All approaches have different benefits and drawbacks. We’re encouraging Council to move forward in a bold way and we know that, over the budget deliberations, the approaches may evolve to ensure that we’re best integrating Bike Plan implementation within the overall budget.
Additionally, there are more unfunded projects that would greatly benefit active transportation across the City. This includes:
- Active Transportation Improvements ($31 million) (multiple projects – identified here)
- Climate Resilient City Infrastructure Upgrades ($6 million)
- Additional Missing or Enhanced Active Modes Support ($5.5 million)
- Additional Missing and Enhanced Sidewalk Connections ($650,000)
All of these investments are important. Please connect with your City Councillor and the Mayor to let them know that we need to fund these projects in a big way.