Gamblers, shoppers, and car-racing fans will be able to get around a new entertainment site at the Edmonton International Airport grounds without having to worry about parking.
Edmonton, Leduc and the EIA signed an interim deal last week on an integrated transit system for the area.
It will roll out in stages over the coming year, starting with free shuttle buses from the airport to a new Costco and outlet mall set to open May 2.
“For labour mobility and for this area to be successful, there is a shared interest in ensuring that people can come and go from there,” Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson said at a meeting Tuesday.
Mayor Don Iveson wants to see a seamless bus route from the Leduc to the Century Park LRT in south Edmonton within six months. (Scott Neufeld/CBC)
“There is a greater interest, too, in ensuring that travellers and tourists … have the opportunity to get to and from our regional airport.”
Simons and Ivanhoé Cambridge are building the 428,000-square-foot mall southeast of the airport. An Ivanhoé Cambridge spokesperson told CBC News the company will unveil the names of the 100 retailers within a few weeks.
The Century Mile Racetrack and Casino is also slated to open in the second half of 2018.
Coun. Michael Walters is keen to see the region come up to speed with other big cities.
“Airports around the world that have significant growth mandates, like ours does, have identified [that] seamless, well-executed 24-7 public transit is important to achieving that growth,” he said.
“We want our airport to grow and be a key economic driver.”
Leduc County Mayor Tanni Doblanko called the agreement the first true collaborative project among the municipalities.
“We’re very excited to be moving forward on a regional basis with a project like this,” she told CBC News Wednesday. “We see this as being a very strong first step into continued collaboration.”
A rendering of the inside of the Premium Outlet Collection mall, developed by Simons and Ivanhoe Cambridge. (Ivanhoe Cambridge)
Doblanko said the City of Leduc and the county have a deal to share tax revenues generated from the companies on the airport grounds.
“We’re looking at, for us, the airport as being an economic driver in the region,” she said.
“We need to step up and make sure the services that need to be put in place are there and that’s what we believe that we’ve done with the transportation.”
Currently about 76 per cent of the people who work at the airport live in Edmonton.
Tanni Doblanko, mayor of Leduc County, said the county will split tax revenues with the City of Leduc from businesses on airport grounds. (Leduc County)
Iveson noted that the new projects will add 2,000 jobs over the next year.
The regional airport transit service includes putting the Route 747 bus that runs between the Century Park LRT and the airport, back to $5 a trip instead of the current $10 fare.
Council had approved the Route 747 fare increase last fall.
The airport region partners have agreed to share the costs of the expanded services but it’s not settled yet who’s going to pay what.
By next year, Iveson said he wants to see a “truly integrated solution … where you don’t have Leduc buses running next to the 747, but you actually have a service to the south that extends from the Century Park LRT station to this employment node in such a way that works well for travellers and for workers.”
Sarah Feldman, a planning and scheduling director with Edmonton Transit Service, plans to report back to a city committee in June to present further integrated transit plans for 2019.