On October 10, 2024, the 17 Ave SE Extension and Victoria Park/Stampede Station rebuild in downtown Calgary opened to much fanfare and celebration. The transformative project, which began pre-pandemic, came with lofty goals to further revitalize Calgary’s east end, including building a new rail bridge over the Elbow River, improving accessibility through the construction of a new at-grade LRT station, and creating multi-modal access to Calgary’s Culture and Entertainment District.

The City of Calgary, through a competitive RFP process, chose PCL Construction to handle the ambitious project largely because of our lengthy experience successfully delivering LRT projects in Calgary and strong construction management (CM) background. The CM model allows for early engagement of our in-house experts through preconstruction who collaborate closely with owner, consultants, trades and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) to optimize value and schedule while minimizing risk.

The most critical challenge was building the new LRT station on the existing fully operational site without impacting passenger safety and service. This phase of the project presented multiple logistical challenges:

• Construction work around an operational train line.
• Location between a major traffic corridor and the under-construction BMO Convention Centre.
• Complex network of existing utilities and site infrastructure.
• Non-negotiable work stoppages scheduled to accommodate the Calgary Stampede.
• Maintain public access for hundreds of additional events at Stampede Park.
• One more layer of complexity that was not anticipated — the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic —which disrupted supply chains, hampered productivity and created logistical challenges on-site.

The value of the CM delivery method was evident during the first phase of the project — the construction of a new LRT bridge across the Elbow River. Proximity to the river and an existing bridge ruled out the standard form, place, finish approach. Our team worked with engineers to design the bridge so that it did not impact the river. Crews set up piling rigs outside the river boundary edge. From there, precast stacks were flown into place to support the 66-meter span. This approach helped avoid lengthy approvals that would have been required had the bridge supports been in the water.

 To assemble the track, the team leveraged expertise from across the PCL network and devised a top-down approach to install the rails — essentially the reverse order of conventional approaches. Crews used this same approach on the direct fixed concrete slab and plinths at the LRT station. In both cases, the decision to install top down ensured the rails were set to the correct alignment and elevation prior to casting the plinths.

Timeline of events:

March 2020: Construction start date.

September 2021: Enabling works begin.

October 2021: Demolition of ramp and bridge begins.

October 2021: Temporary platform construction begins.

Early October 2022: Switch to temporary station. Existing station demolition.

Late October 2022: New station construction begins.

August 2023: Track installation begins.

Nov. 24-Dec 4, 2023: Cut over to permanent track and station.

December 4, 2023: First train arrives at new Victoria Park/Stampede Station.

October 10, 2024: Road Opening into Stampede Park

Demolition of the existing station and its supporting infrastructure was complicated by the narrow corridor that served as the staging area. Site access was one of the biggest logistical challenges the team faced and led to a critical resequencing of the station build. The original schedule had the rail and track slab constructed prior to the precast platform panels being set in place, which is the conventional approach. However, limiting job site constraints left crews and cranes with only a sliver of space between the new train station and the under-construction BMO Centre to self-perform concrete structures and hoist large elements into place. Given these conditions, the team determined that the work needed to be re-sequenced to allow for a mobile crane to be set up between the platform grade beams in the track area in order to set the precast platform panels.  A thorough survey program was implemented to ensure that the precast platform panels were installed to within the 3mm tolerance laterally and vertically from the final rail elevations.

The complexity of this project was further demonstrated by the final cutover. Cutover is the staged process of interfacing newly constructed systems infrastructure with the existing systems infrastructure that includes such disciplines as train control, communications, overhead power lines and trackwork. The cutover process provides a complete, functional and fully operational system for the project's new alignment configuration. PCL experts spent six months putting together a detailed risk analysis and cutover plan that recommended Calgary Transit shut down the Red Line for a period of nine days to complete the transition from the temporary rail alignment to the permanent rail alignment and LRT station. The nine-day closure was unprecedented but of critical importance. In collaboration with key partners, a window at the end of November was chosen – November 24^th to December 4^th. The dates came with winter weather risk contingencies, which were integrated into the schedule.  

The nine-day plan was detailed hour-by-hour. Our team maintained a 24-hour construction schedule for the entirety of the nine days and monitored hourly to ensure the teams remained on schedule. During the closure, crews realigned and tied the existing tracks to the new station, installed overhead power lines, connected signal lights, completed access to two side-loading platforms and tested the entire system before handing the fully commissioned track over to Calgary Transit. Full train service resumed on the Red Line on December 4^th at 4 a.m. as scheduled.

The 17th Avenue extension features a new three-lane configuration and streetscape enhancements that stretch across Macleod Trail into Stampede Park, creating a seamless public space that can be activated for major events. The redefined space will change the way Calgarians move and enhance their experience in Calgary’s emerging Culture and Entertainment District.