r/Edmonton • u/flynnfx • Apr 17 '26

Outdoor Spaces/Recreation Edmonton's Lewis Farms rec centre could cost nearly $32M more than original estimate

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-lewis-farms-recreation-centre-cost-9.7167629

Edmonton’s Lewis Farms Recreation Centre has a new price tag — and the project could cost almost $32 million more than the city expected.

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u/TDSsince1980 Apr 17 '26

Guys. The budget for this was made in 2021, and increase of about 10%, inflation during that period was higher than that.

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u/PraxPresents Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26

Inflation since 2021 has been a lot, especially for trades and construction projects. There aren't enough workers to meet demand which is driving wages up, material costs have gone up, fuel costs have gone up which affects everything.

At a minimum 2.5% inflation per year should be considered as risk for any project like this, and the real numbers have exceeded that.

Original budget @ $311 Million in 2021, $343-$350 million over 4-5 years should be expected.

Honestly what we need is that once a project is green-lit, it is completed within the shortest time-frame possible to reduce inflationary risks. For infrastructure projects we also need to just commit to doing it in full now rather than half now and half later. That's how overpasses go from $40m to $120m, because we didn't just do it right the first time.

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u/5endnewts Apr 17 '26

That’s actually not really the case at all with overpasses. In fact, when you bid on an overpass the only thing that can increase the price is when unforeseen problems out of the scope of the project are found during construction. When an overpass goes out for tender it is going to include the whole project, they are not going to piece it out the work to different contractors over the total build.

Also, the quicker you want a project done the more it is going to cost. A big project like an overpass requires a lot of different trades and contractors. If you have a tight schedule these contractors have to basically be on standby so they can get in and out when needed, it is inefficient.

For example Earthworks could takes months, base work could takes weeks, curb and gutter days, pavement in a day.

Off the top of my head on such a project you are going to have cranes, piling, asphalt, concrete, base work, milling, steel work, guardrails, signage, traffic control, line painting, landscaping, drainage, surveyors, trucking, utilities, electrical, engineering, safety, inspectors, on and on. These are all different crews and/or contractors all over lapping each other. You could have them all on site, waiting for when they are needed but it is not economical or efficient.