Gondola over Edmonton river valley is feasible, proponent's study finds

A preliminary study by the proponent has found it istechnically and economically feasible to build a privately-funded gondola to traverse the skies above Edmonton's river valley.

The assessment, prepared by Prairie Sky Gondola the private venture seeking to build and operate the project estimates it would take 18 months to build and start operating, at a cost of $120 million to $150 million.

Prairie Sky officials were in front of city council's urban planning committee Tuesday, to present its assessment and to make a pitch that more in-depth study should get underway. The company also wants to meet with city officials to flesh out how the gondola might proceed.

Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson, CEO and president of Prairie Sky Gondola, said the company and its investor group have as many questions about the project as the city and the public do.

"We want to answer those questions, we want to answer them transparently, but we would like to answer them in a formal and structured way working alongside administration," Hansen-Carlson said.

• Gondola group eyes Rossdale Power Plant as key stop

If built as proposed, the gondola would have five stops.

Riders could climb aboard at Whyte Avenue, ride north to End of Steel Park, cross the river to a stop near Rossdale Power Plant, or gofarther north to another Rossdale stopbefore reaching a terminus downtown near Telus House and the ATB tower.

Once the gondola is up and running, it would cost about $8.5 million a year to operate, Hansen-Carlson said.

According to the assessment, the gondola cables would be suspended from 20 towers posted along the route, hoisting 78 cabins that could hold up to 10 passengers at a time.

A one-way trip would take about 12 minutes.It's believed 1,800 people could travel per hour in each direction.

The gondola would run 16 hours a day, and Prairie Sky has committed to integrating the gondola into the existing city transit system.

The gondola idea came to the fore in 2018 as the winner of a privately-sponsored contest that sought the next big idea for the city.

The idea has been met with doubt and skepticism from the beginning, despite Prairie Sky's insistence that the entirely private project will mean the public will not be saddled with either costs or risk.

But unanswered questions that Prairie Sky proponents insist can be answered by proceeding with further discussions and study are sticking points for members of council who oppose the project.

"I don't need another bold vision, I don't need a gondola, and I don't need their assurances that it's all private sector money, which frankly I don't believe," Coun. Mike Nickel said Tuesday.

Nickel hasn't been a fan of the idea from the start, and said he has doubts about the ridership modelling.

Prairie Sky's assessment anticipates that 637,000 unique visitors would ride the gondola in its first year, and that it would provide a total of over three million trips per year.

• Future of river valley gondola hangs in the balance at city hall debate
• Gondola idea hangs on: Councillors want to see costs, feasibility

Some council members expressed a willingness to keep talks with Prairie Sky alive.

Mayor Don Iveson said a major boon of the project coming together would be what it could do for development in Rossdale which is complicated by how inaccessible the area is, especially around the historic power plant.

Iveson said the gondola could be a way to get people in and out of the power plant site.

"I think that fundamentally changes the economic viability," he said. "It goes from maybe being a money pit, which is how we've looked at Rossdale, to something that could be economically viable and attractive to private sector investment."

The mayor floated six principles that he said he'd like to see used to guide the next stage of talks with Prairie Sky:

• No public funding requested and risk borne by Prairie Sky;

• Allow city officials to look at finances;

• Engage community and Indigenous groups;

• Integration with public transit;

• Minimize ecological footprint;

• Surety for the city that service will either continue, or infrastructure will be removed.

Committee elected to push the decision to next week's city council meeting, where the issue of whether or to continue the gondola debate can be debated further.