It was no simple task to renovate the departures ramp at Edmonton International Airport.
The underside of the ramp forms the ceiling of the terminal’s Tim Hortons – talk about critical infrastructure.
Thanks to the marvels of modern engineering, EIA achieved this and plans to re-open the key thoroughfare at Canada’s fifth-busiest airport for passenger traffic by Halloween.
"The plan is to open the ramp on either Oct. 30 or 31, which will be ahead of schedule and under budget,” Carmen McNary, EIA board chair, said. “That ramp was no simple project to undertake."
The ramp, specifically the Departures Roadway on Level Two, closed Sept. 26 of last year for the upgrades, which make aesthetic improvements, increase accessibility, add safety features such as bollards in front of the terminal and improve traffic flow with a second lane, according to the project website.
Responding to what could have been mistaken for a tongue-in-cheek stab that prefaced a question from Coun. Mike Killick, McNary made the pledge during a broader presentation on the airport’s economic impact on the Edmonton region to St. Albert city council during their regular meeting Oct. 1.
“Frankly, we’re here because we have determined that it is strategic to better understand what’s happening in the local areas in the region and not look at everybody out of the same basket,” he said.
"Let's try to do this at least once a year," Mayor Cathy Heron said.
McNary agreed it's important, and something EIA endeavours to do with all 13 municipalities in its area of impact.