The Pulse: May 1, 2026

This week's batch of calls for public engagement includes a survey about removing an intersection on Yellowhead Trail, comments on Fort Saskatchewan's draft parkland bylaw, and a handful of strategic plans in the region.

Edmonton is removing the signalized intersection on Yellowhead Trail with 66 Street, which will be one of the last of the 10 projects involved in the $1-billion Yellowhead Trail freeway conversion project. Planning for the conversion started as early as 2012. Construction on the overall project started in 2019 and is expected to finish by the end of 2027. The project involves removing traffic signals and signalized intersections from Yellowhead Trail and replacing some of them with grade-separated interchanges. When construction is finished, there will be three lanes of traffic in each direction, travelling at a target speed of 80 km/hr.

The city said Yellowhead Trail is an important part of Edmonton's inner ring road, as it is used by up to 81,000 vehicles daily, and is expected to be used by up to 155,000 vehicles daily by 2047. The road is used by big trucks and regular commuter vehicles. Having traffic flow freely without stopping at traffic signals will help prevent collisions, the city said, adding that Yellowhead Trail sees nearly 1,000 vehicle collisions per year, on average.

The initial planning for 66 Street was completed in 2020, but the project was paused while the city widened Fort Road. Administration has opened a survey as it finalizes the design at 66 Street. The project will also close nearby direct access to Yellowhead Trail at 62 Street, 67 Street, and 68 Street, and modify the local road network to accommodate the loss of direct access to Yellowhead Trail. Early versions of the plan included an overpass at 66 Street and Yellowhead Trail. Residents said maintaining a north-south connection was a priority in earlier rounds of feedback, but the overpass will not be included in this project, the city said.

Construction on 66 Street is scheduled to begin in 2027. Feedback on the design will be accepted until May 10. The survey asks what administration should consider as it finalizes the design and prepares for construction.

There is also a drop-in event for the other Yellowhead Trail project that isn't finished yet — the segment from St. Albert Trail to 97 Street. Residents are invited to St. Pius X School on May 14 to hear more about upcoming construction activities.

• A red pickup truck abandoned for a year in southwest Edmonton's Ramsay Heights was towed on April 30 after neighbours used it as a trash receptacle. The issue of abandoned vehicles has grown across Edmonton. Matthew Goebel of the Westwood Community League noted another vehicle has been abandoned since November. Coun. Erin Rutherford, in an April 16 letter, reported a 45% increase in parking enforcement requests over two years and 560 vehicles awaiting transfer due to limited capacity at the Edmonton Police Service impound lot. She urged the Edmonton Police Commission to prioritize a larger lot.
• Edmonton Coun. Erin Rutherford called the proposed Metro Line LRT extension to Castle Downs and St. Albert a "pipe dream" due to prohibitively high costs, especially for crossing the Yellowhead Highway and CN rail yard. Rutherford tabled a motion, which passed unanimously, requesting city administration explore alternative mass transit options for northwest Edmonton, such as bus rapid transit (BRT) or a redesigned LRT. Emily Stremel of Edmonton Transit Riders supported exploring BRT as a faster, cheaper solution.
• The Edmonton Oilers were eliminated from the playoffs on April 30 after a 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 of their first-round series at Honda Center. Anaheim scored three times on its first eight shots and controlled much of the game, ending Edmonton's season in disappointing fashion after high expectations. Captain Connor McDavid said the Oilers had been searching for consistency all year and called them "an average team with high expectations."
• Defence lawyers say Dennis Okeymow is being unfairly made a "scapegoat" for the 2023 killings of Edmonton Police Service constables Travis Jordan and Brett Ryan, arguing prosecutors are trying to expand gun-seller liability through the courts. They said Okeymow could not have foreseen that teenager Roman Shewchuk would use the rifle in a fatal ambush. The Crown argues Okeymow is criminally liable because he illegally sold the gun and ammunition to a minor. Justice John Little reserved decision dates, with a ruling expected later this spring.
• Elections Alberta secured a temporary injunction on April 30, forcing the Centurion Project, an Alberta separatist group, to remove an online database of voter information. The database, compiled from a June 2025 electors list containing personal details of over 2.9 million Albertans, was intended as a campaign tool. The order also prohibits the Republican Party of Alberta from sharing any electoral list with unauthorized users. The investigation determined that the list was legitimately provided to the party, but its transfer to Centurion, a third-party advertiser led by David Parker, was unauthorized. Centurion was served at an event in Edmonton.
• The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has opened an inquiry into the Alberta government's refusal to release records related to a 2024 land deal involving healthcare entrepreneur Sam Mraiche. Postmedia requested documents concerning a property at 14425 124 Avenue in Edmonton, which a numbered company linked to Mraiche purchased in June 2024 and sold to the Alberta government for $300,000 more just 12 weeks later. The government withheld the records, citing an auditor general investigation, but Postmedia argues that the investigation began months after its Freedom of Information request.

On this day in 1953, the city was drawing up plans to regulate gas stations, in hopes of cutting down on traffic issues.

Gas stations are an unremarkable sight in the city today. But since automobiles first appeared on Edmonton roads more than a century ago, the ways to fuel them have changed over the decades.

Businessman Joseph Henry Morris is credited with owning the first car in the city, after he had it shipped by train from Winnipeg in 1904. Morris's car was not only the first to drive in Edmonton, but also the first to run out of gas. Apparently, the day after the car arrived, it ran dry while on a drive (possibly due to Morris driving it around to show it off to friends). To get it going again, he borrowed some benzene from a farmer (who kept it for cleaning clothes) and poured it into the tank, which was enough to get the motor running again.

Automobile ownership grew slowly in those early years, as cars were expensive to buy and maintain. Still, more motorized vehicles began showing up on Edmonton's roads. And they needed somewhere to buy fuel. Existing businesses that sold petroleum products, such as hardware stores and general stores, were the best bet for motorists in those early years.

Edmonton's first dedicated service stations started appearing a few years later. One opened on the north side of the river, near the corner of 103 Avenue and 102 Street, in 1910. On the south side, another was opened on Whyte Avenue to serve the few drivers in Strathcona. In addition to these dedicated service stations, other businesses would install gas pumps in front of their shops as an additional source of revenue.

These early gas pumps were gravity-fed, which caused a few problems. Chief among them was that rainwater would sometimes seep into the fuel tanks, contaminating the gas. New technology in the 1920s and '30s meant many pumps used electricity to pull gas up from deeper underground tanks, eliminating much of the issue. It was around this time that oil companies such as Imperial Oil became bigger players in the gas station game, building branded stations closer to residential neighbourhoods in Edmonton, rather than clustering them in business areas.

Into the latter half of the 20th century, personal vehicles became the norm in Edmonton, increasing the demand for fueling stations. That was likely what prompted the push for those regulations in 1953.

Edmonton now has hundreds of gas stations within its limits, so they're no longer a surprising sight. What might be a bit more shocking, however, are the prices. Gas prices spiked overnight this week, jumping by 30 cents a litre at some Edmonton stations. Hopefully, anyone paying $1.85 a litre gets only gasoline in their tank, unlike the dozens of drivers who had their cars damaged after filling up with a mix of gas and water at a southside gas station a couple of weeks ago.

This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist Rev Recluse of Vintage Edmonton.

Here are some events happening this weekend in the Edmonton area.

• May 1: Urbanism in Times of War and Crisis starting at 5pm at University of Alberta (North Lecture Theatre)
• May 1: Opening Reception: Artist Civil Service starting at 7pm at Latitude 53 Gallery
• May 1: Ivan Zenaty, violin & Martin Kasík, piano starting at 7:30pm at Trinity Lutheran Church
• May 2: natIgnite: Pitch Day starting at 1pm at University of Alberta (Donadeo Innovation Centre For Engineering)
• May 2: What a Wonderful World - Spring Concert starting at 3pm at Robertson-Wesley United Church
• May 2: Best of YEG Bike Ride starting at 3pm at Churchill Square
• May 2: 2026 Edmonton Mountain Bike Film Fest starting at 6pm at Garneau Theatre
• May 3: Ballad, Blues, and Boogie starting at 2pm at Fringe Theatre Arts Barns
• May 3: Word Painters starting at 3pm at St. Andrew's United Church
• May 3: Bella starting at 7pm at Capitol Theatre

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• May 8: Honouring and Remembering: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women at Bissell Centre
• May 14: SUSTAINABILITY SOCIAL: Expert Panel + Networking + Activities at The Bell in Scona
• May 15: Friendly Fridays - May Edition: Collaboration by Design at Reimagine Architects

Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.

Test your crossword prowess and deploy a little of your Edmonton knowledge. Complete the puzzle.

The circled letters sound like something notable about today's puzzle.