While Thursday’s announcement appeared to revive the Green Line, Gondek insisted it’s a “new” project.
While a revised Green Line could be salvaged, plenty of uncertainty still hangs over the multibillion-dollar transit project — particularly how it will extend through the downtown.
It also comes after council voted in mid-September to wind down the project, despite a price tag of $850 million, on top of the $1.3 billion that’s already been spent to enable construction.
But while Thursday’s development appears to revive the Green Line, Gondek insisted it’s a “new” project.
“We have been working closely with the province and looking at whether there was anything in the original Green Line project that could be acceptable to them, given their desire for a new alignment, and it appears that there is some work that can move forward,” she told reporters Thursday.
“It’s good news for about 700 people who will be keeping their jobs and work will progress to the south.”
Questions still linger, however, such as how — or even if — the future train will ultimately pass through downtown.
The city’s original plan of tunnelling underground significantly drove up costs and was deemed unreasonable by the province. The province has since commissioned infrastructure project firm AECOM to determine an alternative at-grade or elevated alignment that connects to the Red and Blue LRT lines, as well as the future Scotia Place event centre.
Advocacy group Rethink the Green Line supports the province’s plan, said member Steve Allen.
“Our main push was to abandon tunnels. They’ve done that, so we’re happy with that,” he said Friday.
With the existing LRT lines along 7th Avenue operating at capacity — plus the fact the Green Line would use low-floor train cars that wouldn’t integrate with the existing Red and Blue line tracks — Allan predicts AECOM will present an elevated-line proposal for the downtown.
“There are all kinds of imaginative solutions and we could learn from what other people have done elsewhere,” he said.
Councillors split on efficacy of plan
After a private discussion Tuesday, city council voted 12-3 in support of confidential recommendations related to the Green Line. Councillors Kourtney Penner, Courtney Walcott and Jasmine Mian voted in opposition.
Ward 12 Coun. Evan Spencer, whose southeast ward would benefit most by reinstating the five southernmost stations, said he’s relieved the city and province have come to an agreement to try to salvage the project.
“Not that long ago, we were concerned this wasn’t a possibility, so I’m grateful we’re talking about preserving value from this project, that the provincial money is on the table, and that all the investments Calgarians have made to this point are not going to disappear,” he said.
Investing in the southeast alignment first will make for a better business case to expand the line in the future, Spencer added.
“It’s less than ideal if the project stops at (4th Street), but at least getting this done encourages a strong look at how to get through the downtown.”
Though Penner said Friday she was “neutral” to the idea of a CTrain line ending at 4th Street, she argued that whatever the province spends to review the project will likely be more than what it would cost to extend the previous alignment (from Eau Claire to Lynnwood-Millican) as far south as Shepard.
“While this new alignment proposed by the province does touch my ward, it essentially strands people on the edge of downtown,” Penner said. “That means people getting off that train have to walk four blocks in either direction to get to a crowded Red Line to try to get into the downtown core, unless a viable downtown route alignment comes forward.
She added connecting the train to downtown is “vital” to ensure it can eventually reach north-central Calgary, where bus ridership is high.
The president of Green Line advocacy group LRT on the Green agreed with Penner, and accused the province of playing political games.
“If you’re living in southeast Calgary, it’s good news that the province is trying to get the train down to Shepard, but unless that train gets you to your place of employment in the heart of downtown, it’s really not going to be of much use to you,” said the group’s president, Jeff Binks. “Maybe you’ll take it to the occasional hockey game, but that’s about it.
“If you don’t have a connection through downtown and up into north-central Calgary, you don’t have a Green Line. You have a southeast LRT, and that’s not what the province claims they want to be building.”
Area Coun. Terry Wong agreed it’s crucial to get the LRT through the downtown, not only to maximize ridership, but also bolster transit-oriented investment along the alignment.