Green Line LRT would be elevated through Beltline under province's proposed route

The Alberta government has given Calgary city council an ultimatum, introducing a new proposed alignment for the Green Line that would see the future CTrain track built aboveground through the Beltline and extend as far south as Shepard.

But some councillors and other stakeholders claim they were blindsided by the province’s plan, which on Friday still lacked details — including cost estimates and engineering logistics.

The province’s proposal to get the train into the downtown without tunnelling is to build an elevated track above 10th Avenue S.E. in the Beltline, before curving north at 2nd Street S.W. to connect with the Red and Blue line tracks along 7th Avenue.

Adding five stations would significantly increase the Green Line’s ridership, according to Premier Danielle Smith, strengthening the project’s business case. She said the new alignment saves more than $1 billion by not tunnelling through downtown, allowing for the Green Line to extend farther south and reach more riders.

“We’re trying to put forward a portion of the line that we think is going to be useful and also sets the stage for the future full build out,” she said at an unrelated news conference Friday.

“We think this is a way for us to get shovels in the ground immediately, get a line we know people will use, technology we’ve used before, and hopefully set the stage so that we can build out the rest of the line to Seton.”

It will be up to city council to accept or reject the province’s proposal, Smith added. But she warned that if they do not approve it, the project will essentially be dead, stating the UCP government is unwilling to partner on a Green Line that includes downtown tunnelling.

A map of the province’s plan, devised by engineering firm AECOM, shows 12 stations and 17.2 kilometres of track. The proposed alignment removes a previously planned station in Eau Claire, instead stopping only as far north as 7th Avenue S.W.

The proposal also includes a “grand central station” next to the future Scotia Place event centre, which is slated to open in the fall of 2027.

Projecting 51,000 daily users, the train’s ridership would be 60 per cent higher than what was anticipated under the previous alignment that council approved in July, the province claims, while staying within the same $6.2-billion budget.

The province didn’t provide details Friday, such as how high the track would be elevated or how it would cross the existing CPKC tracks between 9th and 10th Avenues. Nor did it include cost breakdowns or a link to AECOM’s report.

“We’ve got a longer line on a piece of paper, but I think Calgarians are being left with more questions than answers about what this will look like and, more importantly, what this will cost,” said Jeff Binks, president of the LRT on the Green advocacy group.

“We were hopeful when this plan was announced, that it would be announced with details, costing and all questions answered. Unfortunately, none of that happened today. I think Calgarians are left wanting and should be feeling a little let down by their government.”

But members of Rethink the Green Line, a separate advocacy group that has opposed downtown tunnelling, said they were pleased with the province’s solution.

“I think it’s absolutely the right thing and I sure hope council supports it,” said member Steve Allan. “It would be crazy for them not to.”

A spokesperson for Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen’s office said the report won’t be made public, “as its contents are integral to the upcoming bidding process for the proposed route.

“Releasing the report at this stage could compromise the fairness and competitiveness of the process, which is essential to ensuring the best outcome for taxpayers,” the spokesperson said.

The Green Line was in a state of purgatory earlier this year, after Dreeshen announced in early September that the province was withholding its $1.5-billion funding commitment. That came five weeks after city council approved a shortened alignment that took out the five southernmost stations and deferred another, but still increased the budget by more than $700 million.

Without provincial funding, council voted to wind down work on the multibillion-dollar transit initiative, at a cost of an additional $850 million to fulfil contractual obligations. The city had already spent or committed more than $1.5 billion on the Green Line through design work, land acquisitions, property demolitions, procurement and utility relocations, and officials claimed the city did not have the financial capacity to resume the project without government support.

However, after weeks of verbal sparring between the city and province, the Green Line appeared to be revived in October after both sides returned to the table. Gondek and Dreeshen announced contracts would be salvaged for design work and light rail vehicle procurement and that the train’s southeast alignment would remain unchanged.

In a brief statement Friday, Gondek confirmed she and councillors Peter Demong and Andre Chabot met with Smith and Dreeshen that morning and were briefed on the province’s proposal.

But others on council said they were caught off guard, claiming they hadn’t seen AECOM’s findings before details were sent to the media.

Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian, in a reply to a social media post from Dreeshen, asked to be sent a copy of the report, before accusing the minister of “running the government like a lemonade stand.”

In a separate post, Mian argued the province’s claim it will save money by not tunnelling is misleading, considering the downtown portion of the proposed alignment isn’t designed or scoped out yet.

“To claim you’ve saved any money is impossible at this point,” she wrote. “These are the details you don’t get by simply looking at new lines on maps, and being misled about how these projects are designed and procured.”

The city also said it had not seen AECOM’s report.

“It is disappointing that after working collaboratively since September on a reimagined Green Line that the province shared the details publicly prior to council’s review,” the city said, adding that until council has an opportunity to review the report and see more details, it cannot comment.

Peter Oliver, the president of the Beltline Neighbourhoods Association, said building an aboveground Green Line along 10th Avenue is a “measurably worse” option than a tunnel.

Construction of an elevated track would sterilize private-sector development in the area, according to Oliver, and he worries that years of disruptive construction along 10th Avenue would decimate the various bars, restaurants and other businesses along that strip.

“If the city and province are going to be plunking down a big elevated train in front of their property at five storeys high to pass over the Plus 15s, it’s going to really disincentivize that investment,” he said. “For the properties here right now, it would likely result in property valuation drops, which all Calgarians will pay the cost for in reduced property tax revenue.”