Alberta urges Calgary city council to approve province’s Green Line transit proposal

CALGARY — The Alberta government is proposing a reworked Green Line light rail transit route in Calgary that it says would serve more communities and save more than $1 billion.

The province contracted consulting firm AECOM in July to find alternatives to the city’s latest proposal, which would have involved a tunnel through downtown and run a drastically shorter distance than previously planned.

Calgary city council voted to wind down the $6.2-billion project in September after the province said it would pull its $1.5-billion in funding without a major project overhaul.

The federal government has also committed $1.5 billion.

The Alberta government says based on the AECOM report, it is proposing a new Green Line alignment that would connect 7th Avenue downtown to a station at Shepard on the Calgary’s southeastern edge.

Premier Danielle Smith told reporters Friday that by using elevated tracks downtown instead of a tunnel, more than $1 billion in project costs would be saved.

She said the ball is now in Calgary city council’s court.

“It will be up to the city to decide if this meets their needs and if it doesn’t then I guess they pull the plug,” Smith said, reiterating that her government refuses to fund the project if tunneling is involved.

“They have to decide if they’re prepared to work with us on this.”

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said in a statement that the city has yet to receive the AECOM report but noted she and two city councillors met with Smith and Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen Friday morning to be briefed on the new alignment.

“While the briefing provided an outline of the provincial proposal for the project, Calgary council has not been provided with the report submitted to the province by AECOM outlining the proposed plan, nor the related financials,” the statement reads.

Dreeshen said in a government news release Friday that the new alignment being proposed adds five additional stops and will provide transit access to 60 per cent more of Calgary’s residents than the city’s previous alignment.

The province said the new alignment will also connect to two other lines serving the northeast and northwest as well as a new NHL arena set to open in 2027.

AECOM’s report won’t be made available to the public, Dreeshen said in a statement.

“Its contents are integral to the upcoming bidding process for the proposed route,” Dreeshen wrote. “Releasing the report at this stage could compromise the fairness and competitiveness of the process.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press