2 possible north-central LRT routes nixed by council committee

A city council committee has ruled out two possible routes for the future north-central LRT line.

The councillors decided on Wednesday the C-Train will not run along either Fourth Street northwest or up the Nose Creek valley.

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Studies showed that the Fourth Street route would make the train too isolated from more populated areas, officials said.

That leaves the possibility of the trains running from downtown to north Calgary on either Centre Street or Edmonton Trail.

It hasn't yet been determined what portion of the route will be underground or at grade.

But it has been decided the entire Green Line — which will connect the northern city limits with Seton in far southeast Calgary — will use low-floor vehicles that are boarded at street level.

Coun. Shane Keating, chairman of the transportation and transit committee, said many factors must be considered before a final choice is made.

“There's cost, there's future look of what the LRT line would look like, what's the potential for transit oriented development, you know, the density and how can we change the route and increase the ridership ... and give better service to the residents, that's what it's all about,” he said.

A more detailed report on the final recommended route, including cost, will go to city council by the end of the year.

Late last year council voted to use $52 million in yearly tax surpluses from 2015 to 2024 to fund the Green Line transitway project.

The bus-only route will run from Harvest Hills in north central Calgary through the core and down to the South Health Campus in Seton.

The Green Line is being designed so that it can later be converted into a C-Train route.