Calgary airport tunnel study approved

In their first meeting, the new Calgary city council agreed Monday to do a study on building a tunnel underneath the new airport runway.

The city will now spend $250,000 to evaluate the project and come up with an estimated budget and timeline.

The study will be completed by the end of the year.

During the municipal election campaign, the cost of the tunnel was variously estimated at anywhere between $40 and $900 million.

Also on Monday, council defeated a motion by Ald. Gord Lowe to do an even more detailed analysis by February.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi called that motion a bid to kill the tunnel by delaying the project.

"If we don't move on this one, then we'll never build it," Nenshi said outside of council chambers. "That's the issue."

But Lowe angrily rejected the description.

"This is not an attempt to kill the project," said Lowe.

"This is an honest attempt — out of respect for the new members of council, for administration, for the returning members of council — to understand once and for all what the cost of this project is, what the impact is not only on the city, but also to think, your worship, regionally."

Barlow Trail north of McKnight Boulevard will close next spring to make way for the runway at Calgary International Airport.

The closure is expected to put extra pressure on Deerfoot Trail, as travellers head to the airport.