Province reveals its new Green Line LRT plan, but city says key details missing

After uncertainty surrounded the fate of the Green Line LRT project for several months, the provincial government has introduced its revised alignment, which now includes an elevated section through downtown Calgary.

Infrastructure consulting firm AECOM, hired by the province in September, was put in charge of designing the new alignment, which stretches just over 17 kilometres and has 12 stations instead of the previous plan's seven. 

This new version was designed as a revision to the City of Calgary's previously approved plan after multiple disagreements between levels of government about how the multibillion-dollar project would take shape.

The new plan was released by the province Friday morning. 

This iteration of the Green Line will feature no tunneling through Calgary's downtown, which was a major point of criticism from the province in the project's last alignment.

The revised plan has the LRT running through the core along 10th Avenue on elevated tracks, and then curving north to allow riders to connect with the Blue Line and Red Line in the downtown core along Seventh Avenue.

Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors Devin Dreeshen is encouraging Calgarians to reach out to their city councillors if they have thoughts on the new proposal. 

"This is going to be a decision by Calgary city council of whether the Green Line goes ahead or doesn't," he told CBC News in an interview on Friday afternoon.

"If you're a taxpayer and you're seeing that you're getting more value for your tax dollars in this alignment, or if you're actually going to be served by this new Green Line alignment, just encouraging people to reach out to their Calgary councillors because we'll be voting on this very soon."

According to the province, this adjustment will result in over $1 billion in savings, which is why the new iteration would will be able to extend as far south as Shepard. The previous plan's most southern station was Lynnwood/Millican. 

The overall cost remains at $6.2 billion.

As of September, $1.3 billion had already been spent on the project, with the City of Calgary contributing $600 million, the province $440 million and the federal government $260 million. 

"This new Green Line route saves more than a billion dollars in tunnelling costs. This alignment adds five more stops, will be 76 per cent longer and will serve 60 per cent more Calgarians — all within the same budget," reads a statement from Dreeshen sent Friday morning.

"The ball is now in Calgary City Council's court to approve this alignment and to finally start construction on the Green Line in the new year." 

CBC News previously reported the provincial government paid AECOM $2.5 million to come up with the new Green Line LRT report by the end of this year.

All of this comes after a turbulent saga that saw the Alberta government and the City of Calgary squabbling over the future of the project, which was originally stirred up by the province's decision to withdraw its portion of funding for the Green Line back in September.

'This is now on the province's terms,' says mayor

In an interview with CBC News on Friday morning, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said she and council have yet to receive a copy of AECOM's complete report about the new Green Line plan. 

"We've been given no time to even look at what's being proposed, but the provincial government has already put it out in the media," said Gondek. 

"So this puts us in a very difficult situation ... we don't even have the information we need to make an informed decision as a partner, but it has been leaked to the public."

Gondek said there was a group meeting early Friday morning between city elected officials, city administration and members of the provincial government where AECOM shared its findings, but the city still lacks an understanding of who carries the financial risk for the project.

"This is now on the province's terms. They wanted a new alignment, they engaged AECOM to give them a new alignment. This is now their project and their alignment," she said. 

"I'm still waiting for them to confirm that they are now the party responsible for funding on this thing. And we have no assurances of that."

She added the additional $700 million from the city that was approved by council in July was directly linked to the city's previous Green Line LRT alignment presented over the summer. 

That additional capital was to fund an underground alignment of the LRT. The mayor says that money would no longer be part of this new iteration of the project. 

"We have been abundantly clear as a council that the initial money that we agreed to for this project, $1.53 billion, is still on the table. That's what we agreed to."

Dreeshen told CBC News that the city will be receiving AECOM's report later today so it can be discussed during Tuesday's city council meeting.

"We committed to sharing the report with the city. There is some commercial sensitivities to it that obviously can't be submitted to the public," said the minister, explaining that this is to ensure taxpayers get the best bids from industry partners.

Province says Green Line back on track

David Low, executive director of the Victoria Park Business Improvement Area, said the group was not consulted for AECOM's report and found out about the new route from media reports. 

"Nothing surprises me anymore in terms of how this project is unfolding," Low said, adding he's disappointed. 

He says 10th Avenue functions as a main corridor for emergency vehicle access to the Beltline. Low believes any 10th Avenue alignment would need to consider that configuration, or reconfigure that artery to make sure emergency vehicles can easily access the area.

When asked how businesses along 10th Avenue feel about AECOM's elevated track idea, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said "that's a conversation that needs to be had."

"This is why it's out there so that we can get that kind of feedback. The elevation is intended to have a minimal amount of impact so that they can continue to operate their businesses at street level," Smith told reporters at a Friday morning news conference. 

The new proposed alignment also has no Eau Claire station, despite residents being forced to move after the land was expropriated to make room for the Green Line LRT.

Smith also said that extending the elevated LRT line by 640 metres to an Eau Claire station would cost an additional $400 million.

"The reason it's important to connect Seventh Avenue is that it allows for transfers to both the Red and Blue Line. Going on to Eau Claire would cost another $400 million. And so that means that if you do that, then you can't take the project all the way out to Shepard," said Smith. 

"So those are the trade-offs that have to be made."

She said a terminal in the Eau Claire area could be a future project, but prioritizing the south end of the city is necessary to meet riders' needs.