Off the rails: Residents and business owners paying the price for Green Line drama
Those directly affected fume as city and province haggle over LRT route
While the Green Line LRT project feels like a train that may never leave the station, Calgarians who have been forced to make sacrifices for this project are feeling ripped off.
Jane Lindsay, a former Eau Claire resident whose property was expropriated for the project, says the whole experience has left a sour taste in her mouth.
"We were told: May 31, 2024, at 11:59 p.m., we have to be gone. And today's Dec. 17, 2024, the houses are still there," said Lindsay.
"You work so hard to buy a home.… To be treated this way, it's pretty disgusting."
All of this comes after the province announced a new proposal on Friday, which was a revision of the City of Calgary's previous plan after multiple disagreements between levels of government about how the multibillion-dollar project would take shape.
The new iteration of the Green Line would feature no tunneling through Calgary's downtown, which was a key criticism from the province in the last alignment.
The revised plan has the LRT running through the core along 10th Avenue on elevated tracks, then curving north to Seventh Avenue, enabling riders to connect with the Blue Line and Red Line in the city core.
It would also span just over 17 kilometres and have 12 stations instead of the previous plan's seven; however, this plan features no Eau Claire station.
Jane's husband, Patrick Lindsay, says the recent drama about the Green Line feels like there wasn't really a reason for them to move. He believes the entire experience has been an "enormous waste of time."
"It's never been clear that they actually had a genuine need for our property," he said.
Harvard Developments owns the land, and it had plans to redevelop the Eau Claire Market land into a mixed-use project with the Green Line LRT in mind.
When asked about its plans to develop the area in light of a new Green Line alignment, a company spokesperson declined to comment.
Elevated LRT would 'completely ruin' business
It's not just residents who have had to make sacrifices for the project, which, for now, remains in purgatory.
Geoff Allan, owner of Bottlescrew Bill's Pub on the corner of 10th Avenue and First Street, says his business has already suffered.
From September 2022 to October 2024, the City of Calgary removed and relocated any potential utility conflicts as part of Phase 1 of the Green Line LRT project's underground tunnel.
"During the utility relocation, it ruined, decimated our sales for an entire summer. That was just moving … some of the power line support," said Allan.
"So to construct a Plus-30 or Plus-15 elevated LRT will completely ruin our business."
WATCH | Businesses grapple with potential new LRT plan:
When asked how businesses along 10th Avenue feel about the 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," she told reporters during a Friday news conference.
During Tuesday's city council meeting, Wendy Tynan, the executive director of public affairs with the city's Green Line LRT leadership team, told council that work was done to make the train tunneling process quicker.
"Over a series of 2½ years and investment of a few $100 million to move the utilities from 11th Avenue and Second Street to adjacent avenues and streets … [was done] to reduce the conflicts and reduce the overall project risk," she said.
When asked if the money that's already been spent on utility relocation work would be a throwaway cost in light of the province's proposed elevated alignment, Tynan said it's too early to say.
"Some of the work that was done was to install new infrastructure in the area to support the development of the culture and entertainment district, so upgrading those utilities certainly does have value. But in terms of the specificity … it's preliminary to say exactly what would fall out."
Meanwhile, the province will not release the report it commissioned from infrastructure consulting firm AECOM to explain why it believes this new alignment is a better option. According to the province, it doesn't want confidential financial information in the public domain that could affect future construction bids.
"I encourage the city to thoroughly review the report and bring forward any questions or feedback they may have as we continue to work toward delivering a cost-effective and functional transit solution for Calgarians," reads a statement emailed Monday from Devin Dreeshen, minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors.
During Tuesday's open presentation from the city's Green Line LRT leadership team prior to the closed session, some councillors questioned how Calgarians would be able to determine whether the provincial government's plan is a good one if the details can't be discussed publicly.
'They want to be martyrs and us to be criminals'
Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal says the secrecy over all details — including but not limited to the financial information — is shutting out the public from what's being proposed.
"Why are we being so secretive about it? Be open with the public, get their engagement ... so they understand the full economics of the project, and then go with it," he said.
There are various concerns about how an elevated line downtown could affect the property value of neighbouring office buildings. City council heard Tuesday that if there are lawsuits filed as a result of the project, they will be the responsibility of the city and not the province.
"Looks like they want to be martyrs and us to be criminals," Dhaliwal told reporters.
Peter Oliver, director of the Beltline Neighbourhoods Association, echoed some of the concerns about the confidentiality of AECOM's proposed design. He says he wants transparency from the government, and believes the province should release a public copy of the report.
He also believes Calgarians should have a chance to weigh in on the proposal via a public hearing.
"There's a lot of concerns and a lack of a lot of information right now about the province's proposed elevated alignment down 10th Avenue. It could sterilize up to 19 blocks of busy city streets through the Beltline and downtown," said Oliver.
"It could impact businesses. It could impact residents. It could increase taxes and also have a negative effect on public safety there. There's just so much we don't know about this proposal and it seems to be being shoved down the throats of city hall and Calgarians."
Following Tuesday's nearly full day of closed discussions about the project, the city said it believes the province's revised Green Line LRT alignment would cost $1.3 billion more than what was previously estimated.
Council ultimately voted to keep negotiating with the province on the Green Line LRT's alignment should certain terms be met, such as sharing risk and cost overrun liability.
Calgary's mayor will be requesting the Alberta government release AECOM's full report with sensitive information redacted, as part of city administration's recommendations.
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With files from Jo Horwood, Bryan Labby and Scott Dippel