Province tells City of Calgary to adjust Green Line plan
Posted Dec 23, 2020 2:56 pm.
Last Updated Dec 23, 2020 10:31 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY – The provincial government is telling the city to create a better plan for the Green Line project after a review outlined three reasons it would go over budget.
A letter from the province obtained by Postmedia said there are issues with costs, the city’s procurement plans, and project timing.
Transportation Minister Ric McIver called it “a train to nowhere” because it doesn’t hook up to the rest of Calgary’s LRT system.
“People I represent in southeast Calgary.. shouldn’t be treated like second-class citizens and get dumped out a kilometre or two from the rest of the LRT line,” said McIver.
“Everybody else… can take it to the Peter Lougheed hospital, to the university, to Chinook Centre, to the Zoo, and not get dumped out in a neighborhood.”
He says the biggest issue laid out in the report is the potential for a massive cost overrun when the project is half done–and that’s what the government wants to avoid.
“The taxpayers of this city need to know that a project–any project that you build–won’t go out of control before you start it,” he said.
McIver says the city’s cost for stage two is significantly underestimated because it hasn’t been fully designed.
The first stage of construction extends from 16 Ave. N to 126 Avenue S.E. with the city holding off on procurement for the second stage, which will include the bridge over the Bow.
