Calgary mayor blindsided by new Green Line LRT timeline from province

Calgary’s mayor is miffed over the province’s new timeline for the beleaguered Green Line LRT project.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek says she was blindsided once again by the UCP government saying this week that the planning stage for an elevated track through the downtown core will be done by 2026.

She says the AECOM report commissioned by the province for the realigned Green Line is only at “5 per cent completion design completion.”

“Within the report, the authors themselves clearly acknowledge that this report lacks necessary analysis and stakeholder engagement to responsibly move forward,” she says.

In a statement released Tuesday, the province said the Green Line project has been given a green light for construction to begin after approved funding from the federal government.

The realigned project would include a line that extends from 130 Avenue SE north to the new events centre near Stampede Park — with future plans to extend the line through downtown along 10 Avenue and 2 Street SW, a portion of which would be along an elevated track.

The province said planning from the city for the downtown segment is expected to begin shortly, with the design to be completed by 2026, leading to construction in 2027.

Gondek says there needs to be conversations with stakeholders as part of a functional plan on what a proper downtown alignment looks like, adding that process could take up to two years.

She says there is still significant risks at play, including noise pollution, design roadblocks, negotiations with CPKC and costs continuing to rise with every delay.

“Depending on what comes back, this may or may not be the right kind of alignment,” Gondek says. “We will do that study first and then determine how we are going to move forward.”

The mayor says she wants more information about potential financial risks to Calgary and says her concerns have been taken to the province.

Organizations representing real estate and business communities in Calgary’s downtown and Beltline wrote a letter to Premier Danielle Smith and Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen in January expressing opposition to the elevated track through downtown.

Gondek followed up with her own letter that invited Smith and Dreeshen to walk along the proposed route to show them “first-hand” the potential impacts that an elevated line downtown would have.