Calgary city hall to explore alternate plans for downtown portion of Green Line

Calgary’s Green Line LRT has hit a road bump, with Calgary City Hall now looking into alternate options for the downtown portion of the line.

Mayor Jeromy Farkas said during council the province has had a change of heart when it comes to whether the downtown segment of the line will be above or below ground.

“I have had some recent positive discussions with the provincial government, and if there’s a desire to go into a brief closed session, I’d be happy to fill you in,” he said.

The province had previously tied its portion of funding for the project to an elevated Green Line, a plan the city was proceeding with.

But now, Farkas says the province has expressed flexibility for the downtown portion, even going as far as to say he’s learned an elevated line wouldn’t be possible.

“This elevated option, it looks like it’s irreconcilable with the current pitch for the Calgary airport to Banff rail connection,” Farkas told reporters. “If you lay the two maps down on each other, it looks like the two trains crash into each other at a certain intersection.”

In a statement, the province confirms it’s open to discussing refinements to the alignment, but a downtown tunnel is not on the table.

Now, councillors are directing the city to take another look at all options to find something the province supports.

“You wanted us to take a look at the 2nd Street alignment? Turns out that Calgarians aren’t a huge fan of that alignment. Here are some other options that you may like to ask us to explore further,” said Ward 4 councillor DJ Kelly.

This comes after a city survey showed 71 per cent of businesses along the proposed route rejecting an elevated Green Line, while two-thirds of Calgarians surveyed supported the idea.

However, that support may be muddied, according to officials, who say residents just want to see the line built.

“It wasn’t conclusive that this was the ideal way to get it done, but overall, they don’t want this project to die, and they want to see it move forward,” said Ward 8 councillor Nathaniel Schmidt.

“Some Green Line is better than no Green Line,” Kelly said.

City hall is expected to present its alternative plans to council by September 2026.