Green Line's future secure, Calgary city council committee to hear Tuesday
With construction set to begin this summer, Calgary city council's executive committee will receive an update on the Green Line this Tuesday — its first briefing on the multibillion-dollar transit project since the federal government reaffirmed its funding commitment in March.
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A city staff report included in Tuesday's agenda packages outlines that with just under $6.25 billion in committed funding, the Green Line LRT project's future is secured.
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After a months-long feud with the Alberta government last year over how the project should be delivered, council approved — begrudgingly — a revised alignment and business case for the Green Line on Jan. 28.
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The first phase of the project will see the southeast segment of the future LRT line extend 16 kilometres and include 10 stations, from Shepard, just north of 130th Avenue S.E., to the Scotia Place event centre in Victoria Park.
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What happens after that is still undetermined. The province's willingness to co-fund the project hinged on scrapping the city's previous plan for a below-ground tunnel through the downtown.
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The province asserts that eliminating the need to tunnel will save more than $1 billion, allowing the train to extend farther south, increasing ridership.
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The feasibility of that above-ground alignment will be studied for the next two years, including property, traffic and noise impact studies, public engagement and cost estimate validations.
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The city will oversee both delivery of the southeast alignment, including construction of the first 16 kilometres of track, and the planning and design work for the downtown segment.
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Utility relocation underneath 2nd Street S.W., which was paused last fall after the province announced it would not support the city's version of the downtown alignment, will resume this summer. The work will conclude by early 2027, the city said.
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