Price tag jumps on new LRT line
Multibillion-dollar mega project will likely be built in three phases
It’ll cost billions of dollars, include an ambitious tunnel or two, radically impact dozens of communities and — eventually — ease commutes for thousands of transit-riding Calgarians.
But the enormous cost and scale of the 46-kilometre Green Line LRT — slated to begin construction in mid-to-late 2019 — has forced councillors and city officials to rein in expectations, concede the entire line will easily exceed the initial $4.5-billion estimate, and take far longer to complete end-to-end.
“That’s something that’s important that Calgarians understand,” Mac Logan, the city’s general manager of transportation, said in an interview.
“Just because we’re doing the plan for the whole thing doesn’t mean that we actually have enough money to do that in our first phase,” he said.
“Even though $4.59 billion is an enormous amount of money, it’s not enough to build the entire line, we don’t believe.”
An internal city report, obtained by Postmedia through the Freedom of Information Act, suggests the mega-project would be built over three stages.
The first phase, or “core section,” would stretch 26.5 kilometres from Beddington in the north, through the downtown core and end at the planned Shepard station and maintenance facility in the south.
The remaining 19.5 kilometres would be built later as funding is available: one extending north from Beddington to 160th Avenue; the other, south from Shepard to Seton.
In the report, administration suggests the city could defer construction of stations at 72nd Avenue and 64th Avenue in the north, 2nd Avenue S.W. at Eau Claire, Centre Street south in the Beltline, and merge the stations at 9th and 16th Avenues on Centre Street north into a single underground station to cut costs.
“Every CTrain we’ve ever built, we planned it, and then we built it in phases and then we did extensions,” said Ward 12 Coun. Shane Keating, who has staked much of his political career on delivering improved transit service to his southeast constituents. “This one will be no different.”
City council and the federal government have pledged $1.56 billion and $1.53 billion, respectively, towards the Green Line. And while the cash-strapped NDP government has signalled support, it’s unwilling to commit its third until city officials nail down the cost and scope, said Transportation Minister Brian Mason.
“We’re going to wait to see what the final proposal is and we’ll see if we’ve got the money for it,” said Mason.
“Our government is broadly supportive of public transit … however, unless we have a really clear definition of project scope and what its costs are going to be, we’re not in a position to make a decision.”
The final route for the Green Line won’t be approved until June. City administration is still examining two options to get the Green Line through the densely populated Beltline and refining cost estimates and contingencies.
Last fall, Logan told councillors construction of the entire line could cost $5.8 billion to $6.7 billion. He now says the price range will be lower but declined to offer an updated estimate until administration delivers its report in June.
“We kind of know how much funding we’re working with, and we have to figure out the different scenarios,” said Logan. “That’s going to be the really tough decision, I believe, for council.” But the truncated core section, as proposed in the city report, would see Calgarians in high-growth and transitstarved communities in the north and southeast rely on feeder buses for years until additional funding is available to complete the Green Line.
“We are going to have to be like parents on this thing,” said Coun. Andre Chabot. “Everybody wants, but there’s only so much we can deliver. We’re going to have to take a hard line and say, ‘Sorry, this is all we can give you at the moment.’ ”