Green Line LRT’s future a key issue
Hopefuls want project pushed south to better serve transit-starved areas
Bringing LRT service to the burgeoning suburbs has long been a burning issue in the city’s far southeast.
And even though a leaner version of the $4.6 billion Green Line won council approval over the summer, candidates vying to represent Ward 12 say there’s still unfinished business when it comes to cementing a fully fleshed out mass transit solution for the area.
Jeff Binks, president of the advocacy group LRT on the Green Foundation, said it’s been an amazing run for the project whose latest iteration will see it run from 16 Avenue north to Shepard, just north of most of the ward’s largest neighbourhoods.
“During the last election, the concept of the Green Line we were still looking at was a bus transit way. The fact that four years later we’re talking about building an LRT is a pretty remarkable accomplishment,” Binks said. “But the next thing to think about is how we can get that train a little farther south.”
The current plan, which includes a three-way funding split between the municipal, provincial and federal governments, is aiming for completion by 2026.
Incumbent Ward 12 councillor Shane Keating has been a staunch proponent of the Green Line since he was first elected to council in 2010, and he notes that just because there’s now a game plan for the project, doesn’t mean it’s time to ease up on the gas.
“I’m extremely happy with what we’ve accomplished, but it still needs to be extended both south and north to get into the suburban subdivisions,” said the two-term councillor.
“I’m asking about it at all the doors and 80 to 90 per cent say they want to make the Green Line longer.”
It’s a common refrain amongst all four Ward 12 hopefuls: Keep the momentum going on the south end of the line to better serve transitstarved southeast communities.
EXPENSIVE
Brad Cunningham said residents of Calgary’s southeastern suburbs have waited too long for LRT service that has been available in other quadrants for so long, and he remains puzzled over how expensive the Green Line became while seeing its scope significantly narrowed.
“I think it’s crazy that when they finally came up with an answer, it cost two times as much for half as much (distance),” said the entrepreneur, questioning the decision to extend the line through downtown into the north-central part of the city.
“It needs to be just one project. People in this area shouldn’t be waiting until 2030 or beyond to ride the CTrain.”
Cunningham said some “outof-the-box thinking” at city hall could potentially further extend the Green Line to the south and better serve some of the area’s denser communities.
Mackenzie Quigley said it’s strange that the Green Line plan seems to be slamming on the brakes before it gets to some areas of the ward most in need of mass transit.
“I would like to see it go to the (southeast) hospital; I don’t see the point of it stopping where it is,” said Quigley, who’s a sales administrator and part-time tennis coach.
“If we get it to that point (the current proposed terminus at Shepard) and just stop, when we start it again it will be much more expensive.”
But not all are sold on the need to keep pushing the Green Line to the south.
Teresa Hargreaves, who proudly notes she was the fourth resident of McKenzie Towne, said from her experience talking to community members, many seem pretty indifferent to a dedicated LRT line for the area.
“When we’re looking at the Green Line, a lot of people said to me they wouldn’t use it unless it’s for special events,” said Hargreaves, an experienced land administrator, who noted a bus rapid transit line would probably serve just as well.
She said residents are much more concerned over public safety, noting there is no police district office east of the Bow River to serve suburban communities that have seen a marked rise in petty crime during the city’s economic downturn.