Councillor seeks quicker link to airport
Lobbies for northeast LRT expansion, including possible link to airport
A northeast councillor is pushing for an expansion of the Blue Line LRT, including a possible link to the airport, and says he’d like it to happen before construction on the $4.6- billion Green Line is complete.
Freshman Coun. George Chahal said he plans to bring a notice of motion urging prioritization of an expanded Blue Line once a city study has been completed but before debates begin on the next four-year budget cycle.
“I do want to make sure that this is a priority in our upcoming budget, and defend and fight for the merits of it, because it does connect all of northeast Calgary into the transit system,” Chahal said.
“It’s also the quickest and most efficient route into the airport and it will provide an opportunity, just like every other major metropolitan city in North America, for a direct connection to the airport.”
The Ward 5 councillor would like to see the Blue Line extended north to stations at 88th Avenue N.E. and 128th Avenue N.E., and he believes the expansion could be more economical compared with some phase soft he Green Line.
Ch a hal said he doesn’ t believe the Blue Line extension should necessarily be prioritized ahead of the Green Line, but developed alongside it.
“The first stage of the Green Line has been approved, but I think before we look at allocating any more funds to the Green Line after what’ s already been done, we need to consider the Blue Line as our next extension,” he said.
The city decided last summer on the alignment for the Green Line, which will eventually stretch 46 kilometres from 160th Avenue N. to Seton in the south.
Funding has only been secured for the first phase of the project. Construction is set to beginin2020.
Willem Klumpenhouwer, a PhD candidate in transportation at the University of Calgary, said while most people like the idea of a train to the airport, it may not make sense unless there is sufficient demand from employees working at the airport.
However, echoing another possibility raised by Chahal, Klumpenhouwer said an Olympic bid could change the calculation when it comes to an airport link.
“If we’ re going to have an Olympics, I would hope that the city finds every which way they possibly can to get something that lasts beyond the Olympics that is useful for everybody,” Klumpenhouwer said.
But Klumpenhouwer also raised doubts about building out the Blue Line before the next phase of the Green Line is complete; the northern portion of the Green Line, he said, particularly the corridor along Centre Street through Highland Park, Thorncliffe and Huntington Hills, is generally denser and better laid out for a transit line.
“If a chunk of money came along for an LRT expansion, I would put still-unfunded portions of the Green Line ahead of the Blue Line and the airport (link),” Klumpenhouwer said.
Coun. Shane Keating, who has long championed the Green Line, said while he’s open to a discussion on how council should order transit priorities, he won’t agree to a “Blue Line first” proposal .“Is the( proposal) saying let’s prioritize the future of our transit expenditures? That’s a great debate to have. But if it’s saying, make the Blue Line the first and foremost, that’s not a debate I think should go anywhere.”