Five things to know about the Green Line
Madeline Smith offers some details as council decision on first stage of project nears.
Calgary’s city councillors are about to make their final decision on the first stage of the Green Line.
It’s a vote years in the making, and it’s a complicated conversation. Coun. Ward Sutherland said this week that the LRT expansion is so big and complex that “you would have to be involved in this project for three months to even comprehend what’s going on.”
Ahead of council’s expected June 15 debate, here are five things to know about the project:
1
What the Green Line looks like now
Green Line plans have been updated twice this year.
First, in January, the city publicly released a revised alignment through Calgary’s core. It included:
A bridge over the Bow River and Prince’s Island Park instead of a deep tunnel underneath; Low-floor trains running along Centre Street N. instead of underground; A Beltline path along 11th Avenue S.E. instead of 12th Avenue; Bus rapid transit (BRT) improvements in the north.
Then, last month, after gathering more public feedback, the city tweaked those plans again. Additions included:
A pathway for pedestrians and cyclists along the Bow River crossing; A new station at 9th Avenue N. in Crescent Heights; Changes to the station at 2nd Ave. S.W. in Eau Claire to integrate it into planned redevelopment and avoid disrupting traffic.
2
How city council will decide
The revised alignment needs a majority vote to pass, so at least eight council members have to say yes.
Any proposal that involves bigger changes, like the push to end the Green Line in downtown, for now, might be treated as a reconsideration. That means it would require a two-thirds vote, or 10 council members, to pass.
Councillors and the mayor will spend the next several days trying to sort out possible changes they’ll debate in council chambers.
Councillors Sutherland, Jyoti Gondek, Jeff Davison and Diane Colley-urquhart have jointly proposed a change that would see council approve the Green Line from Shepard to Eau Claire, but ask the city to do more work on options to travel across the Bow River to 16th Avenue N. — whether on a new bridge or running LRT along the Centre Street Bridge.
Coun. Shane Keating also added the possibility of expanding the scope of the first stage of the Green Line south to Mckenzie Towne, but only if city council opts against crossing the Bow River.
3
How the city pays
The Green Line is a $4.9-billion project, and the provincial and federal governments have each pledged $1.53 billion to build it. Ottawa promised its funding years ago, in the run-up to the 2015 federal election, and Alberta’s former NDP government signed an agreement in 2019 for what the province will contribute.
The city’s portion comes from the so-called “tax room” that council voted to set aside for the Green Line in the past.
Green Line manager Michael
Thompson said Tuesday that the funding agreements with other governments set the scope as 16th Avenue N. to Shepard. If council votes to make changes, the city would have to negotiate them with the province and the federal government.
4
How COVID-19 changes the conversation
Strict public-health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic have hit public transit hard. Bus ridership dropped by around 80 per cent, and Ctrain ridership has been down 92 per cent. It isn’t clear so far whether that has changed since Calgary entered the first stage of Alberta’s reopening.
Sutherland said there are still “many unknowns” for the future of public transit in Calgary, and that leaves him with concerns about the current vision of the Green Line.
“What happens if it takes five years to get back to total usage again? What if we’re down 20 per cent ridership for the next three years?”
Emily Grise, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta’s School of Urban and Regional Planning, said there’s no perfect example in history to help predict what might happen. But she added transit ridership in other cities has bounced back after serious incidents like the London Underground bombing.
“I think the situation that’s going to happen the most in light of COVID is another element to people’s satisfaction with transit. Now it’s driven things like safety, comfort and reliability, but cleanliness could become a really big component.”
5
What’s still unknown
There still isn’t a confirmed source of funding to build the full 46-kilometre Green Line, from 160th Avenue N. all the way to Seton. Officials say building this first stage would be an “anchor” to continue expanding the LRT system in Calgary.
There also won’t be a final call on certain details of the Green Line even after this month’s vote.
The city would be in for further discussions about what the bridge over the Bow River will look like, nailing down how it would be designed and trying to mitigate potential impact to surrounding parks and pathways.
The planned Eau Claire station is also a work in progress, since the city will be working with the site developer to ensure the new Ctrain station co-ordinates with the company’s plans.