The Government of Alberta said it will work with the City of Calgary and the feds on the “orderly transition” of the Green Line, as questions arise over who will foot closing costs.
On Friday morning, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek had a meeting with Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen and Rob Anderson from Premier Danielle Smith’s office.
This is the meeting that was directed by council the day after the Green Line deal capitulated.
“This morning’s meeting with Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen and Rob Anderson from the Premier’s Office was intended to explain that City Council has requested information about the costs, risks and other consequences related to winding down the existing Green Line project, in light of the provincial government pursuing a new alignment,” read a statement from Mayor Gondek provided Friday afternoon.
The mayor said that information would also be provided to Calgary city council on Sept. 17. She added that the province has asked for a summary of all work done on the Green Line to date, ongoing work and outstanding contracts.
“The Province also confirmed that they have no desire to revisit the original alignment. They are actively pursuing engineering expertise to create an above-ground alignment by end of 2024,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Government of Alberta said they remain committed to the Green Line, and an alignment and scope that works for Calgarians and Alberta taxpayers, according to a statement attributed to Minister Dreeshen.
“Our plan is to have a third party in place as soon as possible to develop options for a cost-effective, above-ground alignment through downtown Calgary that extends to Seton and the South Health Campus,” read the statement.
“We look forward to receiving this information in order to determine the next steps for the Green Line.”
Upcoming fight over closing costs
Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra said he’s open to the idea of the City of Calgary not being the primary funder of the Green Line project. Given the province’s desire to take on the transit line, Carra said he’s fine with shedding the financial risk.
“If that’s the world we’re moving into, I welcome that because provincial governments and the federal government have way more financial capacity to tackle projects of this scale than municipal governments like ours, who were trying to do that,” he said.
Still, Carra has doubts about the province’s plan to deliver a transit project that will still be within the budget and provide effective service. He doesn’t believe any reputable consultants will arrive at alignment conclusions different from the city’s.
“If the province wants to take it on, I’m all for it. Having said that, the province seems to think that 10 years of exhaustive study of how to make this transit line work…they seem to think that in the next couple of months, they’re just going to bang out an alternative alignment.
“You could bang out an alternative alignment, but I can tell you that it won’t be cheaper, it definitely won’t be better, and there’s a huge question as to just basic viability.”
When asked about closing costs, Coun. Carra said there’s an upcoming battle brewing over who will pay that tab. Though not all of the money will be wasted, he said, noting a new park in Ogden that’s near a projected Green Line station.
“That’s not wasted money, which is which is nice to see, but the amount of absolutely wasted money is going to be hard to take,” he said.
“I suspect it’s going to run somewhere between $700 million to $1.4 billion and I suspect that there’s going to be a huge fight over who’s responsible for paying that money.”
The province didn’t address costs specifically, as they await the collection of Green Line information.
“In advancing this work we will continue to collaborate with the City of Calgary and our federal partners to ensure an orderly transition from an expensive and high-risk project with extensive tunneling to the new and longer above-ground alignment that will benefit many more Calgarians,” said Minister Dreeshen.
