Plans for a new southeast transit line are moving ahead, and Alberta’s transportation minister said that the city and province are working well together.
Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen said that the next working group meeting is Oct. 28. The sides are continuing to hammer out a downtown alignment, and the cost of different options.
The working group was struck in the weeks after the province withdrew its share of the $6.25 billion former Green Line project. They said the transit line was growing too costly and serving too few riders.
That led to a cooling-off period. The City and province then came together to say that the south portion from 4 Street SE to Shepard would stay intact.
The downtown is the focus area of the project. That’s the work provincially appointed consultant AECOM is doing right now.
Dreeshen said they’re looking at fully at-grade solutions, fully elevated options and a combination. They’re even looking at where they enter the downtown, he said.
“Obviously, they’re trying to have the most cost-effective but also higher ridership outcome,” he told LWC.
“It’s just going through the process of trying to figure out what would be the best alignment and how to piece it all together.”
There is no chance the downtown portion will run underground, Dreeshen said.
“It’s about 10 to 1 cost when you go underground versus above ground,” he said.
“The savings that we can have of going above ground, whether it’s elevated or at grade, is huge, and that’s with that cost savings for that $6.2 billion budget. That’s the trade-off to be able to then go farther south, where lots of Calgarians live, and there’s a real need for more transit options down the southeast part of the city.”
North Calgary transit can’t be forgotten: Mayor Gondek
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that work on the transit project continues.
In an interview for the LWC member-exclusive Mayor and Me podcast, Mayor Gondek outlined in detail how the project had been tested for viability. She said, they thought the province was on board, given they’d been presented with all of the evidence before their letter of support.
“The province was with us, like we were hand in hand,” she said.
“We were looking at all of the options and came away with the alignment that was approved in 2021 after their almost one-year provincial review.”
With work on a new downtown entry underway, Mayor Gondek said she’s concerned the province will bypass public consultation.
“My incredible concern is that whatever work they are doing with their new consultant, when are people going to weigh in on it? When are property owners going to weigh in on it? When are businesspeople going to say this does or doesn’t work for us?” Mayor Gondek said.
“When is the public at large going to be able to say, ‘Hold on. That’s not what we were expecting.’ So, I have no idea what that looks like.”
Right now, there’s no clear plan for how to extend light rail transit to the north. Community groups recently stepped forward to push for transit improvements in the absence of north Calgary rail.
Mayor Gondek, who pushed for more robust north service after the 2021 decision to go south withGreen Line, said a solution must be found. She said the City of Calgary has been clear on this aspect.
“The ridership is in the north. The 301 is proof of that,” she said.
“So, to come back with an alignment that doesn’t allow us to connect into the North would be an absolute travesty.”
Minister Dreeshen said they’ll work with the City of Calgary to find a north transit solution.
“Right now, we’re just focused on fixing the Green Line alignment from downtown down to the southeast,” he said.
A Green Line board meeting will be held Oct. 28, with a wind-down update on the agenda.
