The current Green Line functional plan for an elevated route through downtown Calgary will include a connection to an Eau Claire station, city officials said Monday.

Still, questions persist around whether other downtown options should still be considered before the city moves ahead with any sort of work.

Councillors got a Green Line project update at the Sept. 8 Executive Committee meeting, with Green Line team members outlining progress since last June’s groundbreaking.

Right now, further geotechnical work is being done as the design for the south leg is advanced, and piling work and road configuration is underway at the 114 Avenue and Barlow Trail Maintenance and Storage Facility.

Three construction packages will be awarded this month, including two LRT bridges on 78 Avenue over Blackfoot Trail on Ogden, and the Ogden Road realignment.

In the downtown, utility work along 2 Street SW, which was paused back in 2024 when the province pulled funding for the Green Line, has now resumed. The Green Line team is also preparing for a comprehensive public engagement plan to begin in the first part of 2026 on advancing the downtown segment.

A question from Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian opened the door to further queries on a future downtown alignment, including whether the functional planning includes an Eau Claire LRT station. There’s been significant concern about a future Eau Claire station as the city acquired property in that location, with a future development planned for the area.

“I think it signals that we’re committed to a north, south line. I also think that, you never know with the governments that we have, when more funding will come, and you just want to be ready to be able to deliver projects,” Mian said.

Admin confirmed Eau Claire was a part of the functional planning.

“Previous council direction to us in January was to undertake the functional plan for the downtown segment from Event Center through the downtown,” said Sarah Huber, with Infrastructure Services.

“So, the downtown functional planning is progressing to ensure a seamless south to north alignment, including the Eau Claire station, and enable future extension to 16th Avenue.”

It does not include a Bow River Crossing or a potential extension up to 16 Avenue. That would be a future phase.

Downtown alignment still in flux

Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong wanted to ensure that the future public engagement was broad and included each stakeholders along the way to gauge the impact of an elevated line on everything from business revenues to property values.

Admin said they would be addressing both of these things.

Wong asked if the functional plan would be looking at two other alternative downtown alignments that were recommended by the provincial consultants. The response was that the engagement and functional planning would be focused on the provincially imposed elevated alignment.

Then Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra jumped in.

“There were a lot of questions that still remain about the elevated line into the downtown. A lot of us supported doing the functional studies so we could have an eyes wide open look as to whether the hastily drawn line into the downtown by the province’s consultants was, in fact, as viable as they were suggesting,” he said.

“My question is, what are the off ramps for future councils?”

Later, outside council chambers, Coun. Wong said they’ll have to see the results of the 10 Avenue alignment function plan and the public engagement before determining how council should proceed.

“I wanted to seed the questions to be sure they’re asking the right questions, to prove or disprove that the elevated alignment 10th Avenue, second street is right or wrong, and more importantly, to be sure that in the consultation process, everybody’s being heard, all the concerns are being addressed, and that nothing is left unaddressed further in the engagement study, which is critical concern of mine,” Wong said.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that the City of Calgary is once again repeating work that was already done multiple times before.

“I look forward to the results of that, because I have every confidence that the original alignment, which is underground, will still prevail as being the strongest possible route, but again, I’ll wait for the experts to weigh in,” she said.

How the project proceeds through into the downtown will ultimately be a question for the next city council, the mayor said. As for potential off ramps for a future city council, Mayor Gondek said it’s tough to back out of a project that’s already got shovels in the ground.