Multiple Green Line station designs are complete and ready for construction in what’s shaping up to be a busy 2027 for the $6.5 billion transportation project.

Six of 10 stations along the southeast transit line recently reached the 100 per cent design stage, according to Green Line director Wendy Tynan, paving the way for the tendering of construction contracts and shovels in the ground next spring.

Tynan said station designs in the Shepard to Bow station package will be issued for construction (IFC) in the next couple of weeks. Approved contractors will price it, bids will be reviewed, and it will be awarded.

“It’s all full steam ahead, and it’s sort of every two-to-three weeks there’s another package heading out to market,” she told LWC.

This includes stations at Shepard, Douglas Glen, Quarry Park, South Hill, Ogden and Lynnwood Millican. Design review is still ongoing for elevated stations at Highfield, 26 Avenue SE, and Ramsay/Inglewood, along with work on a Grand Central station connection to downtown.

Decisions still need to be made on the downtown Green Line alignment, with an updated report coming to the Executive Committee on Sept. 8. That will impact the final design of the Grand Central station.

Tynan said that, for the southeast leg of the Green Line, the project milestones are all about construction.

“It’s not as much about the development of the project. It’s now really about the delivery of the project,” she said.

“As we reach the 100 per cent design, and the design is issued for construction, it means we can go to the market, we can award the contract, and they can start building it. So, it’s long past development. This is really all about milestones towards building Green Line and getting it ready for revenue service in 2031.”

Green Line station designs integrated into surrounding community

Several Green Line stations are in or near Coun. Harrison Clark’s Ward 9. He said he’s been working with the Green Line team and the area communities to influence station designs.

“Most of these communities have never had rapid transit at this scale, and what stands out to me is that these stations look designed to belong in their neighbourhoods rather than dropped into them,” he said.  

“I’ve pushed for Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles throughout this process, and it’s genuinely good to see that reflected in the final designs: Open sightlines, glass walls, and lighting that make these spaces feel safe to use, not just safe on paper.”

Clark said he’s encouraged by the design being oriented around plazas and gathering spaces in the communities, rather than platforms and turnstiles – like on the Blue and Red Lines.

“A station only becomes a real community asset if people actually want to be there, and for neighbourhoods like these, that kind of activated public space matters as much as the trains themselves,” he said.

Throughout the multiple iterations of the Green Line, the integrated community stations have been part of the transit plan’s vision. Low-floor LRVs were incorporated into the rail line to allow for community-integrated stations. Station platforms are only 31 centimetres high.

According to the project webpage, all stations will have similar shapes and use the same materials. They will be 90-metre, centre- or side-loading platforms, with canopies covering 25 per cent of the platform area. There will be heated shelters, glass walls, lighting and CCTV, along with plazas and open public spaces.

“Station canopy structures will be recognizable for their distinctive, flowing forms, inspired by a chinook cloud arch,” the page reads.

Now begins the three-stage approach to Green Line delivery. Civil construction, like the stations, bridges and other structures, will lay the path for the other two stages: tracks and systems.

Tynan said a lot of the construction work that’s been happening through 2026 — the start of the maintenance and storage facility, steel purchases, preparations for the stations — provided the groundwork for a busy 2027 Green Line construction season.

“It’s peak construction starting in 2027 and 2028. They’re going to be really huge years for the project,” she said.