Discussions on Green Line project continue at City Hall

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – It is the major transit project still waiting to get off the ground.

Members of the Green Line committee are discussing the LRT project at City Hall Friday.

City administration said they’re about seven months behind when it comes to requests for proposals for the $4.9 billion project

Green Line manager Michael Thompson said council needs to settle on a route for the first leg of the line.

“We really do ned to finalize the scope so that we can wrap them up and then move forward with the procurement. The focus we have right now is on wrapping them up as much as we can, awaiting that final scope approval.”

Recently, an option was presented detailing the much-debated downtown route for the Green Line which includes shorter underground portions to save money.

Councillor Shane Keating worries they’re in a holding pattern, at the cost of more setbacks.

“We’re already six, seven months behind and if that’s the status then we’re going to be a year plus behind before we even get the ball rolling.”

One member of the committee is wondering whether the decision to route the line through downtown in May 2017 was rushed.

“When I hear the concerns from folks in Chinatown from people in Crescent Heights and just the worry about what we’re doing as a downtown solution, I’d like to know why we’re not considering putting that piece on hold because it’s the most complex, ” said Ward 3 Councillor Jyoti Gondek.

And to be super clear on my perspective – get moving on the south leg of LRT, connect south leg into downtown efficiently (including Rivers District stop), backburner most difficult piece over the river & create proper BRT from north to downtown. Multimodal rapid transit project.

— Jyoti Gondek (@JyotiGondek) February 21, 2020

She argues the downtown portion of the Green Line is the most complicated part of the project and needs to be studied more.

Gondek also worries about the commuters waiting for the Green Line to be finished and how they will get around.

For that, she’s recommending new bus routes be placed from the north to the south.

“It is absolutely possible to do Bus Rapid Transit, in fact it might be the most viable alternative right now in terms of cost and timing to get it done.”

Gondek believes a BRT service would work well, as thousands of Calgarians already take the bus.

With a pink sky over City Hall, the green line committee gets ready to talk LRT. Cllr @JyotiGondek plans to pump the brakes, while she's pro-greenline, she says the project may be on the wrong track entirely. She has concerns over the DT core portion of the line. #yyc @660NEWS pic.twitter.com/5ZcmsGcPN8

— Saif Kaisar (@StaySaif) February 21, 2020

Despite these concerns and a request to put the downtown portion on hold, Gondek said this is still a project that needs to be done.

“I’m absolutely in favour of the Green Line, I’m absolutely in favour of getting rail into north-central Calgary. I’m very concerned that waiting for 20 years is not the way to do it. We need an interim solution, this is a very good one and it will help thousands of people in the city.”

Construction of the first phase of the Green Line LRT is set to begin next year.