Green Line construction will not start in 2021

The Green Line LRT is facing more delays, with the project manager informing the city that the scheduled construction of Phase One will not begin on time and is delayed until at least next year.

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — Construction will not begin this year on the city’s largest-ever infrastructure project.

Ground was supposed to break on the first leg of the multi-billion dollar Green Line LRT, but during a committee meeting at City Hall on Wednesday, officials confirmed it would not be happening as scheduled.

Last year, the provincial government announced it would review the project as Alberta has committed more than $1.5 billion for the transit line. This forced the city to pause the procurement process and initially put the status of construction in limbo.

Green Line General Manager Michael Thompson told the committee that construction cannot start in 2021, and no decisions have been made on the first segment of the line.

That first section was due to stretch from Shepard in southeast Calgary, up towards 16 Ave. The city has maintained this is the easiest section to build because it involves at-grade train stations and doesn’t have issues such as how to get through the core itself.

RELATED: When will construction of the Green Line start?

Jeff Binks, president of the group LRT on the Green, said this is disappointing.

“It’s been almost four years since the original stage one plan for the Green Line was presented to the (Transportation and Transit) Committee, and yet here we are talking again about anything and everything except a firm construction timeline,” he said. “What is the reality of Green Line to date? As far as I can tell, all that we really have is the most expensive utilities relocation project in the City of Calgary’s history. Spending hundreds of millions of dollars pushing dirt and moving power lines might make construction easier, but until we start signing contracts to lay track and build stations, we still don’t have a train.”

Ward 3 Councillor Jyoti Gondek asked Thompson about this announcement as she joined in the frustration about the never-ending delays.

“In your opinion, as the team that has been working on this and as the team that solidly believes in this project, are you okay with the fact that we are not going to start construction this year? Don’t you feel that’s a failure? she asked.

“It’s frustrating for all of us, Councillor Gondek,” Thompson responded.

Transportation Minister Ric McIver has remained unclear on the project’s exact issues since sending a letter to the city in 2020 outlining some vague concerns. Since then, conversations have reportedly been continuing between officials with the city and the province to work through technical details.

“I can assure you that from both sides of the table, from the city and the province, we’re working together cooperatively towards, what I believe is a common goal,” McIver said earlier this month, as he assured there are no political issues at play here. “The technical people from the City of Calgary are working cooperatively together as we speak and have been for weeks now to get to a place where we can proceed with the Green Line LRT.”

Ward 12 Councillor Shane Keating, who has been one of the loudest promoters of the project since inception, said earlier this month that he hasn’t received any correspondence from either the Green Line team or the provincial government on any of the issues being discussed.

“In my mind, we’re talking about the whole project, but it almost seems like a comparison as if you’re holding up the construction of the basement of your house because you don’t know the cost of the tile in the master bedroom, I just don’t get it.”

NDP Municipal Affairs Critic Joe Ceci expressed his disappointment about the delay in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

“The Green Line is critical to revitalizing our downtown and getting Calgarians back to work. This unnecessary delay is a complete failure by Jason Kenney and the UCP that puts 20,000 jobs at risk at a time when Calgarians need them the most,” he said. “Every day that passes without shovels in the ground lies squarely at the feet of Jason Kenney, Transportation Minister Ric McIver and their UCP government. They somehow managed to find billions of dollars for profitable corporations but came up empty-handed for critical projects that will improve the lives of Calgarians.”

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