Green Line moving ahead with new phased procurement strategy

Tara Overholt tells us about a major change in how it is moving forward.

CALGARY — The city says it’s moving ahead with the Green Line LRT now that an extensive provincial review of the project is done.

The city says following the conclusion of the review, it is taking “responsible and prudent action” to move the line along and it will now be constructed through an adjusted procurement strategy in two stages.

The first phase will run from Shepard to Eau Claire, connecting the southeast with downtown and into the existing Red and Blue lines.

Phase two of Green Line construction–Eau Claire to 16 Ave. N–will go ahead if no cost escalations or additional risks pop up during phase one, and then it can eventually be completed up to 160 Ave. after that.

“Moving forward with a new procurement will bring greater cost certainty and ensure we can deliver on our mandate to build Green Line, within council approved direction, on behalf of our funding partners and for Calgarians,” said Green Line Board Executive Chair Don Fairbairn in a release.

He said the business case for the new LRT line remains strong.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi added on Wednesday that this is welcome news for the delayed project, as the provincial review did not turn up any major concerns apart from updating the procurement strategy.

“Exactly a year ago, when I was told the province needed to do some due diligence I said ‘great, that makes sense, it’s a $1.5-billion project’. But, having done a great deal of due diligence in my professional career, I thought that would be a six- or eight-week effort. Here we are twelve months later,” he said. “But I’m very happy that all of the city’s work on this, all of the big money that we spent on the best experts in the world on this project has been proven to be true.”

The province is putting up a third of the cost for the $5-billion expansion, with the federal government also contributing the final third. A business case from Ottawa was submitted last week, leading to the latest development.

Transportation Minister Ric McIver worried at one point that the LRT project would become a “train to nowhere” if not enough funding was secured to build it through downtown.

One downside of turning it into a two-stage project is that it could eliminate smaller local contractors from bidding on the work, but Nenshi said there was some added concern if that plan stayed intact.

“That did lead to a little bit of what we call completion risk, just making sure that the various pieces work together. So ultimately, in consultation with our partners at the Government of Alberta, it was decided that rather than to do three separate contracts, we will do two contracts.”

For advocates of the line, it’s good to see some new developments on the project after months of uncertainty caused by the provincial review. That said, there’s a feeling that it was a waste of time since it did not uncover any significant problems with the original plan.

“It is very frustrating that we’ve gone on a year now to essentially get to the exact same point we were at last spring. The only thing that’s really changed is this procurement plan that’s going to build a slightly longer section of Green Line to start off with,” said Jeff Binks, president of LRT on the Green.

The city added the cost of several major infrastructure projects has gone up across North America due to the pandemic, and we will see increases through the Green Line. Specifically, it said every 0.5 per cent increase in costs equates to more than $100 million for the Green Line.

Binks said this will be an issue moving ahead, but he is now more confident we will see the train finally go up to the northern edge of the city.

“Had they stopped short at 7 Ave. or the Beltline like some had proposed, I’d be really worried today. But the fact we’re going to Eau Claire and that Eau Claire station will be designed and built in a way to launch Green Line over the river, that becomes for Calgarians in the north a matter of when, not if,” he said. “We know Green Line will be going to north Calgary, we just have to make sure it gets there in a timely fashion.”

Originally, the line was set to be completed by 2026, but the city is looking at a delay of around two years as no major construction will be happening this year.

“We are a bit delayed,” said Nenshi. “I am hopeful that we will still be able to get somewhere close to (2026). It may drop a little bit but as the results of this procurement come in, we’ll be able to have the timeline.”

In addition to this plan, the city also began work on relocating underground utilities in the downtown and Beltline areas which will facilitate the eventual construction of the train line. The city also recently finalized the plan for stage two of the line up to Crescent Heights and it’s hoped that these are strong steps forward.

Binks said it’s almost hard to believe there is a positive step forward being taken, and eagerly anticipates the official start of construction.

“I will be popping some champagne the second I see that shovel actually go in the ground and the first bit of track actually gets laid.”

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