Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek believes its possible city council could come to a decision on the future of the Green Line LRT project later this month.
It follows a Monday meeting of the joint working group between the City of Calgary and Government of Alberta on the Green Line, in which the mayor described as “incredibly productive.”
“When I can share any of the details we’re working through I will definitely do that,” Gondek told reporters. “For now, we remain engaged with working group members and we’re trying to find a positive way to deliver a north south transit line to our city.”
Gondek said a decision from city council on whether to move ahead with the province’s revised alignment by the end of the month is “absolutely possible,” but is dependent on the recommendations that are brought forward from city administration.
A decision by the end of January is something Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen had called for when the province’s desired alignment for the Green Line was released late last year.
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The revised alignment proposes an elevated track above 10 Avenue S.E., which would travel west then turn north up 2 Street S.W. and stop above the Red and Blue LRT lines on 7 Avenue, instead of tunnelling under the downtown core.
The province claimed the move would save $1 billion from the budget, which would allow the LRT line to extend further south to Shepard.
But the city has said the province’s figures fail to incorporate $1.3 billion in known costs and risks.
According to Gondek, this week’s working group meeting provided “a little bit of clarity.”
“Some of the questions we posed at the end of last year have been answered through that working group meeting and through the liaison between both administrations,” Gondek said Tuesday. “We are working very well together to try to come up with a solution.”
However, experts say time is of the essence for a decision as the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP), the mechanism in which the federal government is funding its portion of the project, is coming to an end of March 31.
“If this conversation carries on beyond March, it would be into a conversation around the Canada Public Transit Fund, and those funds don’t start rolling until 2026, and we have an election,” said David Cooper, principal at Leading Mobility. “We need to figure out what the scope of this project is before the end of March.”
Gondek said Dreeshen has been in conversation with the federal government, and confirmed a new business case would need to be submitted to the federal government that reflects the new alignment.
“I would imagine our administrations are already piecing together what needs to be in such a business case so I think we’ll be in good shape,” Gondek said.
The mayor also noted the prorogation of Parliament isn’t expected to have as much of an impact on the process, as the treasury board continues to meet and cabinet ministers are working, but the timeline remains tight.
Last September, council voted to wind down the project after the province announced it was pulling its funding, due to council shortening the first phase of the line over cost overruns.
The project’s budget was expanded to $6.2 billion.
After negotiations with the province, several contracts would be preserved and design work would continue on the at-grade section of the Green Line between Victoria Park and Shepard.
Late Tuesday evening, Calgary city council received a confidential briefing on the latest working group meeting, but didn’t publicly divulge any information.
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