Calgary’s Green Line could run at street level along 10 Avenue S.W. after a city committee endorsed the only downtown route estimated to fit within the project’s existing budget. The city’s executive committee voted 12-1 Tuesday to endorse a surface alignment along 10 Avenue S.W., sending the proposal to city council for approval. “I will admit that this is the first time I will actually vote to support the Green Line,” said Mayor Jeromy Farkas. He added that there would always be reasons to delay the project, but waiting would not make it less expensive. Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly described the recommendation as an important step after decades of debate. “We know where it starts. We know where it ends,” he said. Kelly noted it was the first time in 40 years that the city could say where the Green Line starts and ends. Design and ridership Under the proposal, trains would travel west along 10 Avenue from a surface station at Olympic Way, near Scotia Place and the planned Grand Central passenger rail station. The tracks would connect to a downtown station between 1 Street and 2 Street S.W. The city says portions of the roadway would have to be reconfigured to accommodate the line. The detailed traffic, parking and property-access impacts are still being discussed. The surface alignment was the only one of three options presented to committee that could fit within the Green Line’s approved $6.248-billion project budget. The province’s preferred elevated option along 2 Street S.W. was estimated to cost approximately $1 billion more than the available budget. A second elevated option along 1 Street S.E. was estimated to require an additional $500 million. Ward 7 Coun. Myke Atkinson argued against putting elevated tracks through the downtown core. “Anything elevated in downtown is a downtown killer,” Atkinson said. The surface option carries an estimated cost of $850 million for the downtown portion. The City cautions that figure is a preliminary estimate that will be refined as planning and design advance. The less-expensive surface route comes with a projected reduction in ridership. Preliminary modelling estimates the selected option would carry approximately 41,000 riders per day. The shorter elevated option was projected to carry 43,000, while the province’s preferred route was expected to carry about 51,200. No direct CTrain connection The proposed downtown terminus would not provide a direct train-to-train connection with Calgary’s existing Red and Blue CTrain lines. The concept instead includes a new climate-controlled pedestrian connection from the proposed station into the Plus 15 network. That would allow passengers to walk to the Red and Blue lines along 7 Avenue as well as four MAX bus rapid transit routes. City officials said safe and convenient pedestrian connections would be critical to making the surface alignment successful. Approvals still required The committee’s recommendation must now be ratified by city council. Formal confirmation from the provincial and federal governments would also be required before the alignment could be implemented. Green Line director Wendy Tynan said city officials have held informal conversations with both funding partners but will seek written confirmation after council makes its decision. “If our funding partners do not agree with the path forward, that’s where we come back to council,” Tynan said. She told committee the city could not afford the project without support from the other levels of government. Council’s selection of an alignment would allow administration to advance planning, design, procurement and targeted engagement with businesses, property owners and other groups along the route. Construction is already underway on the southeast portion of the Green Line between Shepard and the Event Centre/Grand Central Station area. That portion is targeted to begin carrying passengers in 2031. The city has not established an opening date for the proposed downtown section.
