Politicians question revamped Green Line LRT plan

A trio of federal and civic politicians representing northern and southeast areas of Calgary are expressing "frustration" at a scaled back version of the Green Line LRT being recommended by city administrators.

The recommended first phase of construction was unveiledlast week, with escalating costs and a lack of funds cited as the reasons for plans being scaled back.

The new Stage 1 plan will see the line extend south from 16th Avenue N. at Crescent Heights, go underground through downtown, then snake its way southeast to 126th Avenue S.E..

The Green Line was originally slated to stretch from Stoney Trail in the north to the South Health Campus in the deep southeast.

• City recommends scaled back first leg of Green Line LRT

Calgary Nose Hill MP Michelle Rempel, Calgary Shepard MP Tom Kmiec and Coun. Sean Chu issued a joint press release Sunday, saying the new plan "would be roughly half the length of the original route for an even bigger price tag, effectively excluding a wide swath of suburban communities."

City council will discuss the report on Monday.

"I just think there's some unanswered questions we need to have some answers to before moving forward," Rempel told CBC News.

"There's a lot of people who need and use public transit in those farther reaches of Calgary suburbs, and I know one of the metrics for the public transit fund, in terms of the federal allocation, was the reduction of cars on the road. I just don't understand how a project that was supposed to do that can shrink in half and have the cost balloon."

The city has committed $1.56 billion in funding over the next 30 years while the federal government has committed $1.5 billion. The provincial government has so far not committed any money toward the project.

MP says residents upset

Rempel said she is hearing "anger" from her constituents about the changes.

"This isn't a minor budget change, this is a significant reduction in scope," she said. "I don't understand how we've got here, I don't understand how the plan changed so much, or why."

Northern Hills Community Association president Leah Argao says she was shocked to hear the new plan.

"We were very disappointed," she said. "We've been engaged in the conversation since day one and for us to find out the huge ridership up in this area is not going to be addressed is upsetting and disappointing. We've been along this whole process and at the ninth hour, the wool has been pulled from under us."

Argao said as recently as "a couple of weeks ago," she was under the impression the Green Line plan still included the north portion.

"So it moved very quickly," she said. "We knew it was going to be coming to council to discuss the overall project but at no point in time did we have any clear vision they had an intention to stop at 16th Avenue."

If approved by council, construction on the 20-kilometre track would start in 2020.

The revamped project is estimated to cost $4.65 billion. Like other LRT lines, the Green Line could be extended when more money becomes available.

When completed, it is expected to carry roughly 60,000 people across 14 stations.

City officials estimate more than 12,000 direct construction jobs will be created during the building of the first phase and once completed, will result in 400 long-term operational jobs.

Administration says completion of the first phase is projected for 2026.

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