Is the CTrain going to north central Calgary this decade or not?

Another important city council vote on the Green Line is expected later Tuesday.

In 2017, council approved an alignment for the city's next LRT line.

But administration is suggesting the routethe line should take to get from 16th Avenue North to 126th Avenue Southeast be revised.

It's recommending a tunnel through downtown be shortened by 1.6 kilometres, and a downtown bridge over the Bow River be built to carry the Green Line to Centre Street.

Instead of a tunnel below Centre Street, the city is now proposing the train run on the surfaceon the busy street and a station at 9th Avenue Nbeadded before the line terminates just south of 16th Avenue.

In addition, the SecondAvenue station in Eau Claire is now being pitched as a platform in the tunnel portal which could be inside a new building that will be erected on the Eau Claire Market site.

The first stage of the Green Line will still be 20 kilometres long and have 15 stations. But planners believe the revised plan gives them a better chance of staying within the project's $5.5-billion budget.

Critical decision

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said it's critical to build thecity centre portion of the Green Line now using $3 billion in federal and provincial money was contributed for an LRT project that will eventually span the city from north to south.

However, a group of city councillors has expressed concerns about the proposal.

Coun. Jeff Davison, Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart and Coun. Ward Sutherland suggestedlast week that plans for the downtown bridge should be scrapped or at least delayed.

Theyadvocated usingmoney that might be saved to be put into further enhancements of a proposed new bus rapid transit service for the north central corridor.

There's also a chance they'd support taking the Green Line further south to reach communities like McKenzie Towne.

"Stop at the river. Make sure we have the money to build it and build it properly and then take a look at the north," said Sutherland.

He suggests the line as proposed means the Green Line's opening stage will not reach higher populated areas at either end. Instead, the councillors are pitching a longer southeast line that would terminate in the core.

"This is a high risk project. You have two different legs of an LRT that go two different directions that doesn't complete one leg," said Sutherland.

Mayor opposed to shortening line

Mayor Naheed Nenshi is opposed to any proposal to shorten the proposed revisions, especially if it means not taking the Green Line into the north end.

"If you cut off the bridge now, you end up with a line that has the same operating costs you're not saving any money lower ridership and you've given up the ability to ever go north unless somehow money falls from the sky," said the mayor.

He suggests it's easier to use the money the city has assembled for the project to build the most expensive and complex part of the full 46-kilometre Green Line first, and then extend it in both directions in the future once more money is available.

Nenshi is also warning that if the line doesn't have a north and a south component right out of the gate, money from either the federal or provincial governments might come off the table due to the city not building what it promised.

"I would just say to my colleagues, if you want to kill the Green Line and give back that $3 billion, just put a motion to kill it. Don't try all this dancing."

Calgary's two other LRT lines have expanded several times over the years from their initial stages.

Chu wants to get going

Coun. Sean Chu said it's important to get the Green Line across the river into the north end. He suggests the wait to go further north beyond 16th Avenue might not be as long as some suspect.

"Stopping it at Eau Claire means that the north might not get an LRT," wrote Chu in a blog post.

"Ottawa is showing an interest in funding projects that move people and take cars off the road."

Sutherland rejects the notion that voting against a bridge now dooms the north to buses forever.

"We've built LRTs in segments over the last 20 years so saying it's never going to happen, it just doesn't hold any water at all," said Sutherland.

Contracting change

As with many divisive issues, there is an opening for a compromise around the council table.

Revising the alignment requires 10 of 15 council members to approve as it is a reconsideration of an earlier council decision.

If approved, administration is suggesting the city go ahead with taking proposals for the Green Line in as many as three steps.

First, it would call for bids on the southeast portion from Shepard Station to Victoria Park with the hope that construction could start in the spring of 2021.

Then, after more refinement, it would take bids from companies interested in building the tunnel portion downtown, And then, finally, take bids onthe bridge and the Centre Street North portion of the line.

The mayor suggested last week that if council approves the revised alignment but wants to break off the bridge and Centre Street pieces so the city can get a better sense of the bids on the rest of the Green Line, he'd be open to that.

"If council chooses to approve the alignment from 16th Avenue but hold off on the procurement until a little bit more study has been done, I don't have a problem with that," said Nenshi.

Construction in 2021 possible

But administration is hoping a clear signal from council will remove obstacles to getting the megaproject going.

It wants to put out a request for proposals from the companies already pre-approved to bid on supplying light rail transit cars.

Four companies have already been pre-qualified to submit bids on the light rail vehicles.

The city is looking to buy approximately 44 vehicles.

The Green Line team also wants to start taking bids in July from contractors interested in building the southeast portion of the LRT line.

Take a look at the Green Line map below: