Committee approves west LRT plan

The west leg of the LRT will chug down the centre of the Bow Trail as part of the route recommended by a Calgary city council committee Tuesday.

The transportation committee heard more than 12 hours of recommendations and discussions onthe proposedeight-kilometre, six-stationC-Trainroute during two public meetings before deciding to slightly tweak the route to runat ground level alongthe median of theBow Trail, then continue as planned along33rd Street and 17th Avenue S.W.

The change is part of an early Maycompromise with residents of Sunalta and Scarboro who expressed concern about the noise and the height of a 22-metre elevated track over Crowchild Trail, as included in the plans approved by council in November. Moving theroute toground levelmeans construction will take longer than the original plan, as the road will need to be changedto accommodate the tracks.

The project plans, estimated to cost $716 million, will go before council next week for approval.

Ald. John Mar said Tuesday that the final plan was "actually pretty fair."

"It wasn't everything that my communityhad hopedfor, but it's a huge sigh of relief," he said. "I believe it's a compromise.The original alignment was elevated,over the top ofBow Trail. What we have now gotis midway, which isat gradeat Bow Trail."

During Tuesday's meeting,Mar had requested the whole plan be returned to the administration for review, requesting more consultation with residents of Sunalta, Shaganappi and Westgate about their preference for underground stations.

Aldermen may still raise concerns

The plan, as approved by committee,includes two underground stations at Westbrook and 67 Street.

Concerns voiced by Ald. Joe Connelly and representatives from the community of Westgate were not included in the revised plan. Connelly previouslysaid he wants the track buried at 17th Avenue and 45th Street, atan additional cost of $80 million.

Aldermen may still raise their concerns before council approves the committee's plan.

Mar said the council may still make some changes before the route receives final approval.

"It's still yetto go to council," he said. "That's where the final decision will be made if we are going to change the alignment."

The issue has been hotly debated, and the committee estimated that the additional meetings over the past few weeks had pushed the construction start date from early to late fall 2009. Council hopes to have the line up and running by 2012.

It's estimated that 40,000 people will ride trains daily from the west side to downtown when the line opens.