Beltline section of Green Line LRT should go under 12th Avenue, community group says

Community leaders in the Beltline want the city to take another look at tunneling the new Green Line LRT line under 12th Avenue.

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Last week the city said it has narrowed down its preferred routes through the Beltline to three options:

• On the street along 12th Avenue.
• On the streetalong10th Avenue.
• Under10th Avenue in a tunnel until just east ofMacleod Trail.

Five otheroptions, including a tunnel under 12th Avenue, were taken off the table for a variety of reasons, including cost, the city says.

But Peter Oliver, who speaks for the Beltline Neighbourhoods Association, says going under 12th makes the most sense.

"The options we're left with, we're concerned either bypass the Beltline or will cause a lot of disruption here and going into and out of the downtown," he said.

OIiver says an above-ground train would also slow traffic on Macleod Trail.

"Running a four to five car train across that regularly as we've seen in other parts of the city will cause a lot of disruption and those are certainly roadways that at peak hours, that would cause a lot of disruption."

The Beltline Neighbourhoods Association plans to ask the city to reconsider burying the Green Line underneath 12th Avenue.

The $5-billion Green Line, which will use low-floor trains,will stretch across the city from Country Hills Village in north-central Calgary to the southeast community of Seton.

This month the city isasking for input from Calgarians as it weighs the options.

Planners hope to choose a route through the Beltline by December.

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