Calgary city officials have drawn up proposals for councillors to consider three possible downtown paths for the long-awaited Green Line LRT. 

The city looked at technical studies and engineering analyses, and weighed how each option would affect street activity, local businesses and the overall downtown experience.

Option 1 in the report is based on the proposed route put forth by the provincial government.

It would be an elevated route that runs up 10th Avenue and along Second Street S.W. with a connection point near the Red and Blue network on Seventh Avenue S.W.

The report calls it the most advanced option, with the highest anticipated ridership of the three at 51,000 daily.

It would also be the costliest. The report says it would be $1 billion over budget. 

At $6.25 billion, the project is already the largest infrastructure investment in the city’s history. 

The elevated infrastructure along Second Street S.W. could also significantly impact “adjacent properties, public spaces, and construction activities in a constrained downtown corridor,” the report says. 

Initially, the city proposed the Green Line running under Calgary’s downtown. The province vetoed that plan, announcing in 2024 the government would withdraw funding. 

The province later came back on board, with its own alignment proposal of an elevated route through downtown.

Ground broke on the project last summer, with the goal to have the LRT up and running by 2031.

Alternative options

Councillors voted in June for city administration to draw up proposals for alternative downtown routes. The report is set to be heard at a committee meeting next week.

Option 2 would also be elevated, and would travel along 10th Avenue and First Street S.E. It wouldn’t have a Beltline station, and is projected to have a slightly lower ridership than Option 1, with 43,000 daily passengers. 

It would also be over budget, though at half a billion dollars, less so than Option 1.

Option 3, unlike the first two, could be done within the allotted funding for the downtown stretch of the Green Line, the report says.

And unlike the first two options, the third would be at surface level in a dedicated lane. It would run along 10th Avenue, ending at a station between First and Second Street S.W.

Option 3 would integrate “rapid transit more directly into the street environment,” the report says. But it is projected to have the lowest daily ridership of the three proposals at 41,000. 

The provincial and federal governments would need to sign off if councillors choose either Option 2 or 3.

Some endorsements for Option 3

Peter Oliver, who is on the board of directors at the Beltline Neighbourhoods Association, says his preference would have been an underground route.

He does not see an elevated LRT line as viable, especially “at a time where we’re trying to revitalize the downtown, get it vibrant again.”

“So really what we’re left with is just one option out of a group of bad options,” he said. “And that’s the third option.”

Coun. Dan McLean says he favours Option 3, both for its price tag and the amount of disruption it would cause.

“We’re picking the option that I think is most amenable to the province and to Calgarians, and it’s the most cost-effective. That’s important,” he said.

Coun. Myke Atkinson, whose ward covers the downtown core, also prefers the at-grade option.

“Any elevated option going through our downtown is going to hurt our downtown in terms of tax productivity, is going to hurt our downtown in terms of safety,” Atkinson said.

‘Time to fish or get off the pier’

Most important to Mayor Jeromy Farkas is that the project moves ahead quickly.

“I think when it comes to the Green Line, it’s time to fish or get off the pier. We need to proceed,” Farkas told reporters Wednesday.

Farkas says he too is leaning towards Option 3, to free up money for the rest of the line, and as it leaves the option of tunnelling underground to get out of downtown and across the river.

He has suggested partnering solely with the federal government for that tunnel, and plans to have a proposal put forward by the end of the year.

“There may be the political pressure from the provincial government to do it one way. I will take that under advisement. But ultimately, we here in the city of Calgary are the ones left holding the bag,” said Farkas.

In a statement, Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen said the province will consider other proposed routes but remains opposed to going underground.

“We’re open to discussing refinements to the alignment, but a downtown tunnel is not on the table. Our focus is delivering an above ground alignment that respects commuters and taxpayer dollars,” Dreeshen said.