Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she and Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek are in perfect alignment about the majority of Calgary’s Green Line LRT. From the Event Centre to Lynnwood, Smith said she and Gondek want to retain that work. “So that was our conversation yesterday — Is there an opportunity to maintain those contracts,” said Smith in a Saturday interview on Your Province. Your Premier. on Corus Radio. “And so we’re going to be working for another week to see if we’re able to do that so that that work can get started faster.” Corus Radio host Wayne Nelson started off by saying Smith met with Gondek on Friday to talk about winding down the Green Line. “Not everybody’s happy, especially given the $1 billion in funding spent on the project,” said Nelson. “Can you give some insight as to what was discussed and what the result was?” Smith said the issue the Alberta government had was the tunnel in downtown Calgary, which escalated the cost and led to the Green Line being shrunk. In response, she said it “seemed like it was going to have no end in sight.” With the Green Line, she said its view has always been to build to Seton. She said she wants to build from the Event Centre to Seton and find a new way to connect it to the Red and Blue Line. That is why the Alberta government hired AECOM to look at it and offer alternatives so it does not have to do the expensive tunneling. Because of AECOM’s work, she said it might be able to build it how it was intended and sold to Calgarians. If the Alberta government is happy with the process, she said it will have another conversation about figuring out how to get the Green Line out to 160 Avenue North. While people want to realize its original vision, she said the construction downtown was becoming a barrier to that. Although the Green Line has experienced issues, Smith said the Alberta government wants “to get back to something that’s actually going to deliver the rail line to a place where the people are and hitting some of the key stops along the way.” She said she and Gondek agree on many parts of it. “We’ll just have to do a little more work to see if we can make those contracts work,” she said. Smith followed up by saying she is 100% certain a new Green Line will be moving forward. “Like I feel pretty good about where we’re at,” she said. “The council’s last motion was passed eight to seven to find a way to create a collaborative working group so we can find a way to salvage where we have agreements, and it’s been very constructive.” So far, she said the working group has held a few meetings. She confirmed the Alberta government and the City of Calgary are talking with contractors and will have more to say as details are ironed out. Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen said on September 3 the Green Line “is fast becoming a multibillion dollar boondoggle that will serve very few Calgarians.”.Dreeshen says Alberta government to halt funding to Calgary’s Green Line LRT .In response, Dreeshen said the Alberta government is unable to support or provide funding for the revised Green Line Stage One scope as outlined in the City of Calgary’s most recent business case. “To be clear, we recognize your and the current council’s efforts to try to salvage the untenable position you’ve been placed in by the former mayor and his utter failure to completely oversee the planning, design, and implementation of a cost-effective transit plan that have could have served hundreds of thousands of Calgarians in the City’s southern and northern communities,” said Dreeshen.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she and Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek are in perfect alignment about the majority of Calgary’s Green Line LRT. From the Event Centre to Lynnwood, Smith said she and Gondek want to retain that work. “So that was our conversation yesterday — Is there an opportunity to maintain those contracts,” said Smith in a Saturday interview on Your Province. Your Premier. on Corus Radio. “And so we’re going to be working for another week to see if we’re able to do that so that that work can get started faster.” Corus Radio host Wayne Nelson started off by saying Smith met with Gondek on Friday to talk about winding down the Green Line. “Not everybody’s happy, especially given the $1 billion in funding spent on the project,” said Nelson. “Can you give some insight as to what was discussed and what the result was?” Smith said the issue the Alberta government had was the tunnel in downtown Calgary, which escalated the cost and led to the Green Line being shrunk. In response, she said it “seemed like it was going to have no end in sight.” With the Green Line, she said its view has always been to build to Seton. She said she wants to build from the Event Centre to Seton and find a new way to connect it to the Red and Blue Line. That is why the Alberta government hired AECOM to look at it and offer alternatives so it does not have to do the expensive tunneling. Because of AECOM’s work, she said it might be able to build it how it was intended and sold to Calgarians. If the Alberta government is happy with the process, she said it will have another conversation about figuring out how to get the Green Line out to 160 Avenue North. While people want to realize its original vision, she said the construction downtown was becoming a barrier to that. Although the Green Line has experienced issues, Smith said the Alberta government wants “to get back to something that’s actually going to deliver the rail line to a place where the people are and hitting some of the key stops along the way.” She said she and Gondek agree on many parts of it. “We’ll just have to do a little more work to see if we can make those contracts work,” she said. Smith followed up by saying she is 100% certain a new Green Line will be moving forward. “Like I feel pretty good about where we’re at,” she said. “The council’s last motion was passed eight to seven to find a way to create a collaborative working group so we can find a way to salvage where we have agreements, and it’s been very constructive.” So far, she said the working group has held a few meetings. She confirmed the Alberta government and the City of Calgary are talking with contractors and will have more to say as details are ironed out. Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen said on September 3 the Green Line “is fast becoming a multibillion dollar boondoggle that will serve very few Calgarians.”.Dreeshen says Alberta government to halt funding to Calgary’s Green Line LRT .In response, Dreeshen said the Alberta government is unable to support or provide funding for the revised Green Line Stage One scope as outlined in the City of Calgary’s most recent business case. “To be clear, we recognize your and the current council’s efforts to try to salvage the untenable position you’ve been placed in by the former mayor and his utter failure to completely oversee the planning, design, and implementation of a cost-effective transit plan that have could have served hundreds of thousands of Calgarians in the City’s southern and northern communities,” said Dreeshen.
