David Marsden is a Calgary writer and editorThe Danielle Smith government receives plenty of criticism, but it deserves credit for attempting to get Calgary’s Green Line transit project back on track..Dreeshen, Gondek say some work on Calgary’s Green Line to proceed .The provincial government long ago pledged cash toward the system that would serve the only quadrant in the city without rapid transit service. It was once argued the Green Line should have taken priority over the West Line, which was approved in 1987, but such ambitions were dismissed by the then-city council.It’s interesting that the province footed $1.3 billion of the estimated $1.4 billion cost of the West Line. The city’s contribution was only $1 million for the service that began in December 2012.The city had better negotiators in those days, obviously.In the beginning, the city, the province and Ottawa agreed to pay $1.53 billion each for a Green Line budgeted at just over $4.5 billion. The cost has since ballooned to at least $6.2 million under Calgary council’s watch.The Green Line is experiencing a difficult birth. City council was more interested in preserving the dubious aesthetics of the downtown core, than accomplishing what the line is intended to do: provide efficient transportation from deep south communities to downtown.Council was so concerned with leaving downtown untouched, that it agreed to a fanciful plan to tunnel under the Bow River, leaving no money to meet the vision of a connection to the communities it is meant to service. In 2016, the cost of a tunnel under the river and through downtown was estimated at $2 billion — almost half the entire construction cost at the time.How does that make any sense? Imagine an auto manufacturer putting all the investment into the car’s sound system, leaving no money for an engine. Building the line from downtown to Lynnwood-Millican, but stopping short of populous more southern communities, was non sensible, either.It was a transit line to nowhere, approved with the support of a silly council. The business case for the line is that it will encourage the new ridership of many Calgarians. Cutting the line in half, and leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without access, never made any sense.Maybe Calgarians shouldn’t be surprised by council’s ineptness. The mayor thinks the lighting of the Menorah is a political event, and this council can’t guarantee tap water to homes and businesses. It was too much to expect they could manage an important infrastructure megaproject like this when they are focused on social programs, rather than transportation and potholes.The city itself says a Green Line running to Shepard Station at 130th Avenue will serve up to 55,000 riders daily and attract up to 18,000 new customers.Thankfully, adults were watching the children play. The provincial government pulled back its portion of support and said it wouldn’t approve a project that lacked merit.Now, the Green Line is back on track, thanks to the provincial government’s action and intervention. Planning is going ahead for the stretch of track from Fourth Street to Shepard. That’s the core goal of the entire project. It’s not about the little bit that goes into downtown, important as that is.The province has hired a consultant to recommend options for the downtown portion, absent the gold-plated under-river tunnel. The Calgary Downtown Association and a couple of real estate groups want the opportunity to weigh in on the option that’s proposed, whether the track be at surface or elevated. Fair enough, but taxpayer dollars are at issue here.The city, too, will have to approve the revised track alignments. If it doesn’t, city council will have let southeast Calgarians down again. Alberta isn’t entertaining the formation of new municipalities, so those who live in the southeast quadrant don’t have the option of drawing a line. They will forever be subject to the whims of self-centred politicians who live north of the great north-south Glenmore Trail divide.Calgarians are paying three times for this project: municipally, provincially and federally. The focus should be getting the project built, so southeast Calgarians can work and spend their money downtown, and those from the north can experience well-balanced communities and better weather in the south.Surely, a dollar spent by a Douglasglen resident is worth just as much as one spent by someone from Kensington.City council should be red-faced for its handling of the Green Line.David Marsden is a Calgary writer and editor.
David Marsden is a Calgary writer and editorThe Danielle Smith government receives plenty of criticism, but it deserves credit for attempting to get Calgary’s Green Line transit project back on track..Dreeshen, Gondek say some work on Calgary’s Green Line to proceed .The provincial government long ago pledged cash toward the system that would serve the only quadrant in the city without rapid transit service. It was once argued the Green Line should have taken priority over the West Line, which was approved in 1987, but such ambitions were dismissed by the then-city council.It’s interesting that the province footed $1.3 billion of the estimated $1.4 billion cost of the West Line. The city’s contribution was only $1 million for the service that began in December 2012.The city had better negotiators in those days, obviously.In the beginning, the city, the province and Ottawa agreed to pay $1.53 billion each for a Green Line budgeted at just over $4.5 billion. The cost has since ballooned to at least $6.2 million under Calgary council’s watch.The Green Line is experiencing a difficult birth. City council was more interested in preserving the dubious aesthetics of the downtown core, than accomplishing what the line is intended to do: provide efficient transportation from deep south communities to downtown.Council was so concerned with leaving downtown untouched, that it agreed to a fanciful plan to tunnel under the Bow River, leaving no money to meet the vision of a connection to the communities it is meant to service. In 2016, the cost of a tunnel under the river and through downtown was estimated at $2 billion — almost half the entire construction cost at the time.How does that make any sense? Imagine an auto manufacturer putting all the investment into the car’s sound system, leaving no money for an engine. Building the line from downtown to Lynnwood-Millican, but stopping short of populous more southern communities, was non sensible, either.It was a transit line to nowhere, approved with the support of a silly council. The business case for the line is that it will encourage the new ridership of many Calgarians. Cutting the line in half, and leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without access, never made any sense.Maybe Calgarians shouldn’t be surprised by council’s ineptness. The mayor thinks the lighting of the Menorah is a political event, and this council can’t guarantee tap water to homes and businesses. It was too much to expect they could manage an important infrastructure megaproject like this when they are focused on social programs, rather than transportation and potholes.The city itself says a Green Line running to Shepard Station at 130th Avenue will serve up to 55,000 riders daily and attract up to 18,000 new customers.Thankfully, adults were watching the children play. The provincial government pulled back its portion of support and said it wouldn’t approve a project that lacked merit.Now, the Green Line is back on track, thanks to the provincial government’s action and intervention. Planning is going ahead for the stretch of track from Fourth Street to Shepard. That’s the core goal of the entire project. It’s not about the little bit that goes into downtown, important as that is.The province has hired a consultant to recommend options for the downtown portion, absent the gold-plated under-river tunnel. The Calgary Downtown Association and a couple of real estate groups want the opportunity to weigh in on the option that’s proposed, whether the track be at surface or elevated. Fair enough, but taxpayer dollars are at issue here.The city, too, will have to approve the revised track alignments. If it doesn’t, city council will have let southeast Calgarians down again. Alberta isn’t entertaining the formation of new municipalities, so those who live in the southeast quadrant don’t have the option of drawing a line. They will forever be subject to the whims of self-centred politicians who live north of the great north-south Glenmore Trail divide.Calgarians are paying three times for this project: municipally, provincially and federally. The focus should be getting the project built, so southeast Calgarians can work and spend their money downtown, and those from the north can experience well-balanced communities and better weather in the south.Surely, a dollar spent by a Douglasglen resident is worth just as much as one spent by someone from Kensington.City council should be red-faced for its handling of the Green Line.David Marsden is a Calgary writer and editor.
