The Alberta Government released the previously confidential report from consulting firm AECOM on the proposed new Green Line alignment Wednesday evening and what is likely the most interesting part was redacted. Previously, Alberta’s Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen said the report would not be released to the public because it would compromise the bidding process of firms looking to do the construction work. However, after city council, and in particular Mayor Jyoti Gondek, demanded the report be released, Dreeshen acquiesced, saying, “We thought it was now time, respecting the working group on council’s involvement, to share the AECOM report with the public and all Calgarians,” he told Postmedia. Of the 165-page report, five pages are blank, each one apparently outlining the financial details of the government’s preferred alignment of the line, which is running north from Shepard in Calgary’s deep southeast, through the southeast inner-city Ramsay neighbourhood, then west along 10 Ave. on an elevated track and north into downtown on 2 St. SW, still on an elevated track. The elevated track replaces the original design of tunnelling under the downtown core from Ramsay and hooking up with the Red and Blue lines on 7 Ave. and 2 St. SW, resulting in a cost savings with the elimination of the tunnel, says the government. According to its calculations, that cost is $6.2 billion, but the City of Calgary’s administration's calculations crew pegs the price at $7.5 billion. When asked Thursday morning in a media Zoom call about the difference, Paul Smith, Alberta’s assistant deputy minister, transportation and economic corridors said, “I can’t answer that right now.” The elevated track on 10 Ave. which will become the most noteworthy part of the new alignment, wasn’t the only avenue considered. Both elevated and at grade tracks were considered for 11 Ave. and 12 Ave. SW, but were eliminated due to what the report says were “impacts to 11th Avenue and 12th Avenue and to north/south traffic caused by Green Line at grade.” Both avenues move thousands of vehicles per day, including Calgary Transit, are major downtown routes for emergency vehicles as well as traffic heading to and away from Stampede Park when the Flames play at the Saddledome. Also considered was an underpass from 10 Ave. SE at 6th St., ending with a platform east of City Hall. The latter caused that plan to be eliminated. Options still on the table include an elevated track going north from 10 Ave. on 1 St. SE, 2 St. SW and 6 St. SW. The 2 St. SW option is recommended in the government’s preferred alignment, leaving the door open to demolition of the River Run townhomes in Eau Claire, and a crossing from there, north over the Bow River to continue the Green Line to its targetted northern boundary of 160 Ave. NE. A major and contentious issue yet to be settled is which level of government will be the one at financial and legal risks. The city is not in a position to cover any cost overruns Gondek said on Wednesday. “We were the lead partner previously. We can’t keep stepping into that position, so we’ve been very clear and, frankly, it’s our obligation, our responsibility to Calgarians, to make sure that we are managing their money wisely,” she told reporters. “Asking us to finance yet another alignment is something we just can’t do.” But in a video released on Thursday morning, Dreeshen said, “We’ve been clear all the way along that the province won’t assume any more risks on the Green Line than it did on the Blue Line or the Red Line or any Edmonton LRT projects, so green is a different colour, (but) it won’t be treated any different by the province.” Wednesday afternoon, when it was announced the AECOM report would be released, Gondek said, “We’ll see how much gets redacted, but I really hope it is as complete as it can be, so Calgarians can understand what the effect is going to be through downtown, through the Beltline, and any kind of financial summary they can provide would certainly be useful.” Thursday morning, she told Global News, “I’ve already heard from a lot of Calgarians who have a lot of questions now that they have managed to see the redacted report and we need to have feedback from people who are going to be impacted by this decision, so I am happy that the province decided to release it. We have a lot of questions still that need to be asked so we have asked for a working group meeting, so we’ll see what happens.” This battle between the governments of Calgary and Alberta is getting heated, but standing in the wings is a heavy weight that might decide the eventual winner, the federal government. The feds funding of the Green Line — $260 million — ends at the end of March.
