1/This is a thread with facts on how the Green Line project was terminated by the Govt of Alberta on Sept 3. No attempt at a negotiation, just a letter pulling their support & funding. The impact is devastating. I’ll lay out how they are ignoring the facts & what it will cost us.
2/After many meetings with Minister Dreeshen & Premier’s Office in July, Minister sent a support letter for the amended Green Line alignment on July 29. He stated his support on air after Council’s July 30 decision. Then his tune changed, while nothing about the project changed.
3/Minister Dreeshen killed the Green Line project on September 3 by claiming he has a better solution to go from City Hall to Seton, with the same budget. A “solution” that we examined carefully - with the Province - in 2020/21. We both rejected it for good reasons.
4/The idea of connecting Green Line to Red & Blue Lines at City Hall was explored in early days. There aren’t enough trains to accommodate the riders from the south. Adding trains means gridlocked traffic. You would have to move Red Line off 7th & put it on 8th Ave.
5/Red Line moving to 8th/Stephen Ave can’t be at grade - too many businesses would be impacted. Can’t elevate it - Plus 15 network is in the way. You’d have to tunnel, which is exactly what the Province says they don’t want to do. So how is the GoA going to manage this?
6/Next, the solution for the north is one of two bad ideas. Idea 1: don’t connect north-south. Idea 2: use the Nose Creek corridor beside Deerfoot to run commuter rail beside CPKC tracks. So, either forget the north or offer a train where no one lives. Studied before & rejected.
7/No consultant is going to fix those issues with the Province’s dream alignment, and it won’t be cheaper. But we have been told clearly: the existing Green Line is over & no parts of it will be considered until consultant’s report is in by end of December.
8/We have tried repeatedly to have the provincial government reconsider , to understand that we can access further federal funds to keep building the Green Line out. We have to get the most difficult part done first, which is what the July amended alignment offered.
9/Members of the construction industry have expressed grave concerns about their ability to operate in an environment where projects can be cancelled on a whim. Downtown businesses are alarmed by impacts of at grade or elevated LRT. No one has been consulted.
10/Neither the Minister nor the Premier have any interest in working with partners. They want control & they have exerted their power to kill a project that had independent third party oversight of the Green Line Board. For their new LRT project, oversight is all political.
11/For their new LRT project, the Province will need funding partners. Which means reviews by both the federal government and the City. Then you need Treasury Board approvals at the federal and provincial levels. Council will also need to weigh in.
12/All of that takes time, and time = more money. Let’s also remember that the funding source presently in place for Green Line - ICIP - runs out on March 31, 2025. There is no certainty that anyone will be at the table to pay for this.
13/A critical public transit investment has been crushed by a government only interested in power and political stunting. It’s shameful. We exist in a time when we have no hope of partnership & trust. Instead, we are left to watch as the UCP compromises Calgary’s future.
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