City can no longer afford Green Line LRT project, Calgary mayor says
Jyoti Gondek speaks after province announces funding withdrawal in letter Tuesday
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said Wednesday morning that the city's Green Line LRT project is, for all intents and purposes, scrapped — at least for the foreseeable future.
Her comments come after Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen sent a letter Tuesday in which he said the province would pull its portion of the funding, a total of $1.53 billion.
He called the city's recently revised Green Line LRT plan "unacceptable" and one that was "fast becoming a multibillion-dollar boondoggle."
The latest provincial move now significantly changes the prospects for the project, Gondek said.
"As a result of that … we are no longer as a city able to afford the cost of this project," she said.
"Unfortunately, the delay that will come from this review that's been requested and the uncertainty in the market will elevate costs."
In an interview on CBC Calgary's The Homestretch on Aug. 1, Dreeshen said the funding was "100 per cent" secure.
That assurance came in the aftermath of a vote by city council in late July to cut six stations from the initial phase of the Green Line and to increase its budget by $700 million to more than $6.2 billion.
In a letter addressed to Gondek two days prior to those comments, dated July 29, Dreeshen stated the provincial funding would not be reduced or pro-rated as long as certain conditions were met.
Those included the scope for the first phase of the Green Line connects to the existing Red and Blue lines in downtown Calgary and integrates the provincial master plan, specifically the grand central station next to the planned arena and entertainment district.
At a special meeting Wednesday, council voted to bring up the issue with Premier Danielle Smith to discuss transferring the project and its financial risks over to the Alberta government, among other things.
Province calls for alternative alignment
The province said in its Tuesday letter that it will move forward by contracting out a third party to provide alternative proposals for the LRT line that integrates the Red and Blue lines along Seventh Avenue S.W., and the province's proposed grand central station for inter-city rail service at the east end of the entertainment district.
But that would include reviews of the project as it stands, delaying it even further and incurring more costs.
"I don't see a big problem with a little bit of a slowdown and a review, maybe an audit to see if we can do this better," said Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean.
"Let's look at the ridership, let's see what we're getting for $6 billion.… Right now, we're getting what I'm told is just a few extra thousand, maybe 30,000 people, going from an industrial centre to downtown. I just don't see if that's maybe our best efficient use of billions of dollars."
Speaking on CBC Calgary's The Homestretch on Wednesday, Dreeshen took a different stance than in his previous interview, saying the province is withholding funding because of the business case Calgary sent after the July 30 vote to increase the budget and shorten the train route.
"After we reviewed this … for a couple of weeks, we realized that having a $6-plus billion Green Line that essentially doesn't go anywhere is something that we couldn't put our support behind," he said.
"We saw the significant ridership numbers decline, obviously, not being able to find a solution to the southeast part of Calgary and all the commuters coming into downtown from that region of the city."
Dreeshen said the business case that was presented to the province doesn't have the ridership potential they were hoping to see, with a 40 per cent reduction from what they wanted.
Can't recover from this, says Green Line board chair
But can the city afford more delays?
In short, no, said Green Line board chair Don Fairbairn, noting the provincial alignment has already been considered and discarded because it's unworkable.
"I'll speak for myself and also, I think it's fair to say, on behalf of the board: our level of confidence is very low," Fairbairn said.
"We don't believe that we can recover from this."
Alberta NDP slams 'reckless decision'
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi called the government's decision one that would take jobs away from the city both now and in the future.
"This reckless decision could mean the end of a badly needed transit project and a massive waste of over $1 billion that has already been spent as construction is well underway," said the former mayor of Calgary.
"This is untenable and the people of Calgary deserve better than to be used as a political football. The premier needs to intervene directly, take control of this file from her minister and advisors and work with the city to find a way forward."
Shorter train route, higher budget
Years of work and $1.3 billion have already gone into the project. More than $350 million in land has been acquired and cleared, and $400 million has been spent to prepare for construction.
The city also signed a contract for new light rail vehicles from a company in Spain. Those are expected to arrive in 2027, but it's unknown what the financial implications would be if the city needed to back out of the contract.
After the July vote, the proposed new line would've run from Eau Claire to Lynnwood/Millican instead of to Shepard, making it much shorter than originally anticipated. The city says future stops could be added though when funding allows.
Council also voted in favour of changing the station at Fourth Street S.E. to an above ground stop as opposed to below ground, to allow for integration with the province's proposal for a future passenger rail system linking cities.
"I have fought hard for this project and I continue to believe in it," Gondek said.
"The reality is the local government can no longer fund and finance the costs of delays on this project. It's now in the hands of the province to understand how they will deliver it and we will see what they come back with."
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WIth files from Scott Dippel