Calgary City Council voted 12-2 on Tuesday to implement a surface-level downtown route for the Green Line LRT. The $6.25 billion project will bring trains from southeast Calgary to 10th Avenue S.W.,including a new Beltline station.
The $6.25 billion price tag and the $1 billion elevated alternative
Calgary City Council selected the surface-level alignment because it was the most fiscally conservative of the three options presented by city administration. according to the report, alternative designs featuring elevated tracks would have pushed the project over budget by either $500 million or $1 billion, costs that the city would have been required to cover independently.
This decision highlights a recurring struggle in major municipal infrastructure: the trade-off between immediate capital expenditure and long-term utility. By choosing the least expensive path, Calgary avoids an immediate funding crisis but accepts a lower projected initial ridership of 41,000 daily passengers.
41,000 daily riders and the 10th Avenue S.W. surface path
The approved route will see the Green Line LRT run on street-level tracks along 10th Avenue S.W., with a critical new station located in the Beltline between First and Second Street S.W. While this solves the immediate problem of entering the downtown core, the city has not yet finalized the path the train will take as it moves further north through the city center.
Local business owners, such as Geoff Allan of Bottlescrew Bill’s Pub, have expressed concern regarding how this surface-level presence will impact their operations. The plaement of tracks on a primary thoroughfare like 10th Avenue S.W. fundamentally alters the urban fabric and accessibility of the surrounding commercial properties.
Minister Devin Dreeshen's rejection of the 11th Avenue tunnel
The shift toward a surface-level design was heavily influenced by the Alberta government, as Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen confirmed the province would only sign off on the at-grade option. This follows a period of volatility where the province rejected a proposed two-kilometre tunnel below 11th Avenue and Second Street S.W., despite previous assurances that provincial funding for the project was fully secure.
Minister Devin Dreeshen noted that the surface-level alignment was the most viable solution after considering the concerns of downtown residents and businesses who opposed elevated tracks. This political pressure effectively eliminated underground options, leaving the city with a limited set of feasible designs.
The 46-km vision from Seton to 160th Avenue
The current approval is a piece of a much larger puzzle, as the long-term vision for the Green Line LRT involves a 46-km track spanning 29 stations from Seton to 160th Avenue in north Calgary. Construction on the southeast leg, which includes 10 stations from Shepard to the new arena near Victoria Park , began last summer and is slated for completion by 2031.
Independent transit consultant Willem Klumpenhouwer suggests that the surface-level choice provides the city with maximum flexibility for future northward expansion. As reported,this alignment allows Calgary to decide between underground or eleevated options later, rather than locking the city into a rigid infrastructure path today.
Councillor Raj Dhaliwal's warnings on the missing CTrain connections
Despite the majority vote,Councillor Raj Dhaliwal and Councillor Jennifer Wyness opposed the alignment, with Dhaliwal arguing that the plan remains a "concept" lacking concrete dollar figures. A primary point of contention for Dhaliwal is that the current plan stops short of connecting to the existing Blue and Red CTrain lines, a feature that was previously a cornerstone of the project's business case.
This gap in connectivity raises a critical question: will the lack of a seamless transfer to other LRT lines permanently cap the Green Line's ridership potential? Furthermore, the city has yet to provide a detailed execution plan that guarantees the project will stay within the $6.25 billion envelope given the history of roadblocks since research began in 2006.
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