The Greenline LRT will be the newest, and most expensive transit project to hit the City of Calgary. Estimated at $5-billion, this light-rail train will serve 41 million passengers every year.
Senior Project Manager Jonathan Lea said the Calgary Green Line will become an “urban spine” connecting north and south communities that are currently neglected by the transit system.
“We’re building this to provide transportation options for people in the developed area of the city but also in the suburbs so we do want people to have this option to use [rapid transit] so they can get to where they’re going,” said Lea.
When it comes to funding, the municipal and federal government have pledged $1.5-billion each to the new LRT. The NDP government however remained silent until early December when they announced their contribution of $260-million to the Calgary Green Line. This means the city still requires $1.3-billion towards the LRT project.
Ward 8 Councillor Evan Woolley is well aware that the city is still in the planning stages but is optimistic that Calgarians are on-board with the Greenline.
“We know that shovels aren’t going to hit the ground here for a couple of years at least and we need to be thoughtful and ensure that this projects done properly,” he said.
Calgary Journal videographers Abby LaRocque and Kendra Crighton investigated the main concerns involved with this massive project, explaining in detail below.
alarocque@cjournal.ca, kcrighton@cjournal.ca The editor responsible for this article is Aysha Zafar and can be contacted at azafar@cjournal.ca