Higher cost estimates could spur change for Calgary's Green Line LRT project
There are a number of design possibilities on the table for Calgary's Green Line because of the higher costs faced by the monumental infrastructure project.
The project's board says a key risk was observed when some of the sub-contractors came back with estimates that were higher than anticipated.
"The budget for this project was pre-COVID," said Green Line CEO Darshpreet Bhatti.
"And the market is very different. We're not the only project that is facing these challenges."
The details, from a quarterly report, will be presented to council on Tuesday, with much of the meeting taking place behind closed doors.
"If there are additional asks needed, this is something that we're obviously going to discuss with provincial and federal partners as well," said Mayor Jyoti Gondek.
"These projects are very big and there are sometimes tweaks that need to be done. So again, I'm looking forward to the experts weighing in on what's happening."
Although the cost overruns are being kept secret, the board does promise to release the increased numbers in either May or June.
"I've been concerned about this project since Day 1," said Ward 1's Coun. Sonya Sharp.
"Everybody knows that costs are increasing on any project and a project of this magnitude is going to see, probably, added costs."
But she says it's not time to pull the plug.
"What would people think of the city if we just all of a sudden folded up and moved away?" she said.
"How would contractors ever want to work in a city like this again? So I think there's a more of a reputational risk here."
A citizens' committee group that wants to rethink the Green Line says it's not surprised by the expected added costs.
"We believe the real costs will be $8.5 (billion) to $10 billion," said member Steve Allan.
Allan says he would like to see the project focus on the south side of the city, to invite new commuters on the LRT from downtown to Seton, at the South Health Campus.
"It makes no sense for it to be running from Shepard to Eau Claire and tunnelling under downtown Calgary, which is full of water," he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.