Phase 1 of Calgary's Green Line LRT will be shorter as costs escalate

Skyrocketing costs have derailed the first phase of Calgary's Green Line LRT project, which will now be multiple stations shorter than planned.

After spending nearly all day behind closed doors on Tuesday, councillors and city officials emerged to provide the long-awaited update on the largest infrastructure project in Calgary's history.

The new cost for the shorter Phase 1 is $6.248 billion.

Phase 1 of the project was supposed to cost $5.5 billion for an 18-kilometre stretch from Eau Claire to Shepard in the Southeast.

Now, due to escalating costs, the project will run from Eau Claire to Lynnwood/Millican.

The updated scope for Phase 1 means there will be five fewer stations in the southeast and the Centre Street station will be deferred.

The train will not run to Ogden, South Hill, Quarry Park, Douglas Glen and Shepard in its first phase.

The storage and maintenance facility, previously planned to be built in Shepard, will be built in Highfield instead.

The plan still includes a line underground with several stations, though the 4th Street S.E. station will now be built at ground level.

"Today's decision is more than a decade in the making and sets Calgary up for success for years to come, especially at a time when we are the fastest-growing city in the nation," said Mayor Jyoti Gondek in a release.

"The Green Line is a critical piece of transportation infrastructure that demonstrates all three orders of government are focused on collaboration and co-operation to get megaprojects moving."

"The board is confident that revising the construction phasing for Phase 1, building from Lynnwood/Millican to Eau Claire, is the best approach to control costs, mitigate risks and build the critical core of Green Line," said Don Fairbairn, Green Line board chair, in the same release.

"We appreciate that some Calgarians will be disappointed that they will have to wait longer for the new LRT service to reach their community but starting construction will lay a foundation for Calgary's sustained growth and ensure the long-term benefits of housing, connectivity and ridership can be maximized."

Speaking to media Tuesday night, Fairbairn said while the price of the modified plan is higher than projected, sticking to the original plan would have come at an even higher cost:

"I think it's fair to say that it was broadly a billion dollars more, and a billion dollars of funding that we don't have," he said.

"To go from Eau Claire to Shepard with some modifications – deferring central, changing the alignment vertically of some of the stations – is broadly a billion dollars more than building the core."

For months, officials had warned the project was facing major cost overruns.

It was deemed as a "major concern" at several committee meetings, though the exact costs were kept under wraps until Tuesday.

Steve Allan, a member of the Rethink the Green Line group, said the city should have reconsidered the idea of tunnelling through downtown long ago.

He believes other Calgarians will share his frustration.

"They should be outraged. This is not a good use of taxpayers money," he said.

"It puts the financial future of Calgary on this."

The city received funding commitments years ago from both the federal and provincial governments to each put up $1.53 billion toward Phase 1 of the line.

In separate letters sent to the mayor over the last five days, each wrote of concerns about a "descoped" project.

"From the federal government's perspective, a scope change and re-committal of the full amount of funding to the project would require full details of the project so that we may ensure that the descoped project continues to meet the objectives of Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program," federal Infrastructure Minister Sean Fraser wrote on July 26.

In order to ensure federal funding is there, Calgary will have to submit a new business plan to Ottawa by Aug. 15.

In a letter this week, Alberta's transportation minister confirmed its $1.5 billion for the project, subject to conditions.

Money will not be reduced or pro-rated, as long as the first phase of the Green Line "connects to the existing Red and Blue lines in downtown Calgary" and it meshes with the province's master rail plan for a "Grand Central Station" next to the new arena.

"A change in the delivery model employed by the city will not, in and of itself, impact the grant funding, subject to the receipt of further details on the proposed delivery model," Devin Dreeshen wrote on July 29.