Surface Green Line LRT route in downtown Calgary endorsed by city committee

The Calgary City Committee has chosen a surface alignment for the Green Line LRT route through the downtown core, voting 12-1 in favour of the option during a recent meeting. This decision comes after nearly two years of debate over the project's alignment. The selected path travels along 10 Avenue S.W. and ends at a station situated between 1 and 2 Street S.W., staying within the project's current budget.

Mayor Jeromy Farkas expressed support for the decision, emphasizing that delays can always be explained, but there is no time when construction becomes cheaper. The 22 downtown alignments studied between 2016 and 2024, with three shortlisted after the city council sought alternative routes. The province's preferred elevated track option, which would have run above 10 Avenue S.W. and turned north above 2 Street S.W., would have cost $1 billion more than the available funding to reach 7 Avenue for a connection to the Red and Blue line LRTs.

The second option, an elevated route above 10 Avenue turning north up 1 Street S.E., would have exceeded the budget by $500 million. The Green Line, originally planned to tunnel under the downtown core, abandoned that idea after the province withdrew its $1.5 billion share of funding due to cost escalations. Construction of the southeast leg of the line, from Shepard to Victoria Park, began following the city council's approval of the revised alignment in early 2025.

However, the downtown segment still requires overall approval from city council, as well as from provincial and federal governments, which are the remaining funding partners. The $6.2-billion project also relies on the support of these funding partners, as the city on its own cannot afford the cost.