City council to finalize Green Line LRT alignment through Calgary’s downtown next week

The Calgary city council is set to finalize on Tuesday the alignment for the Green Line Light Rail Transit (LRT) that will traverse into the downtown core of Calgary. Some local businesses in the vicinity are apprehensive about the potential implications of the new transit line. In February, a city committee backed one of the three routes proposed by project officials after a two-year deliberation on the matter.

The selected route will have the trains travel east-west, starting at the Event Centre in Victoria Park on 10 Avenue S.W., and terminate at a station between 1 and 2 Street S.W.

Willem Klumpenhouwer, an independent transit research consultant, stated that the chosen path was the only one that met the budgetary constraints. It also preserves more future options. Initially, plans were to run the Green Line through a tunnel under the downtown core, but this idea was abandoned after the province withdrew its $1.5 billion contribution to the project due to significant cost increases.

Business owners along the proposed alignment have raised concerns about the impact of an LRT line on their operations. Geoff Allan, for example, owns a bar and brewery named Bottlescrew Bills on the corner of 10 Avenue and 1 Street S.W., and he has been unable to obtain responses from city officials to his inquiries. His main concerns include managing parking and deliveries, locating the switchback for trains to travel in both directions, and ensuring safe passage through the intersection outside his business.

To highlight the situation, Bottlescrew Bills has brewed a beer called "Death Sentence," with a grim train depicted on its label, and a large "Guess Who" game featuring various city council members and provincial officials. Allan also mentioned that the city needs to answer their questions and set up meetings to address their concerns.

Wendy Tynan, the director of the Green Line LRT, assured Global News that more answers and conversations with businesses and residents will follow the council's decision on Tuesday. Nathaniel Schmidt, the Ward 8 Coun. of Calgary, proposed an amendment as a response to the business and resident concerns. If approved by the council, the amendment calls for a comprehensive public realm, mobility, and streetscape plan for the line along 10 Avenue.

Schmidt believes that the project should provide benefits to everyone affected by it and that the city should consider the long-term impact on the businesses and residents in the area. A report on the amendment is expected early next year.