City of Calgary claims provincial Green Line alignment will cost $1.3B more than anticipated

The City of Calgary claims the proposed provincial alignment for the Green Line LRT will cost $1 billion more than the city’s previous plan for the line.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, city officials said $1.3 billion “in known costs and risks” were not included in the work by AECOM, the third-party consultant the province hired to find a new downtown alignment.

When factoring in those costs, the city believes the province’s proposed alignment from 7 Avenue to Shepard would cost $7.5 billion.

The province previously suggested its proposed alignment, which opts for an elevated route through the downtown core instead of tunnelling and extends at-grade further south to Shepard, could be achieved for $6.2 billion.

That is the same budget as the city’s previous alignment, which included a downtown tunnel but only went as far south as Lynwood/Millican with five fewer stops due to cost concerns.

However, further details of what is included in the $1.3 billion in “missing” costs were limited, as AECOM’s report into its alignment remains confidential at the province’s request.

“We’ve been very clear that risk is a very real issue for our city, and we’ve been very clear that we think there’s errors with the numbers,” Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek told reporters. “We’re trying to be as transparent as we can in indicating what it is we need to discuss further.”

Calgary city council spent much of the day Tuesday in a public and confidential briefing and debate over the province’s proposed plan for the Green Line LRT project, which was announced Friday.

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Council heard there may be legal exposure for the city around impacts of an elevated line on downtown property values, following previous public feedback on the issue.

“Now that this is a new alignment that the province has proposed, would we be the only ones being sued?” Ward 14 Coun. Peter Demong asked administration.

2:00 Calls for transparency around provincial proposal for Calgary’s Green Line LRT project

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City solicitor Jill Floen explained that under the Municipal Government Act, landowners impacted by permanently reduced property values due to public works can apply for compensation.

“It would be a claim against the city. We do have a statutory obligation to notify all adjacent landowners of the completion of the project and then there’s a process and time period in which claims can be filed,” she said. “Without legislative change, I anticipate that’s what the scenario would be.”

Later in the day, council emerged from a closed-door session on AECOM’s confidential report and voted in favour of a list of amendments, including to continue negotiating with the province on its alignment, but only if the province “commits” to sharing delivery risks and cost overrun liability.

“We were always holding 100 per cent of the risk on something that we had substantially more certainty on,” Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian said. “To ask us to take that same level of risk with significantly less certainty is not financially responsible.”

Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean suggested the province “still holds the cards here,” and rebuked against “making demands” with the project’s funding partner.

“If you want to pick a fight with the province, and say we’re right, and this could collapse after all these years and all this money, you can do that,” McLean said. “I still think there’s room to negotiate.”

City officials are seeking another meeting to provide feedback from Tuesday’s meeting to the city and province’s joint working group on the Green Line, with plans to update city council at the end of January.

Gondek is also requesting the province publicly release the AECOM report on the proposed alignment.

The province did not respond to Global News’ request for comment on the city’s claims over the proposal’s costs.

However, in a separate statement, the Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors said it understands there are questions from council regarding legal and financial implications.

“We look forward to receiving and reviewing any questions from the city and will work expeditiously together to address them,” the statement said. “Our focus remains on delivering a cost-effective solution that benefits Calgarians and ensure the Green Line gets built following the original timeline.”

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