Picking the facts from the myths in the Green Line LRT saga
CBC
Any time there's a political tempest, there are always plenty of details to pick through.
Those on different sides of an issue choose their truths to make their point. Calgary's Green Line saga is no different.
While there has been a rapid series of events this month that resulted in the end of the LRT project in its present form, some of the arguments at the core of the debate appear hinged on political myth, not facts. Some have been circulating for years, while others are new.
Here's a closer look at three:
In a video released this week, Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen stated the Green Line was created in 2015 by Naheed Nenshi and it was supposed to include "a tunnel running under the Bow River and through the downtown core."
While Nenshi was Calgary's mayor then, he actually didn't promise this.
When the Stephen Harper government offered $1.5 billion in 2015 for the Green Line, Nenshi talked about the vision for the ultimate 46-kilometre build-out.
Given its size, completing this lengthy transit line would take several stages to complete and many years. After all, Calgary's existing Red and Blue Lines still aren't done — decades after they first opened.
Council confirmed in 2016 a staging approach would be needed.
Nenshi actually supported an elevated line through the core until downtown property owners came out against the idea. They said it would throw Second Street S.W. into perpetual darkness below the elevated train and hurt their property values. Thus, the tunnel idea moved up the list.
To set a price required years of planning and engineering work. That didn't happen until after a review was done by the provincial government in 2021.
In that review, the provincial government, led by Jason Kenney at the time, assessed the various alignment options and approved the city's $5.5-billion plan.
Following a competition, the city's Green Line board selected a development partner in April 2023. It worked with that consortium to determine what could be built and for how much.
On July 30, the board said, without an additional $700 million, the budget would only cover running the line south to Lynnwood/Millican." Council agreed but the city was the only one of the three funding partners willing to put in more cash.
