Green Line LRT | ?m | ?s | Calgary Transit

Go Elevated or try for Underground?

  • Work with the province and go with the Elevated option

    Votes: 52 75.4%

  • Try another approach and go for Underground option

    Votes: 14 20.3%

  • Cancel it altogether

    Votes: 1 1.4%

  • Go with a BRT solution

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • Total voters
    69
livewirecalgary.com

Calgary's Green Line transit project goes to RFQ - LiveWire Calgary

The next step in Calgary’s $5.5 billion Green Line project is underway, with a planned Request for Qualifications on the project’s first phase. The RFQ signals the city’s intention to qualify prospective bidders prior to selecting a development partner. The city said it’s a milestone step in the...
livewirecalgary.com livewirecalgary.com
 
GoVertical said:
livewirecalgary.com

Calgary's Green Line transit project goes to RFQ - LiveWire Calgary

The next step in Calgary’s $5.5 billion Green Line project is underway, with a planned Request for Qualifications on the project’s first phase. The RFQ signals the city’s intention to qualify prospective bidders prior to selecting a development partner. The city said it’s a milestone step in the...
livewirecalgary.com livewirecalgary.com
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If this just keeps chugging along and avoids any negative headlines that would be ideal.
 
My building has a notice up that there will be exploratory work going on for the subway starting yesterday to April 10 or so along 1 Street and 10 Ave for some reason.

39F20C43-16CF-42AD-B699-0A054C005EE9.jpeg



And the work is def going on today…

255B611B-8EC9-4611-A682-9056D36A6B27.jpeg
 
MichaelS said:
The RFQ shortlist has been released:
newsroom.calgary.ca

Bow Transit Connectors and City Link Partners shortlisted through RFQ for Phase 1 of Green Line LRT Project

Following the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for construction of Phase 1, from Shepard to Eau Claire, the Green Line Board has approved Bow Transit Connectors (Barnard Constructors of Canada, LP, Flatiron Constructors Canada Ltd, and WSP Canada Inc) and City Link Partners (Aecon Infrastructure...
newsroom.calgary.ca newsroom.calgary.ca
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It's starting to feel a little more real now.
 
IF consruction begins. Already had one Councillor ask at a committee meeting last week if we have reached the point where we just need to pull the plug on this project, given the massive inflation in costs. Response was along the lines of "we won't know for sure until the RFPs are opened and reviewed".
 
MichaelS said:
IF consruction begins. Already had one Councillor ask at a committee meeting last week if we have reached the point where we just need to pull the plug on this project, given the massive inflation in costs. Response was along the lines of "we won't know for sure until the RFPs are opened and reviewed".
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It is a good sign the project hasn't failed yet. $3.6 billionish in the construction kitty. Can remove maybe $300 million of scope (Eau Claire and north) if there are huge problems. Plus all the contingency already in there.

The important part is all of the remaining funds are one project which helps greatly with risk management. With a split project (tunnel vs not) the tunnel risk is held solely by the tunnel project winner which would likely have raised costs so much as to cause failed procurement.
 
Unpopular opinion but I still don't understand the reluctance to reconsider BRT. I hope I'm wrong, but stubbornness for trains is the biggest threat for a boondoggle here.

Maybe general transit ridership will recover soon. Or maybe it won't.
 
lemongrab said:
Unpopular opinion but I still don't understand the reluctance to reconsider BRT. I hope I'm wrong, but stubbornness for trains is the biggest threat for a boondoggle here.

Maybe general transit ridership will recover soon. Or maybe it won't.
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Without a downtown tunnel or elevated road the BRT didn't save enough travel time. The benefits of the project almost exclusively come from the downtown tunnel segment.
 
I kind of wonder what sort of endowment fund could have been set up with the $3 billion from the Feds + Province, on top of the now $2 billion the City is putting in, which could have funded greater frequency across our entire existing network in perpetuity. Would that be a better value for this significant volume of money?
 
darwink said:
Without a downtown tunnel or elevated road the BRT didn't save enough travel time. The benefits of the project almost exclusively come from the downtown tunnel segment.
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Aren't the SE travel time savings more from having a far more direct route instead of Macleod or 17 Ave? A BRT scenario could also offer huge efficiencies in directly reaching the communities in the deep south instead of trying to shuttle them to Shepherd.

BRT should still have dedicated ROW for the entire route (or at least as much as is practicable) with the long-term ability to change to rail. I'm just really skeptical that the ridership will justify the additional CAPEX and OPEX for rail anytime soon. Look at how big they drew the catchment area for the SE that ignores some significant barriers like the canal, to boost numbers with a lot of industrial workplaces that may not have hours conducive to transit and typically don't have parking/traffic issues anyways:
Green-Line-Long-Term-Need-768x638.jpeg



I just want a great transit system for this city and worry that this could actually be crippling.
 
lemongrab said:
Aren't the SE travel time savings more from having a far more direct route instead of Macleod or 17 Ave? A BRT scenario could also offer huge efficiencies in directly reaching the communities in the deep south instead of trying to shuttle them to Shepherd.

BRT should still have dedicated ROW for the entire route (or at least as much as is practicable) with the long-term ability to change to rail. I'm just really skeptical that the ridership will justify the additional CAPEX and OPEX for rail anytime soon. Look at how big they drew the catchment area for the SE that ignores some significant barriers like the canal, to boost numbers with a lot of industrial workplaces that may not have hours conducive to transit and typically don't have parking/traffic issues anyways:
View attachment 416966


I just want a great transit system for this city and worry that this could actually be crippling.
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The "catchment areas" in the map you posted seem to represent an approximation of all the area whose bus service will be primarily organized around feeding the green line - not walking distance.
The green line is ridiculously expensive but in my mind there's no question that it's necessary, especially for a long term vision of a Calgary with 3M+ people. And the more we delay it, the more it will cost.

We should be strategic about where we expand it though. IMO the Shepard - Seton portion should be a MAX BRT route until more important portions (like the Centre St corridor) are built up. You could also put another Max BRT route along the communities west of deerfoot.
 
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