EDMONTON — Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek is urging the Alberta government to salvage pieces of the massive discontinued Green Line transit project, and the province says it’s open to working together.
City council voted this week to wind down the $6.2-billion project after Premier Danielle Smith’s government said it would pull its $1.53 billion in funding unless the city altered and extended the line’s route.
The city estimates halting work will cost it $850 million on top of $1.3 billion already spent on land acquisition, utility construction and new light-rail vehicles.
On Friday, both levels of government agreed to take stock of existing contracts and see which could be saved.
It comes after Gondek sent a letter Thursday asking the province to preserve some of the work already done to save taxpayer money and prevent delays on a future project, including retaining the contract for new vehicles and a segment of the line.
Gondek told reporters Friday the letter was a “Hail Mary pass” that resulted in a “productive” meeting with the premier and Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen.
“If the province were to start from scratch on their vision for a new alignment, it would require all new procurement and contracts — which means more time and more money,” said Gondek, adding her proposals could save between 600 and 700 construction jobs.
She said she and the city’s experts explained how they could save some taxpayer money, but she didn’t offer a specific estimate.
Dreeshen has criticized the Green Line project, calling it a poorly engineered and expensive boondoggle that began under former mayor Naheed Nenshi, who is now the leader of Alberta’s NDP.
Dreeshen said the province isn’t willing to shoulder any of the wind-down costs but is willing to work to mitigate them. For some segments, contracts could be kept alive, he said.
“I could see a lot of overlap of the two alignments there,” he said in a Friday interview with The Canadian Press.
Whether the railcars could still be used remains a question mark.
Despite concerns that the change of course could delay construction for months if not years, Dreeshen said there is a “viable window” in which the project could see track built next year.
“I’m very, very happy to see that the mayor and certain city councillors have a very practical, common-sense approach to work with the province rather than grandstand and have a lot of political theatre,” he said.
Councillors in favour of halting work said the province’s decision in September to withhold funding left the city no choice but to abandon the project in its current alignment.
The Alberta government has hired consulting firm AECOM to come up with new proposals by the end of the year.
On Wednesday, Smith blamed the failure of the project on a lack of political oversight, but said the province won’t be taking over responsibility.
“We want to be partners, but we don’t want to take over the transit system,” said Smith.
“There needs to be a rethink on this, and we remain committed.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024.
Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press