Overview
- A city committee endorsed Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean’s amendment asking project staff to identify and evaluate alternate downtown alignments and produce options by September, with the amendment still needing a full council vote.
- The alignment under study remains an elevated route from Victoria Park through the Beltline and over CPKC rail to 2 Street S.W., ending above 7 Avenue S.W., a plan the province favored after cancelling a downtown tunnel.
- Alberta’s transportation minister says refinements can be discussed but a downtown tunnel is not an option, and he defended the elevated route for reaching more neighbourhoods and adding five stations.
- Green Line officials say the additional downtown study will not materially delay construction already underway on the southeast leg and that service between Victoria Park and Shepard is still targeted for 2031.
- Downtown business groups and property stakeholders strongly oppose the elevated option over safety, property-value and vibrancy concerns, even as project updates show about 65 percent of Calgarians generally support an elevated downtown alignment.