[CalgaryTiger]

"With work on a new downtown entry underway, Mayor Gondek said she’s concerned the province will bypass public consultation.

“My incredible concern is that whatever work they are doing with their new consultant, when are people going to weigh in on it? When are property owners going to weigh in on it? When are businesspeople going to say this does or doesn’t work for us?” Mayor Gondek said.

“When is the public at large going to be able to say, ‘Hold on. That’s not what we were expecting.’ So, I have no idea what that looks like.”

I mean I'm all for letting people have their say but at this point just let the experts tell us what they recommend and lets get on with it. Underground is obviously the best for the long-term but that ship has sailed. Give us the next best option.

"Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen said that the next working group meeting is Oct. 28. The sides are continuing to hammer out a downtown alignment, and the cost of different options...
Dreeshen said they’re looking at fully at-grade solutions, fully elevated options and a combination. They’re even looking at where they enter the downtown, he said."

Not to defend Devin but they are looking at options, whether there will be a quasi-public pick of options I don't think so. Present the options and then tell me why what you picked was best.

 

[ahuch]

Some vaguely good news

That just sounds like they don't have any interest in connecting green line to the north segment. Lol.

 

[MichaelS]

Yeah, the mayor's criticism for lack of engagement seems strange. Where was the engagement when the City was hacking away at the scope, removing stations, etc....

 

[lemongrab]

Dreeshen said they’re looking at fully at-grade solutions, fully elevated options and a combination. They’re even looking at where they enter the downtown, he said."

I feel like I've seen fully at-grade mentioned quite a few times, which seems odd given the CPKC tracks. Perhaps this does mean terminating on 10th ave further west?

Also interesting to wonder how they define 'downtown'. I'd wonder if that meant crossing the CP tracks at/before the Elbow River, except that doesn't work with their grand central station

 

[badc0ffee]

Would an underpass count as "fully at grade" if it's open at the top, and they are motivated to not call it "underground", even though it technically is?

 

[Mountain Man]

At this point, they should just connect it to the arena and this future HSR station and leave it for someone else to figure out the downtown part.

 

[darwink]

I feel like I've seen fully at-grade mentioned quite a few times, which seems odd given the CPKC tracks. Perhaps this does mean terminating on 10th ave further west?

Also interesting to wonder how they define 'downtown'. I'd wonder if that meant crossing the CP tracks at/before the Elbow River, except that doesn't work with their grand central station

I wouldn't put too much stock in this. Their main communications goal is to signal to business interests that tunnels are a non-starter, so be prepared to accept a non-tunnel alternative. Otherwise, the consultants are left to cook.

 

[FCC1982]

I feel like I've seen fully at-grade mentioned quite a few times, which seems odd given the CPKC tracks. Perhaps this does mean terminating on 10th ave further west?

Also interesting to wonder how they define 'downtown'. I'd wonder if that meant crossing the CP tracks at/before the Elbow River, except that doesn't work with their grand central station

Good questions.
Makes me wonder if they are trying to get the line to 7th Ave and run it down the existing corridor.

 

[darwink]

Good questions.
Makes me wonder if they are trying to get the line to 7th Ave and run it down the existing corridor.

They are answering questions that aren't illuminating while they wait for a consultant's report.

 

[outoftheice]

With Bhatti's departure and the end to the Green Line Board, the project governance is back to where it was in 2020 when the Jim Gray group first arrived on the scene demanding governance that was independent of council. So we are now full circle.

Green Line's Darshpreet Bhatti to leave his role as CEO - LiveWire Calgary

Darshpreet Bhatti, CEO of Calgary’s former Green Line transit project, has decided to move on, saying that now’s the right time. Bhatti, who was first hired to oversee the Calgary transit megaproject back in August 2021, made the announcement during a Green Line wind-down update to Calgary city...

livewirecalgary.com

 

[lemongrab]

With Bhatti's departure and the end to the Green Line Board, the project governance is back to where it was in 2020 when the Jim Gray group first arrived on the scene demanding governance that was independent of council. So we are now full circle.

Green Line's Darshpreet Bhatti to leave his role as CEO - LiveWire Calgary

Darshpreet Bhatti, CEO of Calgary’s former Green Line transit project, has decided to move on, saying that now’s the right time. Bhatti, who was first hired to oversee the Calgary transit megaproject back in August 2021, made the announcement during a Green Line wind-down update to Calgary city...

livewirecalgary.com

Not really surprising, but it's definitely not a good sign that he wants to jump off the ship without a lifeboat lined up:

Bhatti said that he’s not sure where he’ll land from here, but there are transit projects being built all over the world. For the time being, he said he and his family would stay in Calgary.

 

[lemongrab]

This is fairly tangential, but if you ever watch a council meeting about the GL you'd hear from her a fair bit (though you'd likely hear from her in any council meeting involving significant spending)

City of Calgary CFO Carla Male and the director of corporate planning relieved of duties

 

[CalgaryTiger]

One thing missing from all this is who will be making the final decision on the downtown alignment.

AECOM? Or are they just providing a report? Council? Either way once that decision is made is there a separate RFP that needs to go out? I wonder what the contract looks like with the current winning bidder?

Outside of alignment still so many questions...

 

[HudsonA08]

I wonder if the plan is to move this under Alberta Infrastructure management. That would make sense in no longer needing a full project team for the green line. Just Calgary input into the larger project.

 

[darwink]

One thing missing from all this is who will be making the final decision on the downtown alignment.

AECOM? Or are they just providing a report? Council? Either way once that decision is made is there a separate RFP that needs to go out? I wonder what the contract looks like with the current winning bidder?

Outside of alignment still so many questions...

With no inside knowledge, what likely will happen is:

Report goes to province.
Province chooses option, writes in a letter to the City that any spending above the projected for that option will not be eligible for provincial cost sharing.
This creates a dilemma, as the provincial option potentially would cover cost overruns/errors in the report, but other options are not protected in the same way.
City chooses option, and how to pay for it.
City goes ahead with its choice.