[adamyyc]

If you could convert those parcels into a large contiguous park, you could potentially see a lot of residential development in the immediate area including some development on those parcels south of 9th ave. The ultimate boost for downtown would be if the CP tracks went away. Amazing potential if that ever happened.

Yeah, the CP tracks are a major barrier downtown. Similar situation in Toronto. Toronto has been proposing a Rail Deck Park over top of sections of the rail lines downtown that are below grade. There is a developer that owns the air rights. Unclear how that whole situation is going to shake out.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6024030

I don’t see the CP line ever moving from downtown Calgary, but I think there is an opportunity to improve the areas around the rail line, and a good start would be to convert. the vacant parking lots to park space. I’d be ok with the City spending some of that $450 M to convert empty lots to park space. There is a lack of park space in parts of downtown, and I think this part of downtown is one of those areas in particular.

 

[Disraeli]

If the city wanted to be really bold they could expropriate the land along the tracks and put it to creative uses. Or pass bylaws that make it less profitable to continue to sit on swaths of parking to encourage redevelopment. But the amount of internal lobbying of parking companies makes that highly unlikely

 

[Surrealplaces]

I like to dredge this up every once in a while. My ultimate dream for downtown Calgary, a canal in place of where the tracks are. Something like Osaka, but with more park space, and an area called Rafter's Landing, with pubs and restos. It would take a lot to get something like this done, but if it ever did, it would be a game changer for downtown and Calgary, and also become an international tourist spot.

 

[Duck Lightning]

I don't think a canal really makes sense though as what use does it serve at that location? How are you going to make a business case for the construction of a canal without it serving any purpose? You don't build canals just to have developments around them. A canal might make sense if the Bow was a deep and wide river that had boat traffic and if the river didn't turn into a trickle in the winter/fall.

 

[YourBoy007]

Nevertheless we need to do something about the train tracks downtown. Either bury them or remove them and put whatever in its place. The debate has been going on for far too long. The best time to take action was yesterday, the second best time is today.

 

[Disraeli]

As much as it would be nice to see it moved/ buried, I can think of allot better use of the billion+ it would cost get ride of them

 

[JTron]

I don't think a canal really makes sense though as what use does it serve at that location? How are you going to make a business case for the construction of a canal without it serving any purpose? You don't build canals just to have developments around them. A canal might make sense if the Bow was a deep and wide river that had boat traffic and if the river didn't turn into a trickle in the winter/fall.

There are plenty of man made lakes and canals built here in Calgary already that serve less of a purpose than this canal would. It would be the coolest thing to ever happen to this city, but the economics would be a challenge because of the cost of moving the tracks. If the tracks were to be moved anyway due to some other reason, then this wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities. As for the winter, you dam the canal at one end when winter begins and leave it as a skating canal.

 

[Surrealplaces]

I don't think a canal really makes sense though as what use does it serve at that location? How are you going to make a business case for the construction of a canal without it serving any purpose? You don't build canals just to have developments around them. A canal might make sense if the Bow was a deep and wide river that had boat traffic and if the river didn't turn into a trickle in the winter/fall.

I don't know that it needs a purpose, other than what we see with other water related projects around Calgary, where people have built a lake or canal just for the sake of development around it. This would be a much bigger project than the man made lakes, or the canals at Quarry Park etc., but the pay back would also be much higher.

That said, I should have mentioned this is just an idea for something could make downtown and Calgary in general stand out, and assumes the CPR tracks are going away for some other reason like too many toxic spills or something. It's also not an idea meant to replace other initiatives like the $450 million plan already in place.

 

[darwink]

The $450 million is one line in a report. And requires funding from other levels of government. Which is hard since yeah, subsidies for office commercial use to residential use ain’t infrastructure unless it is for a public purpose.

 

[BKha]

Nevertheless we need to do something about the train tracks downtown. Either bury them or remove them and put whatever in its place. The debate has been going on for far too long. The best time to take action was yesterday, the second best time is today.

Somewhere in another thread it was mentioned the some university students did a report and they estimated a around $1Bil to move to move the tracks. I might be remembering that number wrong, but it was something around that amount. It's a lot of money, but there are public works projects that are far more costlier. If there was someway to re-coup the money through development around CRL , who knows maybe it could work. It would be nice to have that land developed into a mix of residential/retail and park space, or a canal. The sky is the limit.

 

[darwink]

and that cost is an entirely unrealistic cost. Unfortunately other routes aren't as flat or as short. CP would want yearly compensation forever, or a settlement covering the same amount out front, which covered the impacts to their operation. Plus they would likely require the city to take on any environmental obligations.

 

[Disraeli]

I think re-routing the main line would be out the question for a long list of reasons. The only option that makes any sense would be to bury it.

 

[Mountain Man]

The City and CP will have to have some serious discussions around the route when some of those 100+ year old underpasses downtown start to reach the end of their life cycle. They are already kinda sketchy looking...

 

[Just build it]

I know this was discussed at one time, but doesn't CP transport hazardous materials through that downtown line? It hasn't been a problem yet, but it might be some day.

 

[zagox]

Somewhere in another thread it was mentioned the some university students did a report and they estimated a around $1Bil to move to move the tracks. I might be remembering that number wrong, but it was something around that amount. It's a lot of money, but there are public works projects that are far more costlier. If there was someway to re-coup the money through development around CRL , who knows maybe it could work. It would be nice to have that land developed into a mix of residential/retail and park space, or a canal. The sky is the limit.

Rather than spend ~$1 billion to move the line, I'd rather see the City and Province spend the ~$1 billion to build the airport to Banff project so residents can actually use the corridor.