Gondek invites Dreeshen, Smith on Green Line route walking tour
'Our businesses and residents have expressed significant concerns about an elevated line through downtown,' Gondek said Tuesday

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Calgary’s mayor says she has invited Premier Danielle Smith and Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen on a walking tour through the Beltline and downtown to demonstrate the potential effects of an elevated Green Line LRT project.
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The tour would take place along 10th Avenue S.E. and 2nd Street S.W., where the province has proposed building an aboveground track for the future multibillion-dollar transit project.
“Our businesses and residents have expressed significant concerns about an elevated line through downtown,” Gondek said Tuesday.
“From altering the character of our public spaces, to affecting the safety and flow of traffic, to the economic and social well-being of building tenants, these are issues we simply cannot ignore.”
Gondek added the invitation is also extended to members of council and Calgary-based MLAs.
After months of dialogue with Dreeshen and Smith, city council approved a series of recommendations last week to work with the province on advancing the $6.2-billion Green Line, which will see a CTrain line built from Shepard in the southeast to 7th Avenue S.W. in the downtown.

City council received a brief verbal update on the Green Line on Tuesday from general manager of infrastructure Michael Thompson. He said administration is putting together a new business case for the revised project before Feb. 14, but it will be up to the province to approve that plan before sending it to the federal government to vet.
“We will update council once we’ve heard back from both levels of government,” Thompson said.
Pending approval of $1.53 billion in federal funding, construction on the southeast segment of the line could get started this year, from Shepard to Victoria Park.
During construction on the southeast segment, a two-year functional study will validate the province’s cost estimates and assess the potential effects of the downtown alignment.
Dreeshen unveiled the alignment in December, and said the province’s $1.53-billion funding commitment is contingent on an aboveground line.
In response to a request for comment on Tuesday, Dreeshen did not confirm if he’d accept Gondek’s invitation for a walking tour, instead saying the province looks forward to seeing construction start on the Green Line this year “after a decade of delay.”
“Regarding the downtown alignment, there is more than a year’s worth of detailed design work that needs to be done,” he said in a statement. “Local concerns regarding the downtown alignment will be carefully considered and resolved during that time.”
Businesses opposed to elevated track
Many business owners along 10th Avenue previously told Postmedia that they are vehemently opposed to an elevated CTrain, citing concerns about shadowing, noise and traffic.
Jay Taylor, the CEO of the Alberta Boot Company, located along 10th Avenue, said the business would likely relocate if the elevated Green Line goes ahead.
“We’d be forced into a situation where we have no choice,” he said.
During a scrum with reporters Tuesday, Gondek said some of the businesses that would be affected have served Calgarians for decades and deserve to have a say on the project.
“The input from those who are affected is invaluable in shaping a project that will serve Calgarians for generations to come,” she said. “I urge the premier and the minister to accept this invitation to see the potential impacts first-hand.”

City taking tariff threat ‘very seriously,’ says Gondek
On Tuesday, the mayor couldn’t say specifically how the proposed 25 per cent U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods could increase costs on the Green Line project.
The tariffs, threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump, were set to take effect Tuesday, before a last-minute truce was found with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to delay the levy for another 30 days.
City administration is taking the threat of a trade war between Canada and the U.S. “very seriously,” according to Gondek, and is looking at how a 25 per cent tariff on exports and imports would affect all capital projects, including the Green Line.
“At the same time, our suppliers, our vendors, our partners who are helping to bring this project to life are looking at their own internal processes as well to see what tariffs could cost us,” she said.
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