City can no longer afford Green Line LRT project, Calgary mayor says
Jyoti Gondek speaks after province announces funding withdrawal in letter Tuesday
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said Wednesday morning that the city's Green Line LRT project is, for all intents and purposes, scrapped — at least for the foreseeable future.
Her comments come after Alberta's Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors, Devin Dreeshan, sent a letter Tuesday in which he said the province would pull its portion... moreCity can no longer afford Green Line LRT project, Calgary mayor says
Jyoti Gondek speaks after province announces funding withdrawal in letter Tuesday
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said Wednesday morning that the city's Green Line LRT project is, for all intents and purposes, scrapped — at least for the foreseeable future.
Her comments come after Alberta's Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors, Devin Dreeshan, sent a letter Tuesday in which he said the province would pull its portion of the funding, a total of $1.53 billion.
He called the city's recently revised Green Line LRT plan "unacceptable" and one that was "fast becoming a multibillion-dollar boondoggle."
The latest provincial move now significantly changes the prospects for the project, Gondek said.
"As a result of that … we are no longer as a city able to afford the cost of this project," she said.
"Unfortunately, the delay that will come from this review that's been requested and the uncertainty in the market will elevate costs."
In an interview on CBC Calgary's The Homestrech on Aug. 1, Dreeshan said the funding was "100 per cent" secure.
That assurance came in the aftermath of a vote by city council in late July to cut six stations from the initial phase of the Green Line and to increase its budget by $700 million to over $6.2 billion.
