CALGARY – The city’s latest bid to get the airport tunnel built on Calgary Airport Authority-controlled land could see the city lobby the provincial government for grants for related infrastructure.
But there’s short time for the city to get the province onside, with this Monday’s negotiations deadline about to be reset to May 24, the day after the long weekend.
The Stelmach Tories have repeatedly refused to directly subsidize the $295-million tunnel roadway project itself, but Mayor Naheed Nenshi said the authority’s new proposal has an "innovative" potential workaround.
"There’s an ancillary project that’s very complementary to the tunnel that if we can get the financing for we can do all together and that would make everyone happy," he said.
He didn’t specify what those add-on projects were, but confirmed it wasn’t the long-touted airport LRT link. But the authority has been steadfast in its demands that the city commit to building additional interchanges along Airport Trail which would go well beyond council’s approved budget for the tunnel.
Since that budget only passed by an 8-7 vote earlier this year, Nenshi is loath to ask colleagues to approve more money for the northeast tunnel.
Already, that total requires the transportation managers to borrow or scrape together money from virtually every fund availabe over the next several years.
Last year, then-mayor Dave Bronconnier unsuccessfully requested the Alberta government grant $98 million for the airport tunnel project. Nenshi has lobbied for provincial money as well, also to no avail.
The premier and Transportation Minister Luke Ouellette have repeatedly said Calgary has received substantial infrastructure grants that could have gone into the tunnel project if the city wished. In fact, much of the city’s "municipal sustainability" funds from the province are slated for the roadway – including some previously earmarked not for roads but "innovation."
Some of the Tories’ MLAs from Calgary suggested in recent months that it’s worth discussing provincial investment in the tunnel, as have the opposition Liberals.
The airport said in a statement Monday: "The authority and city are in a final round of critical discussions. We have agreed to the city’s request for a few more days to determine if the proposed tunnel project is able to proceed."
The new deadline falls on the day that Nenshi is scheduled to leave on a week-long trip to China with Calgary Economic Development and several business leaders.
Calgary Herald
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