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Calgary city council to look at Green Line LRT funding model

Proposed sketch of Green Line LRT. Courtesy: City of Calgary

The City of Calgary is looking at how to get the most bang for its buck when it comes to the new Green Line LRT.

READ MORE: Calgary’s Green Line LRT final alignment receives approval by council

A report will go before city council at Tuesday’s finance committee meeting to look at funding options for Phase 1.

The report recommends the city move forward with what’s called the design-build-finance (DBF) model.

A DBF is a short-term public-private partnership (P3) model that doesn’t tie the city to just one private partner for the entire project.

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“If you go to a technical P3 you’re locked into with that provider for in some cases for three decades,” Ward 12 Coun. Shane Keating said.

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Keating says along with flexibility, the intent of the DBF model is to save money.

“What we have to be able to do is say, ‘how much and how far can we get with that budget,'” Keating said. “I would say that would be what (DBF) allows us to do, rather than say you can only go from point A to point B. End of story.”

Phase 1 of the Green Line LRT project is budgeted at $4.65 billion. This section of the line will run from 16 Avenue N to 126 Avenue S.E. and construction is set to begin in 2020.

The full Green Line will extend from Seton in the deep south to 160 Avenue N.

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