A Calgary city councillor is suggesting the next extension of the Green Line LRT is still up in the air.
That’s because of how much it would cost to extend it north rather than south.
A report to the city’s transportation committee found 350 parcels of land would be required to take the Green Line from 16 Avenue N. to 160 Avenue N., while only 12 would be required to complete the southern leg to Seton and the South Health Campus.
The first phase of the Green Line will go from 16 Avenue N. to 126 Avenue S.
Councillor Shane Keating said the final decision on the planning and design of future stages should be based on a number of factors, including the cost of the line, cost of land, ridership and whether it helps “take cars off the road.”
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“Without the complete study, you don’t know, but it still comes back to dozens of qualities or characteristics before decisions can actually be made about which way and how we should expand.”
City administrators told the transportation committee that a plan to look at buying those properties could take three or four years.
Keating also suggested that funding from all levels of government could be tied to construction of the LRT line and not to the purchase of land.
An update is expected back before the committee later this year.