Final decision on airport tunnel ‘now or never’

Calgarians will soon find out if the latest effort to build an airport tunnel shell will be successful.

Alderman Jim Stevenson and City administrators are making a dramatic last push for the tunnel before construction on the new north/south airport runway begins.

In a report presented to Council today, officials from the transportation department say building the tunnel in stages will save the City money in the long run.

Building a roughed in shell of the tunnel will cost between $150-million and $200-million. Adding in the remainder of the structure down the road will bring the total price tag to around $500-million. However, waiting to start construction on the tunnel after the new runway is completed is now estimated to cost $1-billion, a husky price tag that would eat up to 60% of the City’s 10-year capital budget. Some argue if the city takes option number two, the tunnel will never be built.

“Does it mean some juggling of priorities? Yes it does, but we have a very urgent timeline from the Airport Authority that they have refused to back down from” says Grant Galpin from the Airport Access Committee.

Money from two other already approved projects could be used to pay for the tunnel shell.

The report by the transportation department says the deadline to make a decision about the tunnel is July 2010, which means for Council, the decision is now or never.