EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story misidentified one of the companies in Bow Transit Connectors. We regret the error.
The development phase of Calgary’s Green Line LRT project is underway after the city announced its development partner on Friday.
Bow Transit Connectors (BTC), comprising Barnard Constructors of Canada, Flatiron Constructors Canada, WSP Canada and EllisDon Capital, were selected for their shared expertise in underground, above-ground structures, and LRT design and construction.
Darshpreet Bhatti, CEO of the Green Line LRT, said two candidates were evaluated for technical know-how and experience with a project of similar size, the financial ability to borrow at scale and the ability to work collaboratively.
“This team scored the highest,” Bhatti said. “Just a few months ago, we identified that we are moving into negotiations with them, and over the course of the last three weeks, we were looking at some fundamental areas to make sure that we refined them before making a full commitment to say this is the team that we want to move forward with.
“I’m pleased to say that we have met that and BTC is a great and strong partner that we are confident moving forward with.”
The Green Line board called it an “important milestone” in Phase 1 of the megaproject’s progress.
Members of the BTC team will be moving in-house with the Green Line team.
“The hallmark of our approach has been collaboration, and you can achieve that by having an integrated team. So not only are we integrated with advisors and consultants who are supporting us from our end, we also want to be shoulder to shoulder with our contractor,” Bhatti said.
Dan Schall, vice-president at Barnard, called the 18-kilometre light rail transit project a “crucial project for Calgary’s future.”
“As a partner of Bow Transit Connectors, we will work collaboratively with the City of Calgary and local communities to deliver this exciting and important city-shaping project,” Schall said in a statement.
Ken Tanner, VP of operations for Flatiron, said that company looks forward to bringing its expertise in large-scale transportation projects to the $5.5-billion transit project.
“We are proud to share the trust of the City of Calgary as we significantly improve mobility for Calgarians,” Tanner said in a statement.
The city’s Green Line team agreed to extend the development phase from around one year to 16 months to allow for greater design progressions and cost certainty.
The development phase will include design work and agreement on project costs, risks and schedule between the city and BTC before a project agreement is signed.
The city said the implementation phase of the Green Line remains on track to begin next year.