# @cmcalgary on Facebook

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.facebook.com/984829759669087/posts/982227719929291
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/17504448-cmcalgary-facebook
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/cdb026a71f.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-05-10T18:35:39.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** CMcalgary (@cmcalgary) — https://gondola.cc/cmcalgary

## Caption

Devin Dreeshen, Alberta Minister of Transportation, sent a letter to Calgary Mayor Gondek adding some new conditions to the Green Line's 1.53 billion in funding that had previously been agreed to. 

Firstly, no additional funding will be provided by the province under any circumstances. Secondly, the Green Line needs to be fully integrated with the UCP's "Master Rail Plan" which was recently announced. Details of that plan are supposed to be released next year. 

Construction has already begun on the Green Line. Officials estimate that the design for it will be ⅔ completed by summer.  

🚈🚃🚃🚃

Copy/paste of the letter:

I am contacting you following a meeting I attended on May 6, 2024, with: the Honourable Pete Guthrie, Minister of Infrastructure; the Honourable Matt Jones, Minister of Jobs, Economy, and Trade; the Honourable Ric Mclver, Minister of Municipal Affairs; Don Fairburn, Green Line Board Chair and Darshpreet Bhatti, Green Line CEO.

The province appreciates the expertise and leadership that have been brought in to lead the Calgary Green Line project. This technical briefing, and an earlier briefing on March 21, 2024, have been very helpful in strengthening our understanding of the efforts the Board is taking to mitigate challenges faced by the Green Line.
I acknowledge the cost pressures faced by the Green Line and other major infrastructure projects in Alberta and across North America. I also want to thank your administration and the Green Line team for their regular engagement with department staff. I understand from the meeting that final cost estimates will inform the recommendations the Green Line Board will consider and provide to City Council in June 2024. 

City Council will then determine how to manage the costs through additional funding and/or scope adjustments. To support your decision, it is important that the province is transparent with respect to its funding commitment. Although Alberta's total $1.53-billion commitment to the Green Line has not changed at this time, there are two key conditions attached to this funding.

Firstly, any cost increases or escalations will be the responsibility of the City and no additional funding will be available from the province for this project under any circumstances.

And secondly, the provincial funding is contingent on the City's Green Line being fully integrated with the Province's recently announced Master Rail Plan which is scheduled for release next year. We repeat our invitation for the City to participate in the development of the Master Rail Plan over the next year in this regard.

Given the substantial amount of provincial investment needed to complete the substantial portion of the Province's Master Rail Plan infrastructure located in the City of Calgary, along with the Province's $330 Million investment in supportive transportation infrastructure for Calgary's new Arena Entertainment District, the Province wants to make absolutely certain taxpayer dollars are used in the most responsible and efficient way possible, Planning and coordination between the City and Province with regard to the Green Line and the Master Rail Plan will be critical to achieving that objective.

Given these conditions and the acknowledged cost escalations currently recognized by the City, we strongly encourage the City to carefully assess whether there are mitigating scope adjustments that can be made to the Green Line plan, including the potential raising of downtown stations from underground to above ground in order to avoid unnecessary cost.

I look forward to receiving a revised business case in June, which will demonstrate how the city and the Green Line Board will deliver a functional line within the current funding commitments and conditions outlined by the province.

#yyc 
#Alberta 
#Calgary 
#GreenLine 
#GreenLineYYC

## Stats

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- **Likes:** 9
- **Shares:** 5
- **Comments:** 22

## Tags

calgary, yyc, greenlineyyc, greenline, alberta

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