This week, City Council will be debating the 4 proposed solutions for the downtown portion of the North-Central C-Train route.
Here's a summary of the four options:
http://agendaminutes.calgary.ca/sire...&fileid=319712
All four options will see the train go underground (travelling southbound) between 24th and 20th Ave N on Centre Street with an underground station at 16th Ave N. Once across the river, the train will move, grade-separated, along 2nd St SE until it crosses the CP Rail tracks and continues eastbound along 10th Ave S.
So, basically, what they're debating is how to get the train across the river and into downtown.
Option A: After passing under 16th Ave, the train would return above-ground at 9th Ave N and continue along Centre Street across the existing Centre Street Bridge. Once across the bridge, it will turn west onto 3rd Ave S. It will then travel west until going underground again and following an underground route at 2nd St W between 3rd and 10th Avenues S.
Option B: After going underground at 20th Ave, the train will remain below ground until emerging just north of the river by the Curling Club. It will cross the river and Prince's Island on a newly-built bridge west of the existing Centre Street Bridge. Once across the river, the train will go underground and run below 2nd St W from 3rd Ave to 10th Ave.
Option C: The same as Option B until the train is across the river. Once across the river, the tracks would remain elevated and the train would travel along elevated tracks through downtown (with enough height to go over the existing +15 bridges) until returning to at-grade service on 10th Ave S.
Option D: The train goes below ground at 24th Ave N and remains underground across the river and through downtown, returning to the surface at 10th Ave S.
Option A is budgeted at $600 million, B and C are both $800 million, and D would be $1.3 billion.
Option A is the cheapest, but would also be the most disruptive to Centre Street traffic and would have the greatest likelihood of collisions between the C-Train and vehicles on the road.
Option D is the most "future-proof" and would be the least-disruptive to the way things are now. It's also about a half a billion dollars more to build. Going under the river would require deeper tunnels and deeper stations. The station at 9th Ave N under Option D would be 13 storeys underground, which obviously would require greater infrastructure to move people between the surface and the station. Under the other 3 options, the deepest station would be 5 storeys underground.
To me, it seems obvious that Option D is the best solution and A is the worst. B & C are an in-between compromise. The cost savings for A aren't enough to justify messing up Centre Street like it would, so it shouldn't even be considered. I don't like the above-grade options for C and it's the same cost as tunneling through downtown, so I don't see the advantage.
I think it should be either B or D. I'd prefer D, but obviously it will cost a lot more, and I don't know if it's worth it.