Quote:
Originally Posted by Northendzone
here is a chance for you to change my mind on this fiasco - can you summarize the infrastructure gains that we will get for the projected net cost to calgary of $2 billion?
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These two posts are aligned with my reason for the Olympics to occur...
Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
The NW leg was not already planned?
I dont remember it that way, which means little as well.
I can see where they may have moved construction up for it, but it was always a part of the process and would have been built regardless of the Olympics coming to Calgary or not though.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by getbak
Yes, of course it was planned. Planned and built are two very different things.
The Fieldhouse at Foothills has been "planned" for a decade, but it's not any closer to being built than it was then.
There was originally significant opposition to the alignment of the NW leg through Sunnyside, which is one reason why the NE leg was built first. The Olympics and the need to get the C-Train to McMahon and the University was ultimately what got things moving for the NW leg. Without that push, who knows how much longer it would have been delayed?
The advantage of the Olympics is that it gives everyone a date to circle on the calendar for when things need to be done. People can't keep dragging their feet and pushing the deadlines out by another week/month/year. The disadvantage is that by having multiple large-scale construction projects happening at the same time, there's an increased competition for staff and resources, so the final cost is going to be higher for all projects.
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The Olympics is a catalyst to actually get things done, rather than planning for them, but never getting it built. The Fieldhouse is the biggest victim of this ordeal at the moment.
Muta went over much of what would be built or renovated to accommodate the Olympics. Off the top of my head, these are the projects that would occur from the bid report, as well what could happen from both the bid report and hypothetical reasoning. The latter would increase the costs since they aren't directly associated with the Olympics, but as I said, would be a catalyst in getting it done.
- New Arena
- BMO Centre Expansion
- New housing (affordable) in Victoria Park
- Complete Green Line build out; with spur line/people mover connection to airport
- Foothills Fieldhouse/indoor track and field venue (along with new twin hockey arena, and possibly more)
- Olympic Oval Renovation; along with UCalgary Kinesiology expansion and renovation (badly needed)
- McMahon Stadium renovation? Olympics may or may not make use of the venue, so it's questionable if it would benefit. But if it does, address another major need for the city, and could spur Banff Trail/McMahon/University Heights TOD development
- Winsport refurbishment
- Nakiska Improvements
- Canmore Nordic Centre improvements, as well potential development spur for the town of Canmore
- Possibly a commuter rail between Banff National Park and Calgary. This one is a high cost project that will probably never happen within several decades unless the Olympics come
- Other transportation infrastructure improvements (West ring road, Crowchild improvements, 8th Ave Subway, etc.)