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Joborule · 12-20-2024, 06:17 PM

I feel like the city really doesn't have much of a choice but to accept the elevated alignment from the province if they truly want to be financially conscious. The city has already spent A LOT of money on this, and the value of underground is just not feasible if elevated can do the same thing for much cheaper, and you get a further built out line for Day 1 as a result.

If the city says no, then they've wasted the money they have put into this for the past decade, they waste the 1.5B from the province, and they waste the 1.5B from the feds since that money evaporates also at the end of March.

If they want to give this another go down the road, whether there's a new provincial party as government or not (no guarantees), the costs are only just going to keep going up, and up. So the city will end up paying more still in all likelihood. And I think it would be foolish to try to force the underground alignment. Tunnel vision is what has caused this mess in the first place. Costs for that have escalated considerably (not just a Calgary problem), and I don't see the value for it when elevated would be a cheaper option that does the same thing. It would be very silly to walk away, and then end up doing elevated anyway, but paying more for it.

I feel the property impacts are sensationalized, and the design of it can be inoffensive. Plus, the proposed corridor doesn't really have much going for it currently; parkades, parking lots, small offices, and office towers that don't have any restaurants or social life amenities on the ground level except at Stephen Ave. There's not much being lost, and adaptations can be made to make the most of it on the street level. Plus, this would actually give the Beltline a train station. The underground proposal said it would box one in for future development, but that would never happen due to it being half the costs of the new arena.

So if I was the city, I would accept the hand dealt, finally reach the construction milestone, and focus on getting funding for the extensions of the line ASAP.

12-20-2024, 06:17 PM	#4262
Joborule Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Calgary, Alberta Exp:	I feel like the city really doesn't have much of a choice but to accept the elevated alignment from the province if they truly want to be financially conscious. The city has already spent A LOT of money on this, and the value of underground is just not feasible if elevated can do the same thing for much cheaper, and you get a further built out line for Day 1 as a result. If the city says no, then they've wasted the money they have put into this for the past decade, they waste the 1.5B from the province, and they waste the 1.5B from the feds since that money evaporates also at the end of March. If they want to give this another go down the road, whether there's a new provincial party as government or not (no guarantees), the costs are only just going to keep going up, and up. So the city will end up paying more still in all likelihood. And I think it would be foolish to try to force the underground alignment. Tunnel vision is what has caused this mess in the first place. Costs for that have escalated considerably (not just a Calgary problem), and I don't see the value for it when elevated would be a cheaper option that does the same thing. It would be very silly to walk away, and then end up doing elevated anyway, but paying more for it. I feel the property impacts are sensationalized, and the design of it can be inoffensive. Plus, the proposed corridor doesn't really have much going for it currently; parkades, parking lots, small offices, and office towers that don't have any restaurants or social life amenities on the ground level except at Stephen Ave. There's not much being lost, and adaptations can be made to make the most of it on the street level. Plus, this would actually give the Beltline a train station. The underground proposal said it would box one in for future development, but that would never happen due to it being half the costs of the new arena. So if I was the city, I would accept the hand dealt, finally reach the construction milestone, and focus on getting funding for the extensions of the line ASAP.