Airport Tunnel Rejected Again? **UPDATE** It's built!

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Well today is the day this all goes to council, anyone want to make a prediction on how it all goes down?

I'm going to say it gets rejected, or they pick the scaled back option.

Last I saw there were expected to be 6 votes in favour.

[mykalberta]

God Lowe is against it, that should make anyone with any amount of common sense support this.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

God Lowe is against it, that should make anyone with any amount of common sense support this.

Ya, that right there makes me wonder why I would even consider not supporting it!

Something doesn't seem right though. If the evidence is really as one-sided as presented in this thread (amongst other places) then why is there as much debate? I'm no expert at all, and truthfully don't have strong feelings one way or the other. But everyone who does have strong feelings is in favour of the tunnel....what am I missing here?

[Bigtime]

Hmm, what are you missing?

Big Red is an idiot, Mar is a fence sitter, and Lowe has no clue.

That should sum it up.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Hmm, what are you missing?

Big Red is an idiot, Mar is a fence sitter, and Lowe has no clue.

That should sum it up.

I don't disagree with those thoughts. I guess when I see a sales pitch from politicians of any stripe though it makes me wonder. So let me get this straight:

- There is basically no increased cost
- There is better traffic flow

Whats the other side of the coin though? In my eyes there is either a hidden cost we're not aware of, the estimates are flawed or the arguments are not as strong?

I know that some of the traffic "pluses" are being oversold. I live in the deep SW and have come to the conclusion that although this way might eventually be "faster" its almost a technicality. I would guess that its faster in the magnitude of a few minutes. Kind of like driving 125 on the highway to Lethbridge is faster than going the speed limit of 110...but not an enormous amount faster. That kind of time savings is basically nothing though. So when I see that kind of argument combined with stuff that shouldn't even be argued about it just plain makes me wonder what is going on behind the scenes that I'm not aware of. Did a bunch of businesses who stand to benefit pay a lot into the Nenshi campaign?

[Bigtime]

From what I remember of Nenshi's donor list I really don't recall any large companies that could stand to benefit hugely from the tunnel.

I'm looking over the list now, there are a few of the park 'n' ride and rental car companies on the list in the $1000-$2499 range.

Keep in mind that Nenshi hadn't built up a war chest like McIver over the years, so I don't think that Park 'n' Jet can call the shots anymore than I or another donor could.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Slava

Ya, that right there makes me wonder why I would even consider not supporting it!

Something doesn't seem right though. If the evidence is really as one-sided as presented in this thread (amongst other places) then why is there as much debate? I'm no expert at all, and truthfully don't have strong feelings one way or the other. But everyone who does have strong feelings is in favour of the tunnel....what am I missing here?

I assume its the same problem all democracies have. Everyone is looking out for their own self interest. God Lowe's ward already has sufficient traffic options so why would he support a tunnel no one in his ward would use.

Broncos former professional a$$ kisser needs to be relevant again, what better way than to jump on the anti-tunnel option. By the time the tunnel is realized Gord will be long gone retired and it wont be his problem.

Next election we really need to find someone to boot him from Ward 2.

[Joborule]

When it comes to the tunnel, I don't understand why there is so much debate it in as well. It's pretty simple. Build it now and save costs and issues in the future. If we don't and delay it even furthur, it's gonna bite us in the ass financially and screw up the NE region when it comes to transportation and commute. Why create more clusterfatas when this city has to address others due to lack of foresight? We complain about the city not looking to the long term, so lets start doing it now with a very important project.

[Mazrim]

The essence of the decision is if everyone can look past the immediate benefits to what the underpass/tunnel prevents from happening in the future: Increased traffic on routes that aren't designed for it. Increased costs if we realize how badly it's needed 20 years from now.

All the growth in the NE that is planning to happen will go on regardless of whether the tunnel is built or not. Do we want to play catch up to accomodate that growth in the future, or be ready for it now? It would be nice to be ahead of the curve for once when it comes to infrastructure in this city.

[The Yen Man]

IMO, Lowe is against it because he's short sighted. He doesn't care what happens to the city in 10 years. Heck, the guy is so old, who knows if he'll even be around in 10 years.

[Art Vandelay]

What time of day are they expected to vote on this?

[frinkprof]

^Not sure. They are talking about a Mission project right now.

You can view the council meeting online at:

http://www.calgary.ca/cws/councilwebcast_new.html

Or on channel 89 on Shaw cable.

[frinkprof]

Looks like council has taken a break. Back at 15:45, one item to take care of that should be a relative slam dunk, then comes the Airport Tunnel item.

[Mazrim]

I'm watching right now, and while it's not the tunnel, this guy babbling is just hilarious!

EDIT: Whoa, it's Oscar Fech! He's rambling about dictatorships and stuff. This is gold.

[SebC]

Discussing the underpass now.

[frinkprof]

Airport Tunnel is up now.

@Mazrim: Yeah, Oscar is always good times.

[SebC]

Administration is saying building the tunnel is cheaper than not building the tunnel.

[Mazrim]

Interesting point I hadn't thought of: building the tunnel would likely remove the need for some grade separated interchanges on Metis Trail. Technically that makes it cheaper than not building the tunnel.

[frinkprof]

Proposal on table has room for transit - either dedicated bus lanes or rail-based.

[SebC]

Chabot, DCU, Mar, Lowe raising a stink about going in camera with administration. A lot posturing IMO.