We took a look at the costs associated with the newly proposed 10 Avenue Green Line option through Victoria Park and discovered that it may actually cost significantly more than an underground station on 12 Avenue SE. Given that the universal preference of local stakeholders is a 12 Avenue SE underground alignment, we believe the City should put this option on the table for consideration so it can be properly evaluated.

 

 

 Map Showing Preferred 12 Avenue Option (light green) and City's Proposed 10 Avenue Option (dark green) in Victoria Park - Click to enlarge

 

New 10 Avenue Alignment and Station Proposal for Victoria Park 

 

On April 19, 2017 City Administration introduced a new 10 Avenue alignment option for Victoria Park between Macleod Trail SE and the Elbow River. To avoid impacting Stampede access with a surface alignment on 12 Avenue, the new option proposes diverting the train north from 12 Avenue SE to 10 Avenue SE underground, surfacing on lands between 10 Avenue and the CPR tracks and crossing a new LRT bridge over 4 Street SE to a station near 6 Street SE.

City's New Proposed 10 Avenue Alignment Option for Victoria Park - Click to enlarge

 

Previously, the City had eliminated a 10 Avenue alignment based on a detailed evaluation comparing alignments on 10 and 12 Avenue through the Beltline. 10 Avenue options scored the lowest. A summary of the City’s rankings is shown below.

 

City's Detailed Evaluation Results for Green Line Alignment Options for the Beltline

 

The Preferred Victoria Park Station: Underground on 12 Avenue Between 3rd Street and 4th Street SE

After extensive study and meetings with local stakeholders, the Beltline Neighbourhoods Association strongly believes the preferred station location in Victoria Park is underground on 12 Avenue between 3rd Street and 4th Street SE, directly in front of the BMO Centre. The map below details this option (light green) and the City's proposed 10 Avenue option (dark green).

 

The City is currently not investigating the option.

 

 Map Showing Preferred 12 Avenue Option (light green) and City's Proposed 10 Avenue Option (dark green) in Victoria Park - Click to enlarge

 

The New Victoria Park 10 Avenue Station Location and Alignment Proposal is Worse By Every Measure

We decided to compare the newly proposed 10 Avenue station location and alignment against the preferred Victoria Park station location and alignment based on how well they would each function with the major destinations and infrastructure in the area.

Transferring Between Red and Green Lines in Victoria Park

With the Red and Green LRT Lines crossing in Victoria Park at the site of some of Calgary’s biggest destinations including the Beltline, Stampede, the BMO Centre, Saddledome and a proposed new arena, it makes sense to consider the ease at which Calgarians will be able to transfer between the two lines to make travel around Calgary by Transit quicker and easier.

 

The Calgary Stampede, in partnership with Calgary Transit and CMLC, is planning to extend 17 Avenue into Stampede park, which will require the Victoria Park / Stampede Red Line station to be reconstructed and moved north closer to 12 Avenue.

 

If the rebuilt Victoria Park / Stampede station were to be located closer to 12 Avenue, the BMO Centre could become a bustling transfer point between the Red and the Green Lines with a less than 300m indoor connection through the BMO Centre for passengers to a new Green Line station underground on 12 Avenue directly in front of the BMO Centre (at the preferred location).

 

If the proposed Green Line station were placed between 10 Avenue and the CPR Line as proposed by the City, passengers would have to walk up to 1km outdoors and across busy streets to get between the two lines.

$500 Million BMO Centre Expansion

The Calgary Stampede is planning on a $500M expansion to the BMO Centre on Stampede Park that would double its size and include hotels and retail developments. This proposed expansion will make the facility into a tier-one convention centre alongside the biggest in North America, attracting a new international market for trade shows and conventions.

 

A new Green Line underground station on 12 Avenue in front of the BMO Centre (at the preferred location) would bring visitors from the Airport and from all over Calgary to the doorstep of the new tier-one BMO Convention Centre. Connections from the station to the BMO Centre could be entirely indoors.

 

If the Vic Park Green Line station were placed between 10 Avenue and the CPR Line as proposed by the City, visitors would have to walk up to half a kilometre or more outdoors year-round and across busy streets to get from the station to the BMO Convention Centre.

New Victoria Park Arena

After Mayor Nenshi declared the CalgaryNEXT proposal in the West Village “dead”, a proposal for a new arena on Stampede grounds just north of the Saddledome on 12 Avenue called the Victoria Park Option (formerly “Plan B”) is now being explored.

 

A new Green Line station underground on 12 Avenue in front of the BMO Centre (at the preferred location) would bring arena visitors from across the City to the doorstep of the new facility. Connections from the station to the arena could be entirely indoors.

 

If the Vic Park Green Line station were placed between 10 Avenue and the CPR Line as proposed by the City, visitors would have to walk up to half a kilometre outdoors year-round and across busy streets to get from the station to the new arena.

 

10 Avenue Victoria Park Option Would Cost More Than a 12 Avenue Underground Station

 

Additional Cost For An Underground Station: Approximately $80M

While the City has not released cost estimates for an underground station in Victoria Park, they did provide the cost difference between an underground and a surface station and alignment through the west portion of the Beltline on 12 Avenue. The difference was cited to be $80M ($470M surface vs. $550M underground). So we can likely also assume a roughly $80M cost difference between a 12 Avenue surface and underground alignment in Victoria Park.

 

Cost Difference of the Proposed 10 Avenue Station and Alignment

The City has not yet released cost information on this new station location and alignment option but we can estimate some of the additional costs based on the assessed value of the private lands the City would have to purchase to build this alignment.

 

Overlaying the City’s proposed alignment map with the City’s online property assessment tool we can see roughly which properties the City would have to purchase and their assessed value. The total comes to an additional $83M over the cost of building a surface alignment and station on 12 Avenue. That’s more than an underground station on 12 Avenue!!!

Overlay of City's Proposed 10 Avenue Option on City Property Map - Click to enlarge

 

Cost of Expropriating Private Lands Required to Build Proposed Green Line Tunnel to 10 Avenue in Victoria Park

 

Lost Tax Revenue From 10 Avenue Option

The additional cost of the 10 Avenue option would actually be even higher than $83M if you also considered the amount of tax revenue the City would lose over the 30 year financing period of the Green Line due to lands becoming less developable, as has been the case above the Red Line tunnel through Victoria Park. While it’s hard to estimate this figure, it could easily be millions of dollars per year based on other developments in the area, making the additional cost of this option closer to $100M+ over 30 years.

 

With the exception of the City-owned office building located above Westbrook Station and the new Central Library currently under construction, there are no examples of significant building developments constructed over LRT tunnels in Calgary. Even with a relaxation to Calgary Transit’s policies around these kinds of developments, opportunities would be significantly limited without the ability to construct sufficient underground structures for parking and foundations.

 

Additional Bridge Required for 10 Avenue Option

The 10 Avenue option is the only option for Victoria Park that would incur the additional costs to build an LRT bridge over 4 Street SE (Olympic Way). 

 

The 12 Avenue Underground Station in Victoria Park Merits Consideration by the City

We appreciate the City’s hard work as they continue to try to find the best option for Victoria Park and all the local stakeholders while working within the budget constraints of the overall Green Line project. While the City may have anticipated the cost of an underground station in Victoria Park to be higher, it is now apparent that even the functionally deficient 10 Avenue option the City is proposing would actually cost more.

Therefore, in the interest of Calgary taxpayers getting value for their money towards the Green Line, as well as designing the right LRT for today and the next 100 years, we are asking the City to put a 12 Avenue underground station option in Victoria Park on the table for consideration so it can be properly evaluated.