Calgary councillors question Green Line project officials over cost concerns
Global News
Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp asked about a potential reconsideration of the Green Line LRT project, given inflationary pressures on costs.
Calgary’s Green Line LRT project is “on track” as inflationary pressures continue to create uncertainty on costs, project officials told a city committee on Wednesday.
“I know there is a significant interest and a high level of concern regarding cost. We’re all feeling it in our own lives,” Green Line board chair Don Fairbairn told the city’s executive committee.
According to Fairbairn, Green Line project officials regularly develop cost, contingency and risk estimates, which are all reviewed by third-party agencies.
A report to committee showed costs are forecasted to be over budget by less than 35 per cent of its contingency, but Fairbairn said none of that contingency has been used.
He said an update on those cost estimates is expected in September.
The $5.5 billion project has been divided into stages, with the first stage set to run from Shepard in the city’s southeast, under the downtown core and bridge over the river to 16 Ave N.
Fairbairn told committee that the Request for Qualifications phase has closed, and a Request for Proposals phase to find a builder for the LRT mega-project is on track to begin in the fall.
Although project officials hope to select a builder by early next year, Fairbairn added that there won’t be any commitments on the Green Line regarding costs until the project agreement is signed with the builder — which won’t happen until 2024.