Calgary mayor to bring forward plan for Green Line path through downtown, across river

Farkas wants federal support for underground tracks, province says 'downtown tunnel is not on the table'

Calgary's mayor says he believes the city can partner with Ottawa to get an underground tunnel built for the Green Line, despite pushback from the provincial government.

In an interview with CBC News, Jeromy Farkas said he hopes to bring forward a plan to council for phase two of the Green Line in "the coming weeks and months."

His vision for the project includes a 700-metre underground tunnel from Second Street to Eau Claire, with the line running above ground across Prince's Island Park and up Centre Street to at least 16th Avenue.

"I'm fully intending to bring to council, whether it's through a notice of motion or through an amendment to some other Green Line recommendations, formal endorsement of what we see phase two to be," Farkas said.

Those comments follow council's approval of a plan for the Green Line's path into downtown on Sept. 22.

City council signs off on Green Line alignment along 10th Avenue

Farkas's vision for a tunnel comes in spite of firm opposition from the provincial government, which had threatened to withdraw its support for the project two years ago due to the city's planned underground tracks.

But Farkas says he believes the city could still pull it off, with some help from the federal government.

"My perfect world would be to have the city partnering with the feds for about those 700 metres that are required to get from Second Street in the Beltline to Eau Claire," said Farkas, who has floated the idea in the past.

"My understanding is that the provincial government's decision not to participate in an underground option for the downtown was contingent on them spending their money."

He said it's also his understanding that "they wouldn't necessarily oppose or veto us if it was the city and the federal government doing so, if there wasn't any provincial money involved with."

'A downtown tunnel is not on the table': Dreeshen

In a statement sent to CBC News, Alberta's Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen indicated that the province still opposes the notion of an underground tunnel.

"Alberta taxpayers have committed $1.53 billion to get the Green Line built and after a decade of delays and broken promises under former Mayor Naheed Nenshi, the project is finally moving forward," Dreeshen said.

"We're open to discussing refinements to the alignment, but a downtown tunnel is not on the table," he said when asked whether the province would veto such a funding agreement between the City of Calgary and the federal government.

"Our focus is delivering an above ground alignment that respects commuters and taxpayer dollars."

Farkas says he believes now's the right time to finalize such a deal.

"If we could endorse this phase two, we could get it actively in front of provincial and federal funding partners," he said. "I think that this makes the best use of the upcoming provincial election."

"I would say that it would be extremely politically dangerous for the province to leave money on the table and, say, potentially two billion dollars that wants to come from Ottawa to Calgary but can't because of the UCP," Farkas said.

'I don't have full confidence' in federal deal: councillor

Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Yule says he's glad the mayor is advocating for the long-delayed Green Line, but he remains skeptical about Farkas's proposal.

"I want to see it succeed," he said. "I'm glad he's pushing forward and that he wants to look to the other levels of government to help support a project like this. But the proof will be in the pudding once we see those other levels jump in."

"I think the biggest concern for me is the province has said no to tunnelling," Yule said. "Will the province be OK with another level of government stepping in for a tunnel? That I don't know. And I don't have full confidence that we'll get that support."

Amir Said is a multimedia journalist with CBC Calgary. He is an alumnus of the University of Regina, and his award-winning work as a writer and photographer has been published by outlets across Canada, including Postmedia, The Hill Times and The Narwhal. Amir can be reached at amir.said@cbc.ca or through social media.

With files from Brendan Coulter