Key decisions are expected this month on the $5.5 billion Green Line

City council will make important decisions this month regarding the future of Calgary's upcoming LRT line.

Over the years, the city raised a $5.5 billion budget for the 18-mile Green Line, which will stretch from the downtown Eau Claire neighborhood to the Shepard station near 126th Avenue SE.

This money comes from the city, as well as the federal and provincial governments.

For months, concerns have grown about the rising costs of building what the city council wants to include the lines.

The council was briefed in June on budget matters. More work is underway as the Green Line board overseeing the megaproject prepares a final report for politicians.

Council will receive that report in mid-July and that will lead to a discussion at the July 30 council meeting to determine what happens next.

There have been indications that options include finding more money for the Green Line or changing the scope of the project to reduce costs.

Green Line board chairman Don Fairbairn said the board has now refined its presentation to council.

He said the council set the scope for the LRT line years ago and then delegated the task of delivering the Green Line to the board. However, it is required to return to the council for guidance on key elements of the project.

Fairbairn said this is one of those spots.

“We are limited in our authority. Ultimately, the authority to proceed rests with the council,” he said.

“Our job has been to ensure that we fully understand the risks, the costs, the approach to delivery and, ultimately, the benefits of this program.”

Another Green Line board member is David Duckworth, who is the city's chief administrative officer.

He said the Green Line has been in the works for many years and will be a great addition to Calgary's transit infrastructure.

But the city's top bureaucrat said dealing with the budget issue is a key moment for the project.

“Council has an important and important decision to make at the end of July after the Green Line board brings them their recommendations,” Duckworth said.

More than $1.5 billion has already been spent over the years on items such as land acquisition, design and engineering work, hiring personnel and undertaking work that paves the way for easier construction.

Since last year, the city's Green Line team has been working with its development partner, Bow Transit Connectors, to improve the design. This is the consortium selected through a competitive process to build the LRT line.

The CEO of the Green Line team, Darshpreet Bhatti, said earlier this year that with 30 percent of the design finalized, they were able to save $400 million in costs. This included choosing different types of building materials and making design changes to the stations.

For example, the exact location of the Inglewood/Ramsay station was moved slightly as a cost-saving measure. The station was originally planned to be on a bridge over 12th Street SE

Bhatti said they found they could save significant money by building the station a short distance inland, west of 12th Street.

The design of the LRT line is already about 60 percent complete. However, he said that finding savings has not moved at the same pace, although it is an ongoing process.

“You've already picked the low-hanging fruit, but you can still find efficiencies that eventually turn into money,” Bhatti said.

And this is an ongoing process.

“There are still areas where savings can be found as we work more diligently with our contractors in establishing a construction sequence, determining the plans of activities that need to be done. Inevitably, this will actually give us a buffer in time , which is money.”

If the City of Calgary needs more money for the Green Line, it may not have much luck with the provincial government.

In a letter to Mayor Jyoti Gondek in May, Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen said it would be up to the city council to manage any budget overruns.

“Any increase or escalation of cost will be the responsibility of the city and under no circumstances will there be additional funding from the province for this project,” writes Dreeshen.

For now, the city's plan to begin official construction on the LRT line later this year remains in place.