Climate Meeting # 24 — Calgary Green Line LRT Project

Druh Farrell
4 min readOct 12, 2021

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C-Train sitting in the station (From The City of Calgary)

Date Published: July 29, 2021

As the largest infrastructure project in Calgary’s history, the Green Line is not just a rail project, but also a city-shaping project. I sat down with the Green Line LRT Project Team to discuss how sustainability and resilience are being incorporated into their work. The Green Line will enhance transportation choices for thousands of Calgarians living in both the north and south parts of our city.

Improving access to public transit, in and of itself, is an important part of reducing our City’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It gets citizens using transit, encourages walking and cycling, and helps more people live closer to their daily needs through Transit Oriented Development. All of this reduces our reliance on driving and private vehicles, which ultimately reduces emissions. As noted in The Calgary Climate Resilience Strategy, “… vehicles contribute about a third of Calgary’s overall GHG emissions.”

What’s working?

From the beginning of the project, environmental sustainability has been at the heart of the Green Line. Because all three orders of government are involved, a Climate Lens Assessment was required to meet federal and provincial funding requirements. There is a strong push to demonstrate and quantify environmental benefits for funding partners, decision-makers, and citizens. The project team has worked to incorporate environmental sustainability considerations through:

  • The use of best practices and environmental lessons from past public transit projects, such as the West LRT and Vancouver’s TransLink. The TransLink project was a good case study to follow, as an Environmental Impacts Assessment (EIA) was required, setting an important standard for the project team.
  • Embedding climate and sustainability outcomes into the contracting process. The project team identified climate targets through their procurement and delivery. These targets were reiterated with contractors and are actively tracked throughout the project.
  • The use of the Envision Framework. Similar to the LEED certification, the Envision Framework justifies and validates the Green Line’s commitments to sustainability and resilience by providing a robust mechanism for ongoing tracking and reporting of project performance. The framework gives considerations for environmental, social, and economic sustainability, as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation. It also provides an opportunity for third-party verification of project sustainability performance. Most importantly, the Envision Framework provides a consistent sustainability and resilience lens for the project.
  • The Green Line LRT Project team has estimated the GHG reductions from reduced automobile trips and Transit Oriented Development. They have also identified risks to the Project’s infrastructure from a changing climate, such as extreme weather events (higher temperatures, flooding, hailstorms, etc.).
  • Like the “Ride the Wind” program for the existing Red and Blue LRT Lines, the Green Line will be powered by renewable energy.

What’s not working?

The Green Line team has been incorporating climate resilience and mitigation into the project from the very beginning. Much of this work, especially the implementation of the Envision Framework, should be shared for future infrastructure and building projects.

  • Work on the Green Line’s rail component is progressing well, but other features need to catch up to ensure the best results for climate action. Connecting stations with improved walking and cycling routes has begun, but more work is needed to ensure these connections can support Green Line ridership and reduce dependence on driving. Work to enable Transit Oriented Development also needs to accelerate to ensure that the right policies are in place to encourage development that makes the best use of billions of dollars in public investment.
  • There are many City-owned parcels of land along the Green Line route. What we do with these parcels can either support or hinder the Green Line’s climate objectives. The strategic use of sites for affordable housing, public facilities, and other buildings and public spaces that include green features, will greatly improve equity and sustainability. On the other hand, using these sites for surface parking or leaving them vacant will compromise the Green Line’s objectives. Work on activating these public parcels needs to accelerate.
  • The project team has demonstrated at a high level that the Green Line can interface well with the McHugh Bluff, Bow River, and Prince’s Island. However, the proof is in the results and my support for the Green Line continues to be contingent on a river valley alignment that is sensitive to the environment. I look forward to seeing more details on this crucial section of the project.

What’s next?

Now that the Green Line has received approval from all levels of government, it will be vital for the project team to continue to revisit and strengthen the Envision Framework and environmental standards throughout the duration of this project. To each its full potential, the team must continue to take steps to reduce climate risks and liabilities along the line and through development around stations.

The Green Line is a critical project that will not only help enhance transportation options for many Calgarians, but will also support more sustainable decisions by Calgarians for generations to come.

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Druh Farrell
Druh Farrell

Written by Druh Farrell

Druh Farrell is a born-and-raised Calgarian and a long-time resident of Ward 7. As a City Councillor, Druh brings a depth of experience to Calgary City Council.

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