City narrows down Green Line route options in the Beltline

The city has narrowed down the number of options for getting its next LRT line through the Beltline.

The $5-billion Green Line, which will use low-floor trains,will stretch across the city from Country Hills Village in north-central Calgary to the southeast community of Seton.

City officials are now considering three options for running the route through the Beltline:

• on the street along 12th Avenue
• on the streetalong10th Avenue
• under10th Avenue in a tunnel until just east ofMacleod Trail

Five otheroptions were taken off the table for a variety of reasons, including cost and property impacts, said city spokesman Jonathan Lea.

Now city officials want to hear what Calgarians think will work best, 10thAvenue or 12th Avenue? Tunnel or no tunnel?

"Along 10th Avenue we have an option that is partially tunneled, so it does improve the LRT operations. The train is able to go a little bit faster because it's not interacting with traffic," he said. "If we're on 12th Avenue, then the stations are further south. They're serving the heart of the Beltline."

Lea says they hope to have a preferred option for the Beltline ready for city council by December.

MORE CITY HALL NEWSlGreen Line LRT tunnel through downtown looking more likely

MORE CITY HALL NEWSlGreen Line route through Beltline will be complex no matter which option Calgary chooses