Study warns elevated Green Line along Beltline would be globally unprecedented

An elevated alignment for Calgary's Green Line LRT along 10th Avenue in the Beltline would be "globally unprecedented," according to a new study released Thursday, June 18.

The independent study, commissioned by the Victoria Park BIA, examines the potential impacts of an elevated Green Line alignment along 10th Avenue S.W. and 2nd Street S.W. through Victoria Park and downtown Calgary.

Author Dr. Willem Klumpenhouwer, a transit researcher, scoured examples of elevated alignments in Vancouver, Tokyo, The Hague, and Bangkok. In those cities, elevated rail was constructed within corridors ranging from 30 to 45 metres wide. Calgary's 10th Avenue corridor is roughly 20 metres wide.

"I could not find one that had a corridor as narrow as 10th Avenue," Klumpenhouwer said. "The corridor on 10th Avenue with an elevated alignment is unprecedented."

The report stops short of recommending either an elevated or underground alignment, but notes that the absence of comparable examples limits any ability to reliably predict the long-term commercial impacts of an elevated line in a corridor like 10th Avenue. It also notes that cities often choose underground alignments in dense urban areas, citing Vancouver's SkyTrain as an example.

Construction-related disruption emerged as the most consistently documented impact across the projects reviewed. Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown LRT is cited as a cautionary example, noting more than 300 businesses closed during the project's prolonged 15-year construction period.

David Low, executive director of the Victoria Park BIA, said the study underscores the need to evaluate not only transportation outcomes, but also impacts on businesses and residents in the area. "An elevated alignment down 10th Avenue represented one of the largest existential threats to the Victoria Park BIA ever," Low said.