City wants public's feedback on design of Blue Line extension from Saddletowne to Savanna
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Construction is still likely years away, but the City of Calgary has secured design funding to extend the Blue Line LRT to 88th Avenue and 60th Street N.E. — the next step in a long-term plan to extend the CTrain network to the airport.
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The Alberta government allocated $43 million in its 2024 budget and another $5 million in this year's budget to support design work for the Blue Line extension project.
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The Blue Line currently ends at Saddletowne Circle, but the city wants to extend it approximately eight blocks north, to reach the community of Savanna.
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The city is asking for public feedback through a webpage devoted to the project, and notes the idea has been in the works for 10 years.
The design phase of the LRT extension project will include studying how the train tracks, station and systems are built, how bus connections will work, where and how people can access the station, and potential design features.
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This stage will also include studying soil and ground conditions where the infrastructure will be built, measuring sound levels to determine where noise-cancellation walls may need to be erected and analyzing traffic data to help design safer intersections.
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During this stage, the city will also review any potential environmental impacts, as well as determine draft timelines, possible construction methods and updated cost estimates, which it says will help secure more funding when it comes time to build the extension.
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The idea is spelled out in the city's 2020 Airport Transit Line Study, which envisioned building an automated, driverless 'people-mover' between the Blue Line station at 88th Ave. and a future Green Line station at 96th Ave. N.
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The study found that 60 per cent of the demand for airport service originated in the northwest and northeast quadrants.
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A briefing delivered to a city council committee this January outlined the next steps in that research, emphasizing the importance of an east-west airport link as well as integration with the Alberta government's master plan for a future regional passenger rail network.
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