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Segment 2a (the core tunnel) is the section with the most risk. But until we start digging, we can only put healthy contingencies in place. With two-thirds of the budget left, we open the ground and the carefully constructed plan provides the flexibility to respond to what we find. PPM allows for budget control and adjustments before the contracts are awarded. The speculation floating around of a 75 per cent cost overrun, by armchair quarterbacks, is pure fear-mongering. We are well prepared to mitigate any risks that may come with tunnelling.
Next, the myth of “a train to nowhere.” The idea of a marooned Segment 1 is flat-out ridiculous, but beyond that, the business case for the Green Line is a city-shaping project as well as a transit project. Gone are the days of building transit to only bring people from the suburbs to the core. Today, we need multi-directional travel to all the employment centres across Calgary, like Seton, Quarry Park and Livingston, as well as transforming the business district along Centre Street North. The Green Line will help get Calgarians where they need to go, bringing opportunity as it is built.
Remarkably, it has been stated there isn’t a creditable plan in place for the Green Line. Accusations like the plan not taking into account the pandemic and its impacts on ridership. Well, those exact considerations are in publicly accessible reports. Here’s my take on that: the First and Second World Wars, 1918 influenza, 1929 crash, Dirty ’30s, polio pandemic, tuberculosis pandemic and the numerous other events that have fundamentally changed our world — funny how we have always needed and expanded mass public transit as cities grow.
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