A city councillor is pitching another idea for the Green Line as the city considers revising where the next leg of Calgary's CTrain will go.

The city wants to shorten the downtown tunnel to get the Green Line through the core and keep the project on its $4.9-billion budget.

But that has raised community concerns about what a street level CTrain might look like in Crescent Heights. The city decided to spend an additional month on the public consultation on the proposed changes.

Coun. Jyoti Gondek said rather than delay the megaproject any further, she has another idea which would improve transit service to both the north and south ends of the Green Line.

She's suggesting running the first stage of the Green Line from the southeast to downtown but not actually cross the Bow River.

Then, with the money that's saved, develop a proper bus rapid transit route on Centre Street which could link the far northern end of Calgary with downtown.

Answers needed

Gondek has asked administration for more information on her idea.

"What is the costing of that BRT option that I'm talking about and would it be possible if we deemed segment two to be so tricky right now, if we shelved it, if we back-burnered it until a later date, could we move the funds from that segment of the project to construct those BRT improvements?" said Gondek.

The revised Green Line proposal on the table calls for a mostly surface level train line from Shepard Station in the southeast to Victoria Park where the CTrain would roll into a tunnel.

That 2.4-kilometre-long tunnel would stretch from Victoria Park to Eau Claire, where the train would surface. The LRT would then head onto a bridge over Prince's Island and the Bow River to Centre Street, where it would run on the middle of the road up to 16th Avenue.

We need the time to do some of that design work as well and work with the communities to make sure that we get it right the first time. - Coun. Druh Farrell

Gondek has a couple suggestions on where the LRT tunnel could end downtown.

"You could go into Eau Claire, have a portal there. It's been mentioned you could just go up to Seventh Avenue and terminate there because then you'd be able to connect to the Blue or the Red line depending on where people wanted to go."

The city had pitched a four-kilometre-long tunnel that would stretch from 16th Avenue North to the Beltline. But the plan has been shelved due to concerns about a cost over-run, the underground depth of the downtown stations and possible technical complications.

Council's Green Line committee recently voted to extend the public consultation period by one month into April for its revised alignment featuring the shorter tunnel and surface alignment on 16th Avenue.

Coun. Jyoti Gondek is pitching another idea for the Green Line as the city considers revising where the next leg of Calgary's CTrain will go. (Julie Debeljak/CBC)

Changes causing anxiety

Coun. Druh Farrell told the committee at its last meeting that the proposals are causing anxiety in her ward about what the bridge over the river will mean for Prince's Island and river pathways.

There are concerns about how a tunnel opening in Eau Claire will work for the surrounding area and there are major concerns in Crescent Heights about how a street level CTrain will affect the neighbourhood.

It's why she pushed for a longer public consultation period.

"Some of the early drawings that I've seen are more promising but initially they were really frightening. And I can't possibly support something that will kill a neighbourhood," said Farrell.

"We need the time to do some of that design work as well and work with the communities to make sure that we get it right the first time. That's what they keep on saying."

Gondek said she shares the concern.

"What are we going to do there that's going to be sensitive to the people, the buildings and the businesses already in place? Can we do it within this budget? Can we get it right?"

Looking north

Gondek has been a vocal critic of the first stage of the Green Line not going north to her ward. She's also been unhappy with the lack of preparations for extending the proposed first stage to reach areas north of 16th Avenue.

Yet she appears to be suggesting something that makes it harder to take the Green Line further north.

For her, not degrading support for the Green Line and getting the optimal design are important keys to reaching the north. But hiving off the northern end of the first stage of the Green Line also provides an opportunity to get true BRT service to the north in the near term.

So, she said stage one of the Green Line could result in improved transit service — albeit in a multi-modal way — to both ends of the entire Green Line alignment.

The chair of the Green Line committee has issues with Gondek's proposal.

Coun. Shane Keating tells CBC News that stubbing the first phase of the line downtown could actually set back efforts to go further north.

"If we don't get over the river in this phase one, where we have this money now available and dedicated, I believe that the LRT to the north is going to be set back for decades," said Keating.

The bridge is key

He said the key to the northern end of the Green Line is getting that bridge over the Bow River.

"That bridge alone is going to be, I would say, a few hundred million dollars and you're not going to be able to find enough money to get the bridge and extensions to the line sort of at the same time."

Keating maintains council's 2017 decision to have the Green Line go north and south out of the gate is still the right one for the entire city because that makes it easier to add future extensions.

A series of open houses begins later this week on the revised plan.

City council will vote in April on changing the Green Line plan.

The city wants to start construction on the southeast portion of the Green Line in the spring of 2021, with work on the downtown portion starting the following year.