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The federal government has already committed $1.5 billion over an 11-year period and council has pledged $1.56 billion over 30 years for the line that will eventually span 46 kilometres with 28 station locations.

Stage 1 of the Green Line will span from 16th Avenue N. in Crescent Heights to 126th Avenue S.E. in Shepard.

Ward 12 Coun. Shane Keating, one of the principal proponents of the line that will eventually stretch from North Pointe to Seton, said Wednesday that an announcement of funds from the province would allow planning to “shift into the next phase.”

“I’m looking forward to the day the announcement is in and finished and we can put it to bed and get the serious work of construction started,” Keating said.

So far, the $4.65-billion price tag touted for the project has not included the millions required in annual debt servicing.

Council members have said they hope an announcement from the province will include some consideration for financing. City administrators have said the worst-case scenario is that the city could be saddled with annual debt servicing costs in excess of $50 million.

“I would love to see, when they announce, that they would be considering different ways of including financing charges in an equal time frame, or better time frame, than the federal government, so that the project isn’t saddled with expenses other than the capital costs of building it,” Keating said.