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Calgary residents opposed to a new transitway that would connect southwest communities with downtown showed up in big numbers at a meeting about the project, in what organizers called a major sign of frustration.

Nearly an hour before it was scheduled to end, 500 people had already turned out at the Calgary Jewish Community Centre for an opposition group’s forum on the bus rapid transit line, with many more lined up outside.

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“People want to know what’s going on, and the city has just pushed this through without informing the residents, the taxpayers,” said Paulette Barke, a Woodbine resident who was among dozens of volunteers collecting signatures for a petition. “A lot of them are up in arms.”

The bus line would move passengers from downtown to Mount Royal University, Rockyview General Hospital and Woodlands. Stretching across 22 kilometres, the line would involve a new underpass at 90th Avenue S.W., 36 new BRT stations and two dedicated bus lanes on the west side of 14th Street, a segment that has triggered opposition.