Councillors push $511-million bus lanes up Centre Street in place of north Green Line LRT

Centre Street already carries roughly 30,000 bus trips a day, more than the west leg of the Blue Line LRT. Calgary councillors now want to build on that ridership with dedicated bus lanes in place of the north leg of the Green Line, and a city report received by the executive committee on Tuesday puts that option at a minimum of $511 million.

For north Calgary riders, the choice is between frequent service that could start sooner and a rail line that the report's most expensive option would take years to deliver. Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Yule, who brought the amendment that prompted the report, said the bus route is about getting service to riders who need it now. "The ridership is in the north and we cannot wait to get better transit service," he told reporters. "My focus is service, it's not about wasting years and years on studies."

The city's four funding scenarios run from $511 million for curbside bus-only lanes along Centre Street to as much as $2.1 billion for a segregated transitway built inside the future Green Line alignment up the middle of the street. The $2.1-billion version would integrate better with future LRT but requires significant property acquisitions, utility relocations and reconstruction of the corridor.

Yule asked staff in September to fully explore bus-only lanes for Max Green from downtown to Keystone Hills, just north of Stoney Trail, when council approved the revised downtown Green Line alignment. He said at the time the study was not the point. "If we continue to study, study, study, we'll only push the can down the road," he said before the vote.

The amendment passed 9-2. Coun. Andre Chabot and Coun. Mike Jamieson voted against it, and Ward 9 Coun. Harrison Clark was absent. The motion directs staff to report to council by mid-2026 on how curbside bus lanes would affect businesses, property access, parking and loading on Centre Street, and by mid-2027 on funding from other orders of government. That first report is the next checkpoint for anyone who lives or works along the corridor.

HighOnCity reported in September that the executive committee had endorsed an at-grade Green Line route to 10th Avenue through the Beltline, the downtown section this debate sits alongside.

The proposal has not been approved.