Bow Transit Connectors selected for Green Line
By Adam Freill
Construction InfrastructureOnce built, the Green Line will be the longest LRT project and largest infrastructure investment in Calgary’s history.
LRT on Elbow River Bridge. (Photo courtesy of City of Calgary)
Calgary’s Green Line Board has selected Bow Transit Connectors (BTC) as the project’s development partner for the city’s new light rail transit project. The BTC partnership involves Flatiron Constructors Canada Ltd, Barnard Constructors of Canada, LP and WSP Canada Inc, along with financial advisor EllisDon Capital Inc. Collectively they will bring shared expertise in underground, above-ground structures, and LRT design and construction to deliver Phase 1 of the Green Line LRT project.
“The selection of our development partner and launch of the development phase is an important milestone as we move forward with BTC to design, build and finance the Green Line LRT, said Don Fairbairn, chair of the Green Line board. “The Green Line board has confidence in BTC and their ability to work collaboratively as we collectively ensure we balance costs and risks with the long-term city-shaping benefits of Green Line.”
The development phase will allow for collaboration, design progression and agreement on project costs, risks and overall schedule between Green Line and BTC before a project agreement is signed. As part of negotiations, Green Line agreed to extend the development phase from approximately 12 months to 16 months to allow for greater design progression and cost certainty. The Green Line board says the implementation phase is still on track to begin in 2024.
In addition to being the lead construction and design team, BTC is proposing subconsultants which, to date, include Delve Underground, Platinum Engineering Ltd, Egis, IBI, GEC Architecture and Architecture 49.
“As part of the Bow Transit Connectors team, we look forward to bringing our expertise in delivering large scale transportation projects to the Green Line LRT project,” stated said Ken Tanner, vice-president of operations for Flatiron Constructors. “We are proud to share the trust of the City of Calgary as we significantly improve mobility for Calgarians.”
“This is a crucial project for Calgary’s future. As a partner of Bow Transit Connectors, we will work collaboratively with the City of Calgary and local communities to deliver this exciting and important city-shaping project,” added Dan Schall, vice-president at Barnard Construction Company.
At 18 kilometres, Phase 1 of the Green Line is the longest LRT project and largest infrastructure investment in Calgary’s history, creating almost 20,000 jobs throughout construction, $2.2 billion in long-term city-shaping benefits and more than $6 billion in property value uplift by 2040.
