Green Line funding from province needed soon, committee says

Calgary may have to buildits next LRT line in phasesunless the provincial government commits to funding it by October.

If not, the city will have to push ahead with planning and design work on the southeast leg of the Green Line into downtownand put the north end of the line on hold, said transportation committee chair Coun. Shane Keating.

The city and the federal government have committed $1.5billion each to the project.The city has sent a letter to the province, asking it to chip in a similar amount.

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The Green Line would run north to south across the city and cost about $4.5 billion.

Keatingsays hehopes there's a signal from the NDP in next month's provincial budget, addingit's "not a difficult ask."

"If they're going to implement the carbon levywhich they arethe easiest thing to do is to be transparent and specifically say,'We're implementing this to reduce carbon emissions and we're putting a tax on the gasoline which all drivers pay, therefore we're going to invest in public transit,'" Keating said.

The city wants to start construction in late 2018.