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Airport tunnel a no-brainer

Generally speaking, I don’t like the provincial government interfering in municipal affairs. In fact, I believe both the federal and provincial governments wield far too much influence in municipal governance.

Generally speaking, I don’t like the provincial government interfering in municipal affairs.

In fact, I believe both the federal and provincial governments wield far too much influence in municipal governance.

This control stems from the litany of matching grant programs, which often provide incentives to towns and cities to undertake capital projects that aren’t really top priorities.

I would prefer replacing these granting programs with a municipal funding system that sees money flow directly to municipalities with no provincial bureaucratic strings attached.

In my view, it is a whole lot easier keeping a Town or City council accountable for its spending decisions on local issues than it is the provincial or federal government.

However, there are certain capital projects where it does make sense for provincial and federal levels of government to be involved.

The federal government paying for road improvements on the Trans-Canada Highway makes sense because those improvements will increase trade and mobility across the entire country. In Alberta, improvements to the QE2, the building of the new ring roads, and hopefully twinning Highway 63 to Fort McMurray, will benefit the economic well being and quality of life of Albertans across the province, and not just in one community.

It therefore follows that the provincial government should ante up a significant portion of the cost.

And this brings me to my point. The proposed Calgary airport tunnel project is clearly a piece of infrastructure that not only benefits Calgary, but also the entire province, and for that matter, the country.

The provincial government has so far refused to chip in to ensure it is built – I would highly suggest they rethink this decision.

For those who don’t know, Barlow Trail east of the airport will soon be closed permanently as an additional runway is built.

This, in effect, will leave only one effective entry point for those wishing to access the airport - that being Airport Trail from the QE2.

Calgary Alderman Jim Stevenson and many other individuals have been pushing the construction of a tunnel under the new runway to directly connect the airport with Métis Trail, which crosses with Stoney Trail to the north.

This would provide a second critical free-flow access way to the airport. It would also allow the C-train to eventually connect with the airport from the east.

Building the shell of the tunnel (which would be completed in later years), will cost, at the very most, $150 million if done right away; but will cost triple that amount if the new runway is built first. Not building it at all, or delaying it indefinitely, will result in massive traffic delays to and from the airport.

One can only imagine the gridlock that will ensue when an accident occurs on or near the Airport Trail/Deerfoot Trail interchange.

The Calgary airport is Alberta’s busiest and most economically important air transportation hub.

In fact, it is the third busiest airport in all of Canada, tied with Montreal and behind only Toronto’s Pearson International and Vancouver’s International.

And it only grows busier. Roughly 12 million people travel through Calgary’s terminals each year. Billions of dollars worth of cargo is transferred annually through the facility.

The vast majority of international and interprovincial flights out of Alberta flow through this airport.

It employs thousands of Albertans, many from outside the city, particularly from Airdrie and Chestermere.

In other words, this is not only Calgary’s airport – it is the critical air transportation hub for most Albertans.

This is why I feel the Province should have a role in ensuring the airport tunnel gets built right away. After a new Calgary City council is elected in the fall, I would urge the provincial government to immediately work with the City and the feds to get this time-sensitive and critical piece of infrastructure built. The province’s share would be no more than $50 million to start.

If the PCs need some cash, they should transfer a relative sliver from their $2 billion carbon capture and storage fund - think of the tailpipe emissions it will save. Alternatively, they could take the needed amount out of the $2 billion ‘Green Trip’ mass transit fund they recently re-announced; after all, the tunnel will allow for the C-train to be connected to the airport.

The key is for the PC Government to break with their recent pattern and start putting needs before wants:

• Airport Tunnel = Need

• Burying CO2 = Want (and a very expensive and misguided one at that).

This is an urgent infrastructure priority for the Province as well as the city. So let’s get ‘er done. I’ve often accused the PC Government of having tunnel vision; I hope, in this particular case, they have just that.


Airdrie Today Staff

About the Author: Airdrie Today Staff

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