West LRT | 7 Stations | 8.0 KM | In Service

[You Need A Thneed]

Originally Posted by srperrycgy

There as never been a "free" day when any of the LRT extensions have opened. CT just doesn't want to lose a single $ of fare revenue.

There was back in the 80s, for when the NE line opened. If not more.

[srperrycgy]

Found this vid via Twitter this aft.

• Video Link

[ZeDgE]

Wow. thats pretty awesome!

Driving south on 14th there is really going to be different.

[srperrycgy]

A few shots from the early evening:


WLRT09022010-1 by srp775, on Flickr

The rebar extends about 8ft down.


WLRT09022010-3 by srp775, on Flickr

Guideway and Launching Truss crossing 14th Street with the end sitting over the CPR tracks.


WLRT09022010-6 by srp775, on Flickr

[You Need A Thneed]

• Video Link

[mr.steevo]

It's like watching ants at work.

I think I counted 7 trains go by.

s.

[jsbertram]

Liked the time-lapse, but too bad it wasn't in the daytime.

I guess by now the gantry has moved further west (and out of the frame).

I'd like to set up a camera at Sunalta School & catch the tracks being built flying over Bow Trail & under Crowchild.

I think a lot of kids in that school will be distracted this year with the work outside, but who knows if a few of them will become engineers & such because they watched the CTrain construction go by their school.

[Dado]

Here's a question for you guys... how much does the West LRT cost? I'm trying to get a handle on what this line costs and sorting out the various costs (vehicles, direct infrastructure costs, associated roadworks, property, facility relocations, etc) is driving me nuts and I'm hoping someone here already knows what all these costs are.

I've seen various numbers at various times for various amounts of items, from $600M to $1.2B. A number I've seen frequently is $700M, but I don't know for sure what that includes.

My understanding is that 21 LRVs are needed for this project and that they were bought as part of a 38 LRV order for $136M, which translates to $75M for the West LRT LRVs.

This 2007 Document from Calgary Transit indicates that the oft-mentioned $700M figure includes the vehicles, which they peg at $84M (not $75M as above).

The West LRT site has this document, but it's from 2006 and doesn't include the changes around 45th Street or those along Bow Trail. It also has the 69th Street station east of 69th and north of 17th rather than west of 69th and south of 17th, and at grade rather than in a trench.

I recall that when the project went out for tender the bids came back lower than expected, so changes at 45th Street were made and the project sent back out. Did this result in the project being more expensive than what had been projected or was it accommodated within the original estimate?

[mersar]

The $700M number is the total directly related costs number from my understanding (the exact dollar value of the design-build contract has never been published to my knowledge). I don't think that the $700M includes the $30M the city is putting towards the new Ernest Manning school (the province also put up $30M for it), though it does include pretty much everything else to my knowledge. The trick to figuring out the cost would be sitting down and digging through the city budget, as its not a lump sum. Rather there are probably a handful of budget programs spread over a series of years that add up to the total (I recall that there are at least 6 years of funding, 2008-2013).

As for the cost of the LRV's, the rough number usually tossed around is $4m per.

[MalcolmTucker]

Well, we have to remember that true cost and cost to taxpayers is very different, as the project is a P3. Taxpayer costs were pegged at around $560m for the physical infrastructure at one point. Land and vehicle costs were over and above.

Since the developer gets all sorts of land rights, and it is unclear what those rights really are, it is hard to say how much potential money the city gave up in exchange for the lower dollar figure on the contract. Also remember that the contract includes an office building that the city is leasing (I think) from the P3 partner which further complicates things, as it is basically a guaranteed profit centre for the project, an anchor to the redevelopment of Westbrook.

Changes to the project scope in Sunalta added $20 million to the top line cost at the time, and the changes at 45th Street were a wash due to lower construction costs.

Also, whether you count the Sarcee /17th Avenue road overpass as part of the project or not might really play around with the numbers, as it is not needed for the project.

The total value of all the projects going on in the wider scope of the line is $1.2 billion (if I remember correctly from media reports) with non-LRT elements now making up close to half of that value, and an unclear amount being funded by the public upfront (at least $860 million).

[mersar]

Also, the calgaryinfrastructure.ca site lists the West LRT as $853,611,000 over the 2010-2014 budget years.

[Ramsayfarian]

That didn't take long:


Tagged by Ramsayfarian, on Flickr

[jeffwhit]

^^Kind of looks like "Mersar..."

[xAnderblaze]

Originally Posted by jeffwhit

^^Kind of looks like "Mersar..."

I was kinda wondering how he got up there...

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by jeffwhit

^^Kind of looks like "Mersar..."

I think you're right.

[youngregina]

Completely off topic and I know that no one else here would think the same, but I think it would look really cool if the entire elevated portion of the line was covered in not just random graffiti, but graffiti nonetheless.

[srperrycgy]

Umm....no.

[DavidKuitunen]

Originally Posted by youngregina

Completely off topic and I know that no one else here would think the same, but I think it would look really cool if the entire elevated portion of the line was covered in not just random graffiti, but graffiti nonetheless.

Commissioned graffiti would be great. The majority of Calgarians wouldn't agree, but putting commissioned work on surfaces actually decreases the chances of that area being vandalized. Reason being that typically younger less talented vandals respect the work of talented artist, and would never put their shitty throw up overtop.

Take this guy's work for example.

It's some wishful thinking in a city like calgary, but who knows maybe someday we'll start to understand the importance of culture.

[MalcolmTucker]

I might have thought so before the debacle that was Shaw Millennium Park last year.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by DavidKuitunen

It's some wishful thinking in a city like calgary, but who knows maybe someday we'll start to understand the importance of culture.

You don't understand it? I do. And am happy to live here, in a city with more culture than I could hope to witness in several lifetimes.