Information | Rezoning for Housing

Public hearing on April 22, 2024. Proposed rezoning will support more housing options in all communities.

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Environmental benefits

The Green Line LRT will allow Calgary’s transportation network to move more people, emit fewer greenhouse gasses and use less energy and resources than we do today.

Providing an alternate mobility option will:

  • Reduce the number of vehicles on the road
  • Lessen the overall environmental impact of our transportation network
  • Phase 1 of the project alone will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 25,000 tonnes
  • Ease traffic on Deerfoot Trail
  • Make more room on the Red Line by providing direct service to residents in southeast Calgary

Light rail transit is energy efficient

Big reductions in Calgary's greenhouse gas emissions can be made with a shift away from personal vehicles and towards public transit. Did you know that energy efficiency gains are achieved with only 18 passengers riding on a light rail vehicle? That’s the “break even” point for LRT to save energy compared with 18 automobiles. At maximum capacity, the LRT is 58 times more energy efficient than driving.

Each year, the Green Line will shift 4.8 million trips from vehicles to transit, reducing greenhouse gases by nearly 27,000 tonnes.

Growing the urban forest

Green Line will also contribute to a greener Calgary by improving the urban forest. A key factor in planning the Green Line is adding trees, green elements and natural spaces. This will enhance the streetscape environment and the experience of transit riders.

Green Line will work with City departments, like Parks, to plan an urban tree strategy. Work will include:

  • Tree inventories that will identify the number of trees, tree locations, species, height and age along the Green Line alignment. This will help us understand how they may be impacted by construction of Green Line.
  • Tree replacement plans for trees that are removed for construction of the Green Line. If specific trees are impacted, the tree inventory will help determine a suitable replacement spot.

Green Line will plant two trees for every tree that needs to be removed for construction.

Cleaning up former landfill sites 

The Green Line will be built on two former dry waste landfill sites at Highfield and Ogden. To prepare for construction, about 660,000 cubic metres of waste materials and contaminated soils was removed from these sites. Now the land can safely be used for:

  • Green Line tracks and stations
  • Future commercial and industrial developments and new land uses to promote transit oriented development
  • A new stormwater pond at Ogden to settle out sediments and some pollutants in water runoff before it flows into the Bow River

Work at the former Highfield Landfill site received a Remediation Certificate from the Province of Alberta.

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