Calgary's mayor to focus on transportation in 2013
Calgary's mayor plans to make transportation one of his big goals in the coming year.
In 2013, Naheed Nenshi plans on working on problem areas and congestion and says one roadway that needs some work is Crowchild Trail.
Calgary city council rejected a plan created for Crowchild Trail earlier this month, voting unanimously to send transportation planners back to the drawing board.
"Congestion is a major issue for the city and there is not a lot of money for major roadway works, nor is there really a need for them," he said.
"When you look at the billion-dollar program on Crowchild Trail ... its a billion dollars, so it would be the second largest public works project in Calgary's history after the West LRT."
Nenshi says the city is looking at other options to get traffic on the roadway moving.
He also says more needs to be done to build dedicated busways and more bus rapid transit routes.
"So, these kinds of investments, I think, are the things we need to look at until such time as the other levels of government have enough money to fund significant infrastructure," he said.
Nenshi says Calgary will eventually need a new LRT line from the far north end of the city to its deep south, but the city's long-term transit solution comes with a $13 billion price tag.
"That is going to be his challenge," said Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt.
He predicts getting billions in extra money for transit from the province and federal governments will be tough.
"I think the common theme of 2013 is going to be how to handle expectations in a diminishing fiscal capacity," he said.
But Nenshi remains opitimistic, warning provincial and federal governments not to balance budgets on the backs of his municipality.
Watch the video above for Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi's full year-end interview.
