March 4, 2009 – Nobody could accuse the City of Calgary
of being timid in its infrastructure program.
During a speech yesterday, mayor Dave
Bronconnier confirmed
that Calgary is
moving forward with a huge five year infrastructure program and
significant investments in core City services: “In addition to core services,
strategic investment means infrastructure. Over the next five years, our
capital budget is $6 billion, with over $2 billion in this year alone. To put
it into perspective, the recent federal infrastructure stimulus program is $4 billion to be invested over the
next two years, across the country. So that investment this year, for all of Canada, will be
about the same as City Council’s investing here. Our program will mean much
needed infrastructure gets built, and at the same time as giving a ‘shot in the
arm’ to our local economy. This infrastructure investment over the next five years
will create or sustain over 51,000 person years of employment – over 16,000 person
years this year alone.”
Bronconnier also noted that “In transportation alone, we’ve invested over $2.5
billion. We’ve built fourteen interchanges, added bridges, widened
roads, and built new paths. We didn’t do that because we like pouring concrete
– you don’t build interchanges for cars, you build them for people. It’s about
quality of life. Giving people back their time for their priorities rather than
being stuck at a light on Glenmore & Elbow, Glenmore & 19th Street or
Crowchild and 50th, and so on.
We’ve invested heavily in transit too: Over 70 new LRT cars, with
another 38 on the way. We’ve expanded the LRT system in all directions. After
30 years, we’re moving forward with the West Leg, which will make the train a
real option for almost 150,000 more Calgarians. When the West leg is complete in 2012, we’ll
have doubled the size of our LRT system in a decade.”
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