The city has buried hopes that an east-west tunnel will be built under a new airport runway, instead reaching an agreement with the Calgary Airport Authority to keep future options open and to immediately improve road access on the east side.
"At least we got preserved the right for us to do it (later)," said a disappointed Ald. Jim Stevenson, who had pushed for immediate construction of the tunnel. "But it definitely will be more expensive."
The airport authority's CEO and chairman of the board of directors held a closed-door meeting Monday.
It was decided that construction on the runway will begin next year without a tunnel. However, it was also agreed that about 10 hectares of land on either end will be set aside so a tunnel could eventually be constructed.
As well, the authority will pay $10.5 million to improve 36th Street between 48th Avenue and Airport Road -- a now barely paved stretch -- to provide another north-south connection. The length of Barlow Trail N.E. that links McKnight Boulevard to the airport terminal will shut down in April 2011.
Resident and businesses in the area said proceeding without constructing a tunnel is short-sighted.
"I don't think people are going to accept council's mistake here," said the Sheraton Cavalier's Curtis Fernets, adding airport hotels -- including three under construction -- have operated with the understanding the tunnel and runway would be built together.
"I honestly don't know how we are going to access the airport terminal. You can't move down McKnight now at four o'clock."
Fernets said the city will have to greatly upgrade the 36th Street "cowpath" to make it safe for hotels' 20-seat shuttles.
Traffic lights along the way will make a long detour even longer, he added.
While plans to construct the $287 million extension of Airport Trail at the same time a new runway is built effectively died earlier this month when the provincial and federal governments refused to provide funding, Monday marked city council closing the door.
The city, which along with the airport authority set aside $90 million for the tunnel project, had argued that without help from other levels of government it couldn't afford to proceed.
"The option to construct the tunnel with the north-south runway is (done)," Bronconnier said.
"That is because there is not sufficient funding.
"We have to look at the next best option which is, first and foremost, to preserve the opportunity for an east-west connector and at the same time provide some road relief in terms of upgrades and projects in the area."
Building the tunnel after the runway will be more expensive, and any construction now couldn't start until after the runway is finished in 2015.
The 36th Street link is slightly more direct than using Metis Trail, and airport spokeswoman Jody Moseley said it would be complete before Barlow's closure.
The airport and city's proposed alternative would create a roughly 11-kilometre route from McKnight and Barlow to the terminal entry, compared to the nearly 13-kilometre path along an upgraded Metis Trail and Country Hills.
The soon-to-be-closed path from McKnight via Barlow Trail is only five kilometres.
A city report suggests that in the "short and medium term, the sector's road network will operate suitably with present day traffic volumes."
Development is rapidly expanding the city's northeast quadrant, although growth is mainly occurring closer to Country Hills than to McKnight.
kguttormson@theherald. canwest.comjmarkusoff@theherald. canwest.com
Copyright (c) CW Media Inc.