It's cheaper to build the airport underpass than not to

I write a monthly column in the Calgary Herald. Below is the full February story:

As I wrote last month, we have a number of key issues facing Calgarians in 2011. But two of those issues are heating up, with some good progress made.

First, we finally have true cost estimates for the Airport Trail underpass. While I still think it is ridiculous that this one piece of infrastructure is subject to so much more scrutiny than anything else of similar scope that we build, I welcome the chance to make the case for this project.

The most important piece of new information is that the cost of not building the underpass vastly exceeds the cost of building it -- even in today's dollars. Not building means massively expanding Country Hills Boulevard, which is currently supposed to be more like a retail, transit-oriented high street for the new neighbourhoods in that part of the city. Think Kensington or 17th Avenue S.W. It would require building seven interchanges that we would not otherwise need. And it would cost $325 million to $425 million, not including interest and financing expenses.

Building the tunnel instead of those interchanges will cost $222 million in construction costs -- $166 million for the tunnel itself (about the same as any complex interchange) and the remainder to connect it eastward all the way to Stoney Trail. This would finally make an east-west connector across the top of the city, all the way from the eastern city limits to Centre Street. Adding in financing charges (since we don't have all the money today), insurance and some compensation to the airport for additional costs they incur takes the total to almost $295 million, which includes a generous contingency to prevent future surprises to the taxpayer.

The good news is that we can fund this without any impact on your property tax.

Don't get me wrong, we're not creating money out of thin air. Administration has identified a number of pots of money that have, by and large, not yet been allocated to specific projects to build this. The drawback to this approach is that it restricts our ability to take on new, as-yet-unidentified projects in the next few years.

I think this is a risk worth taking. I would rather spend money on something we know is a priority today than on vague, unspecified projects that may crop up tomorrow.

I trust that my council colleagues, once they see that it costs more not to build the tunnel than to build it, will do the right thing for Calgarians and agree with me to build the underpass now.

The other issue that you'll be hearing a lot about over the next month is secondary suites. We need significant reform in this area, and I will continue to advocate for the change that citizens asked for every single day during the election.

We'll have more time to discuss details on this, but here are the broad strokes: There are a huge number of illegal suites in Calgary. No one knows exactly how many, but estimates have ranged from 10,000 to 40,000. These are in every neighbourhood in Calgary, and the vast majority of them are not a problem. They are safe, and the people who live in them are good neighbours.

But they are illegal, which leads to two problems. First, if the city were to shut them down, we would have an affordable housing crisis of unmitigated proportions. Keep in mind that governments, including this one, get really excited when we are able to announce that we created 200 or 300 new affordable housing units in a year. It's unimaginable how we could house all tenants of currently illegal suites.

Even more important, the people who live in these illegal suites have no protections. If the smoke detector doesn't work, or if there is mould, they have no one to complain to. The only thing the city can do is rip out the stove and kick them out of their homes. This is unconscionable.

Our current system is also ridiculous. Secondary suites are allowed in many neighbourhoods, but not all. If you have a really narrow lot (zoned R-1N), you can apply for one. But if you have a larger lot, you can't. If you want to try, you have to spend thousands of dollars and appear before city council. You have to stand before 15 strangers, live on TV, and reveal the intimate details of your life.

We must do what every other large city in Canada has already done and allow people in every neighbourhood to apply to have a suite. They'll have to meet three criteria: The suite must meet all safety codes, there must be off-street parking (waived where the suite is very close to rapid transit) and the owner has to live there.

We will continue to have good discussions on both of these issues as a community. What is clear is that we need action, and your council will act to secure Calgary's future.

- Mayor Nenshi