Beltline pub owner blasts proposed Green Line alignment by introducing tongue-in-cheek 'Death Sentence' beer

Bottlescrew Bill’s Pub has come out with a new beer — the Death Sentence — in light of city councillors’ preferred Green Line alignment that will see the future LRT built at-grade along 10th Avenue S.W.

In a tongue-and-cheek video posted to social media, the Beltline-area pub’s co-owner argued the upcoming years of Green Line construction will shut down bars and kill nightlife along the corridor.

“So come and have a beer while you still can, because once construction starts, you might not get the chance,” said co-owner Geoff Allan, who is also chair of the Victoria Park Business Improvement Area.

The sassy video comes after city council’s executive committee endorsed the new-look alignment Tuesday in a 12-1 vote. It still requires ratification at a regular council meeting, as well as the backing of the provincial and federal governments, which are co-funding the multibillion-dollar transit project. Neither have commented on the proposal as of Friday.

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Councillors argued Tuesday that a surface-level track is the only option that would fit within the Green Line’s current $6.24-billion budget and it also addresses long-standing concerns from area businesses and properties about the negative effect of an elevated track.

“This exploration of 10th Avenue is just a way to make sure that we set ourselves up to potentially do downtown in a way that will function going forward, while delivering as far into the the greater downtown area as we can, given our current situation,” said Ward 7 Coun. Myke Atkinson. He had argued during the committee meeting that building an elevated Green Line would be a “downtown killer.”

But in his minute-long video, Allan also railed against the new proposal, which would see the first phase of the Green Line end at a surface-level station on 10th Avenue between 1st and 2nd Street S.W., right next to Bottlescrew Bill’s.

There is not enough room on 10th Avenue for both vehicular lanes and a two-way CTrain line, Allan argued, nor would a terminus in the Beltline connect to the existing Red and Blue Lines — a condition of the provincial government to contribute funding toward the project.

The new alignment would also require two at-grade crossings over MacLeod Trail, which Allan argues will worsen traffic congestion along that thoroughfare.

While he said a street-level train line would be “marginally” better for Beltline businesses than an elevated track, Allan is concerned construction will last for years and will decimate the pub’s customer base.

He said it repeats the same failure the city made in the 1980s when deciding to install the original CTrain line at-grade along 7th Avenue through the downtown.

“I think past city councils and everyone can agree that we did Calgary wrong by not burying it,” he said in an interview Friday. “We’re going to do it again 50 years later? Isn’t that the definition of insanity, to do the same thing and expect a different result?”