Calgarians are in for some significant improvements to parks, pools, arenas and streets, thanks to $630 million approved in the city's capital budget, but getting the provincial government to sign off on transportation funding remains unanswered.

Within weeks, Mayor Naheed Nenshi is hoping to meet with the province's new transportation minister - and his former mayoral election rival - Ric McIver.

"Well, we can't order new LRT cars if we don't know when the money is going to come in to actually fix them," Nenshi said Monday, as city council met to approve the 2013-2014 capital budget.

"These things have a two-or three-year headway on the ordering. The real problem here is the lack of predictable, stable, long-term funding from other orders of government. I'm not saying we need the money today, but we need a really good sense of what are we going to get in 2013, 2014, 2015 so that we can start making the orders."

At issue is $450 million in transportation funding the city needs to finish the west LRT, improve transit in southeast Calgary and to buy new LRT cars to alleviate crowding on the current system.

The city is waiting for the province to sign off on its GreenTrip program, a transit program announced by the province in 2008 designed to dedicate $960 million for Calgary transit projects, with the city putting up $1 for every $2 from the province.

Meanwhile, the city is pressing ahead with several capital projects that were approved with money on hand.

Calgarians can count on upgrades and improvements to local parks, wading pools and the park at Prairie Winds. Recreation centres will see up-grades to arenas, including pool accessibility and change rooms. A cogeneration project will improve Village Square Leisure Centre. There will be upgrades for firefighting equipment and to the aging 911 service.

There are no big projects for transit.

However, money will be spent on maintenance and the purchase of new buses.

There will be an investment in "intelligent roads" to synchronize traffic lights, money for the city's cycling strategy, as well funding for sidewalks and the quest to improve pedestrian connectivity.

"This capital budget is literally keep the wheels on the bus, do small up-grades and improvements, especially the life cycle and improvements," Nenshi said.

"Because neither the provincial or federal governments have announced major new infrastructure programs, there's not major new upgrades in here on things like new LRT lines, or major road interchanges at this time. Nonetheless, every one of these investment is geared toward improvements in people's lives so that was the big change this year, we really focused on things that will immediate impact on people's lives, like better traffic light synchronization."

The only area to fall flat was information technology because council wants more information on projects including how programs are used and managed before agreeing to spend the money.

Departments such as transportation, parks and recreation, fire and others are typically approved for five years. Last November, council approved only funding for ongoing and new 2012 projects, and saved the future for Monday's debate.

Calgary Police Service's request for $2.25 million for upgrades and maintenance to its HAWC helicopters was questioned by Nenshi alone.

"It makes sense of council to ask some questions about the efficiency of that program, as we do about every program that we spend money on. I don't think any program is sacred and ought not to be asked about."

"I think it would not be a bad thing if every time they have the helicopter in the air, they give us one sentence about why it was there. I often hear from people who live in inner-city neighbourhoods. Once the investigation has concluded, there's nothing wrong with telling people what it was doing."

szickefoose@calgaryherald.com