Rapid Transit

[hamtransithistory]

If Main and King were less than 200 m apart for the entire length, then I'd go with one track on each street. As you all know, the distance varies considerably. Here's a short list of approximate distances between King & Main

@Longwood 450 m
@Paradise 350 m
@Dundurn 275 m
@Queen 200 m
@James 150 m
@Wellington 90 m (The closest)
@Wentworth 215 m
@Sherman 415 m
@Barnesdale 490 m (The farthest apart)
@Gage 350 m

So at least in the east end the two roads are too far apart. Lots of people have advocated putting the LRT on Main. Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest putting the LRT on King in the downtown, instead of Main.

Starting from University Plaza, the LRT would run along Main, then turn north on either Longwood or Paradise to King, and then east on King all the way to the Delta, and then along Main and Queenston to Eastgate Mall. Conversion of both Main and King to two-way traffic is also part of the plan.

So why King instead of Main?

In the downtown area, Main & King are close enough to each other than it really wouldn't matter which street got the LRT, from the view of a person riding the LRT. City Hall, Jackson Sq, Copps, all of these places are close enough for either street.

A major traffic source that seems to have been ignored in the east end is Ivor Wynne. I think we need LRT service along King as close to Ivor Wynne, in order to deal with pre and post event crowds.

As for cars, Main should be the downtown route for cars, while King should be used primarily for transit. If both streets were two-way, wouldn't drivers use Main over King anyway, as it runs from Dundas & Ancaster through to Stoney Creek?

I can see that the biggest problems with a King LRT is the distance from Hunter St station, and Gage park access is poor.