Another Metrolinx detour
Eagerly awaited light rail transit decision delayed again
February 19, 2010
Meredith Macleod
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/724399
This day had been anticipated for a long time.
After months of delays and years of hope, this was to be the day Hamilton would know for sure whether Metrolinx would approve a $784-million light rail transit line.
But when 15 board members meet in an executive boardroom overlooking the Toronto waterfront this afternoon, this city will be no closer to finding out if its dreams of economic revitalization through light rail will come true.
There will be no decisions, only the presentation of a report into three options for Hamilton and a promise of a "status update" in the fall.
There is no timeline, no commitment from either the province or Metrolinx -- the provincial agency charged with transportation planning in the GTA and Hamilton -- to find the money.
Yet the report -- originally promised for last summer, then last fall and finally delivered last week -- envisions wrapping up construction on a Hamilton rapid transit line in 2014, and operational the next year, just in time for the Pan Am Games.
Critics say the agency, which was purged of politicians so it could rise above the squabbles of local politics, has become mired in the politics of Queen's Park.
"Metrolinx was supposed to get things built," said Nicholas Kevlahan, a McMaster professor and light rail advocate.
"It's distressing. My understanding is that we would know whether it would be light rail or bus (today) and that a funding announcement would come later."
In the absence of a decision, Hamilton is still moving forward with planning an LRT line. City officials are close to hiring a consultant to design and engineer a light rail line from Eastgate to McMaster, the option approved unanimously by city council.
That work, funded by the province, is expected to be done about a year from now.
Metrolinx officials are aware of this and say its recently completed benefits case analysis shows a strong case for moving forward with LRT.
Metrolinx president and CEO Rob Prichard told The Spectator last week that the agency might "at some point be invited to make a recommendation" on a transit mode but that it would be "premature" at this point.
He said Hamilton's case will be lumped with other priority projects "further down the line when the province can commit to funding."
According to Metrolinx, the Hamilton project has moved ahead quicker than any other and the lack of a funding commitment does not impede the necessary design work.
In fact, that work is key to developing a precise construction figure that can then be the basis of funding, says Metrolinx.
Prichard acknowledged the Pan Am Games provide a hard deadline.
"You wouldn't want main streets in the midst of construction during the Games."
NDP Leader and Hamilton MPP Andrea Horwath says she's disappointed Metrolinx is not giving a definitive response to Hamilton's light rail proposal.
"It's clear that political pressures are creating a slowdown effect. Because once a decision is made, the community will want to get on with it and get this project done that will transform this city."
Steve Munro, a veteran transit advocate who closely watches Metrolinx, is concerned transit projects are being held up because the province, struggling with a projected $24.7 billion deficit, doesn't want to talk about adding taxes to fund them ahead of an election.
"But there are two main questions: Are you going to build it at all, and when are you going to build it? Hamilton deserves an answer on those questions."
It's also clear that much of the work of Metrolinx is a closely guarded secret.
Today's board meeting, the first since November, includes 25 items of business, with just nine of those to be conducted in public.
Among the private items are the business plan for 2010-2011 and an update on the so-called Big 5 projects, $9.5 billion worth of transit in the GTA.
Even mundane matters such as approving the minutes of the last board meeting will be done in private.
Munro says Metrolinx operates under a culture of secrecy that has only grown since municipal politicians were turfed from the board in favour of provincial appointees last year.
"The private sector experts on the board from banks and large corporations aren't used to operating in the public realm," said Munro.
"They aren't used to making decisions in front of people or being scrummed by the media afterward."
Board members, including chairperson Rob MacIsaac, refer all questions to Prichard and media access to Metrolinx staff is closely controlled.
"It really undermines their credibility because they can't really say what they're doing," said Munro, who is credited with helping to save Toronto's streetcars back in the 1970s.
"It makes the board look like they are just rubber-stamping," he said.
TRANSIT UPDATE
The issue: A rapid transit line for Hamilton, running from Eastgate Square to McMaster. The city wants light rail from Eastgate to McMaster.
Progress: Metrolinx staff released a benefits case last week that studied three options for Hamilton:
* A light rail line running 14 kilometres from Eastgate to McMaster, at an estimated cost of $784 million;
* A bus rapid transit line along the same corridor, at an estimated cost of $220 million;
* A phased light rail transit line beginning at Ottawa Street to McMaster, at a cost of $655 million, with the remainder built in 2030.
The result: All three options produced benefits that outweighed costs but Metrolinx analysts did not recommend a preferred choice.
Prev
Linear Mode
