LRT can ‘activate’ downtown Hamilton: McMaster study concludes
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/67...udy-concludes/
A new McMaster study concludes the controversial LRT plan is the catalyst needed to ignite downtown economic development.
Chris Higgins, the post-doctoral fellow who authored the paper, told a transit seminar sponsored by the McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics Tuesday morning that the much-debated light rail line is proposed to run through the most densely populated part of the city – exactly the kind of neighbourhood needed to get the best economic result from the system.
"It's a question of activation and LRT can activate the downtown," he said after his presentation. "It's in our power to achieve the maximum uplift from this investment."
Higgins' study concludes the LRT system will deliver the best economic impact around its stations where high-density mixed-use development is clustered. In plain language, that means more people per hectare living in buildings that combine residential and commercial uses.
In Hamilton, his report adds, that impact will be expanded by the viability of core-area land that can be turned into the kinds of projects that will draw transit riders.
"In general, the biggest opportunity for growth is in the downtown core, where a number of large parcels presently used for surface parking lots permit larger-scale implementations of (transit-oriented development)," he wrote. "This type of development should help the downtown core reach its targeted density levels and further anchor movements along the lines in the future."
That's important, he said, because transportation will be critical as the Greater Toronto-Golden Horseshoe Area's population swells to meet provincial intensification targets.
For Hamilton, that target is growth of 40 per cent by 2041.
Transportation is already a challenge in the area, and building more roads is not the answer.
"As you build more roads, it just means more people drive," Higgins said.
Municipal Affairs Minister Ted McMeekin reinforced that idea, saying the tortured commute to Toronto would be impossible if he didn't have a driver on the public payroll.
"I just couldn't do it if I had to drive back and forth to Toronto every day on my own," he said. "It's bad today and it's only going to get worse if we don't do something."
McMeekin said it's clear the traffic congestion the area experiences today is crippling – estimates have concluded the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area loses $6 billion a year in productivity as employees sit in traffic, along with environmental and other costs.
"Transit is going to be crucial to our continued economic viability," he said. "Hamilton needs to be concerned about this or economic growth just isn't going to happen."
The proposed LRT system is Hamilton is proposed to run east-west roughly between the Queenston traffic circle and McMaster University with a spur line running down James Street North to the waterfront.
The Ontario government has committed $1 billion to finance construction of the system, but Hamilton city council remains mired in debate about whether to accept the money.
McMeekin, for his part, says $1 billion "is a lot of economic development" the city badly needs.
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