Transit plan includes GO trains
Tue, September 15, 2009
'It is a different way of thinking'
A four-line streetcar route shaped like a cross, with downtown London in the centre and the arms reaching north, south, east and west.
Two rectangles of bus routes intersecting those streetcar lines. GO trains heading east and west, and light rapid transit rail heading to smaller centres.
And all along the routes, people-friendly streets with commercial, retail and residential development built at key connections.
An ambitious plan unveiled yesterday at city hall turns the idea of London's transit system on its head.
Instead of buses and streetcars being an afterthought to development, the transit system would actually determine where and how the city grows.
"It is a different way of thinking," city planning and development manager John Fleming said yesterday after a short presentation to politicians. "We use transit as a way for sparking growth and attracting investment."
The plan, called an urban structure plan, is a long way from being implemented.
The city's planning committee merely commented on the plan and referred it to several other city agencies, such as the London Transit Commission, for comment.
"I like what we're trying to do, but most of us won't be around when it happens," Cont, Bud Polhill said.
"We are just beginning the discussion," agreed city planner John Fleming.
But it's a discussion Londoners should have, he added.
Cities across the U.S. are using the same principals to guide development in their major activity centres and residential neighbourhoods, and link the two, said London's urban designer, Sean Galloway.
In Toronto, all you have to do is look down from the CN Tower to see where the thriving, mixed-density neighbourhoods rise -- at the subway stations that lead to the core, he added.
Mixed residential-retail and commercial neighbourhoods would thrive in London where the streetcar, bus and rail lines intersect, Galloway said.
In London, the major centres of activity include the downtown, the University of Western Ontario, Fanshawe College, the hospital campuses, the airport, Innovation Park and, at the centre, the downtown.
The transit system would move people within London, and to London.
"Downtown should be the centre of Southwestern Ontario and we need transportation that allows that to happen," Galloway said.