Rapid Transit

[SteelTown]

City wants closer look at transit plans

October 06, 2009
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/648281

City staff want to take a hard look at sections of Hamilton that would be affected by rapid transit coming to town.

While it's still not clear how the 16-kilometre rapid transit line from Eastgate Square to McMaster University would be financed -- or whether it will be light rail transit or buses -- planners want to closely study the implications for land use, infrastructure, related transportation issues and environmental protection, among other things.

The staff report calling for a "secondary plan review" is to be discussed by the city's planning and economic development committee today.

"We're a very fast-changing community," says Maria Pearson, chair of the committee. "We need to be proactive in what we are looking at, making sure that we are making the right moves to take us that much further forward.

"We need to review certain pockets that need to be upgraded for intensification and industrial-commercial zoning. You try to keep your commercial and your intensive residential development on your main arterial roads so it becomes complementary to transit."

The study would focus on "terminus nodes" at each end of the east-west line, as well as 400 metres north and south of the corridor that would follow Main Street, King Street and Queenston Road.

Land on each side of the corridor tends to be designated "mixed use and medium density." Staff will consider whether it is appropriate to increase the density because more people will want to live closer to rapid transit.

Staff will also look at business development along the corridor and whether zoning is appropriate to encourage commercial growth.

The report also lists two other sections of the city as being "immediate priority areas":

* Waterdown -- Hamilton Street between Dundas Street and Parkside Drive, as well as Dundas Street from Hamilton Street east to the new proposed arterial road in Waterdown South.

Waterdown is facing tremendous growth -- largely because of an influx of Greater Toronto Area commuters -- and warrants closer study by planners, the report says.

* Ancaster -- along Wilson Street from Rousseaux Street to Highway 403. The study would address concerns about protecting the heritage characteristics of the town.

The report also listed as "mid-term priority areas" Elfrida, the area around Lime Ridge Mall, Upper James (to accommodate future rapid transit), the area around Centre Mall on Barton (with the major transformation taking place at the mall), downtown Dundas, McQuesten East and West neighbourhoods, and neighbourhoods east of downtown.

Low-priority areas listed in the report included the East Mountain, Meadowlands and the Lakeshore extension west of Fruitland Road and the Hamilton Beach area.

[realcity]

"We're a very fast-changing community," says Maria Pearson

um "fast-changing"? Ms. Pearson, what city have you been living in for the last 30 years. There's been a grand total of 3 buildings built downtown in the last 30 years.

[SteelTown]

Outside of downtown is a different story.

[SteelTown]

Contribution Agreement between Metrolinx and the City of Hamilton for Rapid Transit Studies

http://www.myhamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyre...t13PW09088.pdf

Looks like the EA for the B-Line and apparently A-Line as well will start on October 20th.

"The money ($3 million) earmarked for Hamilton is for planning, design, engineering and Class EA work for the B-Line and the A-Line."

The preliminary design for the B-Line must be completed by March 2010. It has to be done before provincial budget time. This is a hint the province announce funding for the B-Line in the 2010 Budget.

[SteelTown]

Tomorrow the Finance Minister, Dwight Duncan, will announce increased infrastructure funding for the next budget.

[SteelTown]

Transit decision delayed again

October 31, 2009
Emma Reilly
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/664128

A decision about the future of rapid transit in Hamilton has been delayed for the second time.

The city will have to wait until January 2010 to learn whether it will receive light rail (LRT) or dedicated bus lanes (BRT), said Jill Stephen, director of strategic and environmental planning.

Metrolinx, the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area public transportation body, was originally scheduled to recommend LRT or BRT in July. That timeline was extended to the fall and a decision was expected in November.

The city learned of the second delay early this week.

"We weren't expecting (the delay). It was a bit of a surprise," said Stephen. "We're anxious to move forward as quickly as we can."

The decision about LRT versus dedicated bus lanes isn't the only delay the city's facing. A $3-million contribution from the province for a rapid transit study announced in April has yet to be delivered.

Stephen said Metrolinx "didn't say a whole lot" about the delays, but said they may have been caused by the changes to the board that will take hold in May.

She also mentioned that the recommendation about Hamilton's rapid transit lines is one of several reports that will be released at the same time, and the other studies are taking longer than anticipated.

In the meantime, Stephen said, her department is moving ahead with plans for LRT. If the city ultimately gets bus lanes, she says the work could be "stepped back."

"We're still moving forward because we can't afford to sit back and wait," she said.

John Howe, vice-president of investment strategies at Metrolinx, said the target date to break ground on the project is still 2011, providing the funding is in place.

"I don't see it as a major concern because this is the work we need to do to get to LRT or BRT by 2011, subject to funding approvals."

The priority for the city, and one of Metrolinx's top priorities, is to get LRT on an east-west B-line from Eastgate Square to McMaster.

The city's tab of the $650-million project is estimated at around 15 per cent, but there's been no official indication of the exact amount

[flar]

The province doesn't have the money.

[SteelTown]

I'd have a problem if the report came out after March but it'll be out before the Budget. Money won't be flowing out in 2010 anyways. Construction suppose to start in 2011.

[drpgq]

Originally Posted by flar

The province doesn't have the money.

I'm concerned too. The province is utterly and completely broke. I'm wondering if the best case scenario now is the province ends up paying, but delays it for a few years.

[thistleclub]

The Rapid Transit Game
Will Pan Ams swing decision?

Emma Reilly
The Hamilton Spectator
(Nov 6, 2009)

If the Golden Horseshoe wins the right to host the 2015 Pan Am Games tonight, it could mean either good news or bad news for the future of rapid transit in Hamilton.

The city will face two options: either complete the east-west line in time for the 2015 games or wait to break ground until 2016 to avoid construction havoc while the city is hosting the Pan Ams.

"You can't have the corridor under construction when the world comes to visit," said Jill Stephen, director of strategic and environmental planning.

The vote to stage the Games will take place this afternoon in Guadalajara, Mexico. Southern Ontario is in the competition with Lima, Peru, and Bogota, Colombia.

If the Ontario bid is successful, Hamilton could see $170 million in sports development, including a stadium, velodrome, and Olympic-sized practice pools.

Stephen said her department is aiming for the 2015 completion date for the rapid transit line, with or without the Games. However, if the Pan-Am bid fails, the timing becomes more flexible.

The completion date for Hamilton's rapid transit will be based on several factors, including when plans for the east-west line are finalized, how quickly funding can be secured, and whether the city receives light rail or dedicated bus lines. That decision is expected in January 2010 from Metrolinx, the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area public transportation body.

If Metrolinx recommends light rail -- the city's preferred option -- Stephen estimated construction will take three to four years. That means Hamilton wouldn't see its first LRT line until 2019 or 2020 if the city decided to wait until after the Games to break ground.

The Pan Ams also play a role in the future of transportation outside Hamilton's borders.

Leslie Woo, vice-president, policy and planning at Metrolinx, said the Games will put additional pressure on GO Transit upgrades on the Lakeshore line to make sure athletes and spectators have quick access to events in Hamilton.

"It will create serious momentum and additional wind behind our backs to get the projects done more quickly," she said.

Woo said a successful bid will mean a "significant leap" in GO service levels within the next several years.

The Pan Am Games would also put a timeline on a light rail link between Union Station and Pearson Airport, Woo said.

[hamtransithistory]

If the Golden Horseshoe wins the right to host the 2015 Pan Am Games tonight, it could mean either good news or bad news for the future of rapid transit in Hamilton.

The city will face two options: either complete the east-west line in time for the 2015 games or wait to break ground until 2016 to avoid construction havoc while the city is hosting the Pan Ams.

Uh, No.

You build it BEFORE the games. How else do we move all the tourists around?

[SteelTown]

Especially when you have most of the sport facilities between McMaster University and downtown/west harbour area. At least have the line up and running from McMaster to the downtown core.

[thistleclub]

I like that they're intent on 2015.

If the bid goes through tonight, it seems like it would be more politically expedient for anyone with aspirations to the 2010 council to show that they can actually deliver a legacy project of that magnitude -- or make substantial strides towards it -- before the 2014 election. Rather than, say, simply postponing decisions or commissioning third-party studies, a sort of non-leadership at which they've proven themselves sufficiently expert.

[SteelTown]

Thankfully the 2015 Pan Am committee will oversee all venue projects and not the City, sort of like Metrolinx. The City will have a voice but the committee will ultimately make the final decision.

[oldcoote]

Th Pan Am bid is looking more and more like the catalyst that will drive Rapid Transit.

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by oldcoote

Th Pan Am bid is looking more and more like the catalyst that will drive Rapid Transit.

Hume: Give us the Games, we need the subway

[matt602]

Well, we got it. Now what?

[SteelTown]

Eisenberger, who started the evening by sipping Champagne from the bottle, said the news rendered him "almost speechless."

"Today we party; tomorrow we look at next steps," he said.

Those "next steps" include finding the additional $50 million the city needs to take the 15,000-seat Pan Am stadium to 25,000 seats to house the Ticats after the Games, acquiring property for the stadium, and fast-tracking plans for a rapid transit (RT) line.

Jill Stephen, the city's director of strategic and environmental planning, said the Pan Ams makes the RT planning process easier.

"We've got a deadline to work too," she said. "The more certainty we have with something, the easier it is to plan."

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/668366

[highwater]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Eisenberger, who started the evening by sipping Champagne from the bottle...

I'd vote for him again for that reason alone.

[thistleclub]

Dunno what it means, if anything, but the Spec video has a modestly tipsy Eisenberger ("a lot happy") still lucid enough to hedge on the RT question: "It inspires the light rail or the rapid transit plans that we have."