Rapid Transit

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

The next major LRT-related vote will likely be a master agreement between Metrolinx and the city, which will be sometime next year. City staff have said that vote will be a legally binding commitment to the project.

This hurdle will be the relief point. But expect more hand-wringing and grandstanding over numbers as councillors bring their own back-of-used-napkin figures to the debate, ask for a one-sided deal in the city's favour, and/or accuse Metrolinx and the winning bidder of skullduggery.

[thistleclub]

From a Hamilton Mountain News profile of Esther Pauls:

While she does not support the LRT, the rookie councillor said she might be persuaded to support it if all the funding is there.

“I’m very open-minded and it’s not flip-flopping.”

[movingtohamilton]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

From a Hamilton Mountain News profile of Esther Pauls:

And this:

"“I’ll look at both sides (of the issue) but I don’t want taxes to go up,” she said."

Well I don't want my taxes to go up because I don't drive on the mountain and I don't care about their roads.

[thistleclub]

Auditor general says BRT deserved more study in Hamilton
(Hamilton Spectator, Matthew Van Dongen, Dec 5 2018)

A critical auditor general's report on Metrolinx LRT projects suggests the agency should have spent more time studying bus rapid transit in Hamilton.

But Mayor Fred Eisenberger said the city's long-debated $1-billion light rail transit project "won the larger benefits argument long ago" compared to cheaper BRT.

The wide-ranging annual report by Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk takes the transit planning agency and its government partners to task over poor planning, political interference and contractual loopholes that resulted in $436 million in what she considered wasted or extra spending since 2009.

But Lysyk's report also suggests Metrolinx "did not fully assess" whether LRT was the most "cost-effective" option for two funded light rail transit projects in Toronto – as well as on Hamilton's B-line.

The report says 2014 business case updates for all of those proposed projects "clearly showed the need to further review whether it (was) appropriate to proceed" with LRT over cheaper bus rapid transit.

In Hamilton, a draft analysis suggested BRT and LRT could alternately provide the "highest performing investment option" depending on varying land use intensification scenarios. As a result, Lysyk said in late 2014 Metrolinx recommended an "intermediate" business case – but months later, then-premier Kathleen Wynne came to Hamilton to announce 100 per cent capital funding for LRT.

She recommends in the report that in future Metrolinx should: "objectively evaluate evidence to recommend... transit projects and options that most cost effectively address the identified transit needs."

Read it in full here.

+

Read the relevant chapter from the Auditor General's report here.

[TheRitsman]

Sigh...

This thing is never going to happen, is it?

[lachlanholmes]

Ontario transit update: Hamilton LRT, GO extension, Bombardier LRV assembly

[Rg2016]

You know its possible to have a subway system in Hamilton?

Queen and King's elevation is almost half way to the top of the escarpment, if they build it elevated starting at King and Queen its possible for the tracks to go inside the escarpment (underground) and service mohawk college

Theyd have to dig in the middle of the height of the escarpment for it to go underground.

King and Queen st. can have its own elevated station.. and people can just transfer to the bottom station of King and Queen using an elevator or stairs

[Rg2016]

See what I mean? Look at the escarpment in the middle

[lachlanholmes]

I think it's a better use of time, effort, and money to convince the city to return the A-Line plans to LRT, but a subway along queen would be interesting!

[Rg2016]

Originally Posted by HamiltonForward

I think it's a better use of time, effort, and money to convince the city to return the A-Line plans to LRT, but a subway along queen would be interesting!

Honestly, I dont think its a good idea for a train to go up at James mountain rd. to west 5th, its just too steep for an LRT to climb up, I know I'm not an engineer but my idea of an elevated train tracks and a hole in the middle (underground subway type) of the escarpment makes it easier for the train to service the mountain.

[LRTfan]

Portland, Oregon did this with one of their LRT stops.... I'd suggest a street level LRT route along James South that tunnels into the escarpment instead of going up James Mtn Rd....at Mohawk College the LRT can re-surface at ground level and continue along Mohawk to Limeridge Mall. I have no idea why the A-Line gets so much attention. Mohawk College, Limeridge Mall and the high-ish density housing along Mohawk from West 5th to Limeridge Mall are far greater drivers of transit ridership than one storey plazas and parking lots on Upper James. I would love to see the city develop a hybrid LRT route that starts at Limeridge Mall and runs through the college, to downtown and out to McMaster. With appropriate park 'n ride facilities at the Mall this would become a great commuter route for the 10's of thousands of people who work downtown and at Mac.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washin...tion_(Portland)

[matt602]

I've seen the "it's too steep for LRT" argument refuted more times than the "Hamilton can't have a subway cause of underground rivers/lost cities" argument.

[TheRitsman]

LRT up that route is real easy; San Francisco

[thistleclub]

Toronto Star, June 23 2016:

After a $1-billion spike in cost of the Scarborough subway extension, Mayor John Tory is defending the latest estimate for the transit project as reliable. But experts warn the subway hasn’t been studied enough to know what the final price tag will be.

The updated cost estimate for the 6 km subway tunnel from Kennedy station to Scarborough Town Centre is $3.2 billion. The number was revealed in a city report published Tuesday, and is roughly $300 million higher than the $2.9-billion figure the mayor defended last week, which in turn was $900 million more than the $2-billion estimate presented to councillors in 2013 when they voted to extend the Bloor-Danforth line farther into Scarborough.

Proposed A-Line is approximately 17km long, 12km of that above the escarpment. Pier 7 to Lime Ridge Mall would be 10km, half of that above the escarpment.

The Niagara Escarpment is also around 100 meters tall, which would make an A-Line subway one of the deepest on the planet. Another interesting challenge.

[thistleclub]

Developers eager to get on board new transit lines
(The Globe & Mail, David Israelson, Dec 11 2018)

“If you build it, they will come.” Those may be inspirational words, but for commercial developers in Canada who hope to build near transit lines, they can be frustrating.

Build what? When? Where? Across Canada, developers are confronted with a dilemma – it can be lucrative and good city planning to construct commercial projects that have access to new transit, but transit takes years of planning and many cities have trouble making decisions about where to run their lines.

“Clearly there is a desire to acquire development opportunities near mass transit growth – the city will promote higher densities, and both residential and commercial rents are going to be higher, resulting in shorter lease-up and higher final values. You want to own real estate where the people mass,” says David Lehberg, founder and chief executive officer of Knightstone Capital Management Inc., a Toronto-based property developer.

Even when projects are under way, they’re not necessarily a certainty. Many Ontarians recall when then-premier Mike Harris cancelled an Eglinton Avenue West subway line in Toronto that was already under construction in 1995, filling in a tunnel; a light rapid transit (LRT) line along the same road is now being built, at considerably greater cost.

“For a major [commercial] project, land development is a 10-year undertaking from acquiring the land to opening the finished product,” says Andrew McAllan, head of real estate management at Oxford Properties Group, one of Canada’s biggest commercial developers.

The issue for Oxford and other developers is that assembling land around transit corridors depends on local and regional governments determining where they want the transit to be built.

Mr. McAllan is a strong advocate of green and sustainable building practices, which include putting up projects near transit, but the uncertainty over transit decisions makes even the strongest advocates skittish, he says.

“Having certainty is critical, and in the absence, you see hesitation not just on the part of the developer, but also the lender. These are multimillion-dollar projects that rely on financing, and if you don’t have certainty, people are hesitant to commit,” he explains.


Read it in full here.

[StEC]

Metrolinx won't start laying track for Hamilton light rail transit (LRT) this year after all, but it's still aiming to launch the system in 2024.

Crews might start relocating some utilities this year, says Kris Jacobson, the city's LRT project lead. But construction work on the system itself, initially scheduled for 2019, likely won't start until 2020.

"For the first full year of construction work, we're still eyeballing 2020," Jacobson said.

"It potentially still could be a 2024 launch. It might be a late 2024 launch, but a 2024 operation is still possible."

There will be the full-time equivalent of 18.25 city staff working from the Hamilton Centre GO station this year, down from 22.25 FTE last year, Jacobson said. As the project moves from the planning to the procurement phase, he explained, staffing needs change.

The province pays the salaries of all the city staff in the LRT office as part of its $1 billion commitment to pay the capital costs for the project, Jacobson said. Another 10 Metrolinx employees work in the office too.

CBC News

Sheeeesh just get it built already!!!!!

[king10]

Not good....

City is on the hook for extra costs if LRT goes overbudget: MPP Skelly
Comments come after The Spectator revealed political briefing notes that suggest the 14-km LRT line will cost more than $1 billion to build.

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9...et-mpp-skelly/

I could see the project being scaled back to the traffic circle again if it overshoots its $1B budget.

[SteelTown]

It's kinda hard for the city to control any possible over-budgeting when they have no direct control over the entire procedure. Once again (like the stadium), Infrastructure Ontario is overseeing the project.

[HamiltonBoyInToronto]

Skelly is assuming and fear mongering

[NortheastWind]

If the City will be on the hook for extra costs, Ryan McGreal had a good idea a while back that would eliminate the need for a new bridge over the 403. Have the train turn before the 403 and go adjacent to the CP right of way (behind Fortinos) and over to Innovation Park. The train can then go over the 403 at Longwood (which is going to happen anyway).

Also, they are delaying the project start-up to 2020 while maintaining the staff, which will add to the cost. The City shouldn't be on the hook for those costs.