Check the title of this article, did the Spec foresee the future?
Dundas added to LRT plan
Dundas has been added to a proposal for rapid transit lines in the Hamilton area.
City officials told a public meeting on the issue last night the end of an east-west line across the city has been extended to University Plaza on Osler Drive from McMaster University.
Jill Stephen, Hamilton’s manger of strategic planning, said afterwards it was decided last month to extend the proposed line into Dundas because it is already the western terminus for bus service returning from Eastgate Square at the Stoney Creek border.
Proposed funding from Ottawa and Queen’s Park under the Move Ontario 2020 plan had envisioned the western end of the rapid transit line being McMaster.
“The University Plaza part is new,†Stephen said. “The Move Ontario 2020 announcement only went to McMaster University, but our existing B line goes to University Plaza. It’s a logical extension.â€
She said the extension does not add any costs and has been figured in by city officials.
The capital cost estimate for bus rapid transit (BRT) is between $6.5 million and $9 million, and between $15 million and $25 million for light rail transit (LRT).
About 50 people attended the first public meeting about rapid transit options for Hamilton.
The meeting was held at the Sackville Hill Seniors Centre.
A study has identified two rapid transit routes: the A line, on James Street and Upper James from the waterfront to the airport, and the B line, on Main and King streets from University Plaza to Eastgate.
The routes were included in the $17.5-billion Move Ontario 2020 announcement last year.
If comments from the audience are any indication, Hamiltonians prefer light rail on the two routes over bus rapid transit. Some spoke of their experiences using LRT in other countries and said Canada was far behind on getting people out of their cars and helping to reduce pollution.
One man spoke of riding LRT in Switzerland and not seeing any cars. He learned later cars were parked outside the community.
“We thought they had banned them. It was a fantastic system,†he said.
Grant Ranalli, a school teacher and a member of the Hamilton Light Rail interest group, said he believed LRT would help the city’s economy. Stephen noted Portland, Ore. figured it got a 1,400 per cent return in development
spending compared to what it spent on LRT lines.
“This could be a real economic stimulus for Hamilton and I think the ambitious city can be ambitious again,†Ranalli said.
Bernice Price, however, said LRT would cost billions and people would not stop using their cars to get around the city.
“We had transit like this years ago and they ripped it down,†she said.
“Forget it. They’re trying to throw out the baby with the bath water.†[haha they quoted that old lady last night lol]
Another public meeting is set for tomorrow night at the Education Centre on Main Street West (across from City Hall). It runs from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with a presentation by Stephen at 7 p.m.
