Mid-Peninsula Highway/Niagara-GTA Corridor

[Northern Light]

Mid-Peninsuala Highway

As many might guess, if you read my posts on Red Hill, I am not a fan of highways that promote sprawl and destroy Class 1 and 2 farmland (the best in the world) and mangle nature.

This proposal is no exception.

The corridor would again involve blasting a new corridor through the escarpment, badly mangling an already fragile and disparate wildlife corridor.

The Niagara Escarpment is a world biosphere reserve as designate by the U.N., part of Ontario's green belt, home to the Bruce Trail, and the only significant, contiguous wildlife corridor in southern Ontario.

Its already been damaged by the 406, 403, 401 and Red Hill.

Enough, is frankly too much, and more is utterly inexcusable.

***

The supposed rationale for the corridor highway is that the QEW is heavily congested in the St. Kitts/Niagara stretch where there is no room to widen beyond six lanes.

Therefore we must re-direct border-bound traffic directly to Ft. Erie, by-passing the Falls area altogether, roughly following a route from the 407 just north/east of the QEW and making a beeline for Buffalo.

The rationale is a false one.

It makes the assumption that there is no alternative to increased car and truck traffic bound for the border.

In fact there are a plethora of alternatives, largely centred around rail.

With regards to Freight rail, much of the existing trackage is already in place, and in corridors with room to additional rail should it be required.

This can be delivered at lower cost than a major new highway, and without any future operating costs born by the taxpayer, since CN or CP would be the ultimate owner/operator (presumably)

Some improvements such as a few new grade-separated crossings, larger cross-border capacity, and modify tunnels to handle double-height freight cars might be necessary, but still provide a better option from a cost, safety and ecological perspective.

***

On the issue of passenger cars, again passenger/commuter rail is the way to go.

Simply by extending full GO service to Stoney Creek, improved VIA service to the falls and across the border, ulimately in the form of high-speed rail provides an attractive, responsible choice.

Some other transportation enchancements are also needed, including improved local transit service in Hamilton and in Niagara region.

Its sad to see the province rely on tired solutions that were outmoded the day they were first thought of, some forty years ago.

 

[CDL.TO]

It's also sad because some of the most successful applications of rail around the world have been in places with heavy tourist traffic. I would wager that Toronto <> Niagara Falls is likely the busiest tourist route in the entire country. Tourists are less likely to rent cars and generally prefer not to have to navigate the roads in a foreign city or country. Instead of giving locals, commuters, and hordes of tourists a reliable rail alternative we're deciding to build a whole new highway that won't even serve that market! Meanwhile the QEW will continue to be full of buses and rental cars.

My entire family from England are visiting next week for a wedding and staying in Niagara. They hope to take a day trip or two to Toronto during their visit. "We'll just take the train" they said... "There is no train" was my response. So instead the family will be renting three cars for the trips back and forth on the QEW.

(Yes, I know there is ONE train, but as tourists they don't feel like departing at 7am and returning at 5pm).

 

[MisterF]

^ I agree. It's always baffled me how the rail options between Niagara and Toronto are almost nonexistent. It's beyond pathetic. I really don't know what it's going to take for us to join the rest of the civilized world and build a decent rail system.

 

[Hipster Duck]

^Probably the realization that VIA rail is intended to provide a basic service, and not serve as a political tool.

Although I'm not overly supportive of privatizing intra-city public transit, I'd be willing to make an exception for long-distance passenger rail. While VIA is a joke, I find Greyhound - although spartan - to offer a very competitive service wherever they run. For example, I've traveled Greyhound maybe 100 times between Peterborough and Toronto as well as Toronto and Kitchener and have never been later than 15 minutes getting to my destination. I've traveled VIA maybe 20 times on short distance routes like Brantford to Toronto and Toronto to Cobourg and I've been over half an hour late maybe 1 in 3 times.

VIA can probably be privatized thusly:

- The Atlantic, Canadian and Skeena can be sold to a tour operator
- Corridor services can be sold to somebody like Connex or Virgin, and I would be happy if the government invested in the infrastructure and rolling stock to raise the service level on a lot of lines
- Northern routes like Churchill or Senneterre can be administrated by the Department of Northern Affairs

 

[Kiwi]

I almost forgot to add this piece from an article today in the Spec....

Voting for dollars
Hamilton has become a focal point for provincial politicians determined to scoop up fresh ground. Will that translate into economic opportunity for this city in the form of dollars from Queen's Park?

How long will it be for Hamilton to get hourly GO Train service?

October 06, 2007
Daniel Nolan
The Hamilton Spectator

Hamilton has been front and centre on the radar of all three major political parties this election.

Will that focus play to Hamilton's advantage as it struggles to chart a new economic course?

Some of the candidates are certainly giving voice to the issue on the hustings.

Chris Robertson, running for the Progressive Conservatives in Hamilton Centre, has talked about how Hamilton will benefit under his party's plan to move 10 per cent of government office jobs out of Toronto.

Nerene Virgin, running for the Liberals in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, said she's talked with the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce about the economy and believes the province should encourage sustainable manufacturing that won't compete with China.

She's not specific, but the Liberals have a $500-million auto sector fund (the NDP have proposed a $600-million auto fund) that has provided $15 million to McMaster University to develop lighter metal for cars along with business partners Dofasco, Stelco and General Motors. Virgin has also talked about how "smart" businessmen like Ron Foxcroft have made new investments in the city.

"This is Hamilton's decade," she said at a recent debate in Stoney Creek. "We need to believe in the city like they do."

But do the parties understand just what Hamilton needs to steer toward economic success? Through this past week, The Spectator has published stories detailing the insights of business leaders, economists, planners and many others invested in this city's future. Those people talked about the brownfields, city planning, environmental cleanup and investment in change.

Do these visions mesh with what the politicians are promising?

The answer is yes on some issues. For others it is unclear.

Immediate concerns like the toxic-contaminated Randle Reef in Hamilton Harbour and GO Transit are being addressed by the province after years of lobbying by local politicians and the public.

GO trains began hourly service to the Aldershot GO station last month, part of a $1-billion expansion of GO Transit services. Ottawa, Queen's Park and municipal governments split the $76 million bill to add a third rail between Burlington and Bayview Junction, near the Royal Botanical Gardens, with the idea of someday running hourly trains out of the Hamilton GO Station and extending GO train service into Niagara. About 1,000 commuters a day use the Aldershot station and it's expected to double.

But the city is facing other pressures, such as the need for more serviceable land, more money for economic development, west harbour development, downtown redevelopment and dealing with rising social services costs. Hamilton has the highest urban poverty rate in Ontario and the Liberal government has provided the city with $60 million in the last four years to offset that expense.

Some of the parties have policies to cover these aspirations, but it is not clear where others fit.

The Liberals have made direct promises related to Hamilton's future and the Conservatives and New Democrats have signed on to some of them. For instance, the Conservatives support the Liberal government's creation of the Greenbelt, 7,000 square kilometres from Niagara Falls to Peterborough protected from development.

History indicates that time is the one tool that has worked to get Hamilton what it wants. The cleanup of the Randle Reef, one of the worst toxic hotspots in the Great Lakes, took years of lobbying.

In 2002, various harbour stakeholders settled on the idea of capping the toxics in the reef by building a nine-hectare steel-walled island between Sherman Avenue North and Wentworth Street North and possibly using it as a new pier.

Suddenly, Randle Reef seems an easy fix for Hamilton-focused politicians. All three parties have promised to put Ontario's share of $30 million into dealing with the mess.

Will it take the same years and long-term lobbying by city representatives to get movement on economic changes that are much harder to pin down in terms of political will and consensus?

Persistence and patience have done the trick before.

Years of lobbying resulted in the provincial government and Ottawa pledging $20 million two years ago toward the cost of servicing North Glanbrook Industrial Park. "This has taken a long, long time," then Mayor Larry Di Ianni said.

The 275-hectare parcel of land, in the vicinity of Rymal Road East and Dartnell Road on the south Mountain, was set aside decades ago for development, but has sat idle except for a furor two years ago when Maple Leaf Foods considered building a $250-million hog processing plant at the park.

That plan was eventually shelved.

Former Mayor Jack MacDonald likes to tell the story of how in 1954 he first moved at the old board of control that Hamilton should expropriate land in the Red Hill Creek Valley in east Hamilton for a highway.

Amid ferocious opposition, which continues today, the David Peterson government approved the highway in 1987. The $400-million Red Hill Valley Parkway is to open in November.

Does Hamilton have that kind of time for its economic development needs? Voters will have to determine which of the provincial candidates is most likely to be receptive to these issues when they arrive at Queen's Park.

 

[MisterF]

For example, I've traveled Greyhound maybe 100 times between Peterborough and Toronto as well as Toronto and Kitchener and have never been later than 15 minutes getting to my destination.

I have. I've missed train connections to London and Kitchener because of Greyhound buses getting stuck in traffic. Not Greyhound's fault really, just the nature of running buses on highways.

Of course, I've been late on trains too.

 

[dowlingm]

I'm a bit nervous about expanding GO to Niagara - I suspect wineries would paved over tout suite as municipalities try to fill budget holes with development charges.

I had a look at what if 407 (as a toll road) extended south around Hamilton (to improve access to the airport and stave off the Desecration of Pickering) and then headed SE to Fort Erie but then I noticed that you come very near Caledonia... as if there wasn't enough trouble there already.

What I think we do need is a reinstatement of the Cherry ferry but not for passengers, the problem with Rochester is that at 155km it makes a 310km round trip - Toronto to Lewiston is 135km by congested road and 50km by water and 9km by road assuming a suitable dock and customs station could built at Youngstown. The crossing time would be maybe 80 minutes at 24 knots (44 kilometres an hour) top speed using a conventional ferry rather than a catamaran.

How much cheaper would that be than building maybe 100km of 4-lane highway into SE Ontario at say $22m per kilometre in 2007 dollars, or more if 400-series standard and paving over huge amounts of land in carriageway and junctions? A dock at Youngstown could also handle imports of cars from Oshawa (70km) if a suitable ship was available.

Unfortunately it seems to me that the powers that be at 100 Queen West have decreed the slow death of the port area and by doing so are condemning all Toronto-NY State trade to go via the congested Niagara crossings.

 

[gibsonm]

Okay, it's got to be said: Does anyone living in the 21st century have a responsible rationale for proposing a new mid-penisular highway? for trucks no less? I think the fact that this matter is even up for debate says that Ontarians are missing the boat completely on what it's going to take to make this province more liveable: environmentally (air quality and preservation of sensitive ecosystems), in terms of curbing sprawl (shortening commuting times and providing more pedestrian scale, attractive development), and economically (highway construction is ridulously expensive and subsidized by every taxpayer, whether or not he or she owns a car).
It is long established that highway construction attracts the worst kind of sprawling development, leading to further highway construction, to take the added load. You can add all the greenbelt legislation in the world. You'll still need cloverleafs, service stations, and service roads. Can sprawling, ugly Southern Ontario afford more of this?
How can anyone propose this kind of development near the Niagara Escarpment, especially in the wake of the Red Hill highway extension disaster? Isn't Hamilton full of enough shit?
For those who say we need it to speed the flow of goods on trucks, I say, What the fuck are we doing encouraging more truck use? Trucks spew the worst kind of greenhouse gases and particulate matter. They destroy the existing road beds and are a danger to drivers of smaller vehicles.
If you want to speed up highway trips on existing highways, take the billions of tax dollars it will take to build and maintain this stupid proposed highway and put it towards high speed rail for freight and commuters. Instead, we get little or no new transit, paid mostly through the fair box by users.
The main reason for delays at the borders is something Ontarians have little control over: increased border security at the U.S. border because of events Canadians had nothing to do with. Even in that department, the federal government has spent massive sums building gleaming new high tech border gateways and adding border guards.
The point is, don't be fooled into supporting a backward looking white elephant like a mid-peninsular highway or any other major new highway initiative in Southern Ontario, except in rare cases (like HOV lanes that reduce the number of vehicles on the road). We've got to stop shitting in our own backyards -- yes, I said shit again -- shit shit shit.

 

[adma]

How can anyone propose this kind of development near the Niagara Escarpment, especially in the wake of the Red Hill highway extension disaster? Isn't Hamilton full of enough shit?

Actually, a mid-Pen hiway would be further from the Escarpment than the QEW is...

 

[junctionist]

Unlike public transit, drivers pay 100% of their operating cost, AND fund road construction through vehicle sales tax, taxes on fuel and vehicle maintenance, registration, stickers, license renewal fees (what did I miss?). So the subsidy is minimal. Depending on the vehicle, up to 8 people can travel for the same price. You can pack a lot stuff into a car. You can't do that with any other means of long distance transportation. Trucks aren't going away either, as you can't have a rail spur going into every store.

I'm against the new highway because in the bigger picture, cutting down on carbon emissions is crucial and preserving good farmland by curbing sprawl is an important step in that direction. But you'd have to run passenger trains at a constant loss if you wanted people to switch. It's something to consider.

 

[interchange42]

Kiwi: you posted the same article in two threads. In the future, please pick one thread only, and if you need to reference it in another thread, direct readers to it with a link. Thanks!

42

 

[CDL.TO]

Unlike public transit, drivers pay 100% of their operating cost, AND fund road construction through vehicle sales tax, taxes on fuel and vehicle maintenance, registration, stickers, license renewal fees (what did I miss?).

That's questionable. There's some official Stascan stats floating around stating that automobile taxes essentially break even when it comes to road maintenance, with subsidies one year and a surplus the next. However, the numbers don't factor in issues like health costs from automobile collisions and pollution. It's even questionable if it includes all snow removal. And that's just maintenance. At 120km long with that $22m per km number cited above, that's $2.6 billion for the Mid-pen. Drivers might not be subsidized as much, but they certainly are subsidized. I can't help but think that if we have a reversal in modal split between transit and cars, we would see a simple reversal of subsidy levels as well.

 

[waterloowarrior]

 

[Lone Primate]

If you want to speed up highway trips on existing highways, take the billions of tax dollars it will take to build and maintain this stupid proposed highway and put it towards high speed rail for freight and commuters.

How, exactly, does the freight get from all the different factories and farms to your trains? How does it get from the trains to all the stores in neighbourhoods all over the province? Same questions re the passengers.

I'm not saying rail isn't part of the answer, but it poses its own set of problems, and we need to realize that. "Step one, steal underpants; step two, ???; step three, profit!" is no way to run the distribution system of a province of 13 million people.

 

[RedRocket191]

How, exactly, does the freight get from all the different factories and farms to your trains? How does it get from the trains to all the stores in neighbourhoods all over the province? Same questions re the passengers.

I'm not saying rail isn't part of the answer, but it poses its own set of problems, and we need to realize that. "Step one, steal underpants; step two, ???; step three, profit!" is no way to run the distribution system of a province of 13 million people.

Of course you would need to have trucks and buses and cars for local service, but you keep them local and setup rail for long distances. There is no need to have a truck drive a load all the way from Montreal to Windsor and beyond - the Swiss use that mentality (and I think the phrase "New York run by the Swiss" is a compliment).