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Could trains oust lanes on Main?

Transit plan would hijack car lanes on major arteries
April 15, 2008
Nicole MacIntyre

A suburban councillor is warning the city's plans to reduce lanes on its main arteries to make room for rapid transit will provoke a "rebellion" among car drivers.

"It's absolutely ridiculous," Councillor Lloyd Ferguson declared yesterday after reviewing the transit proposal.

Preliminary plans show parts of Main and King streets would be reduced from four traffic lanes to two wider lanes to create exclusive space for rapid buses or a light rail system. A fifth lane, now devoted to unloading and parking, would remain.

"Where are the vehicles supposed to go?" asked Ferguson, predicting mass congestion.

But Scott Stewart, general manager of public works, said the city must make significant changes if it is going to achieve its goal of reducing car trips by 20 per cent over the next few decades. "It's about having a vision. We're not talking about traffic now. We're talking about traffic in 15 to 20 years."

The city is in the early stages of planning a rapid transit system for the lower city and the Mountain. Staff plan to consult with the public this spring about the two transit options -- rapid buses in dedicated lanes or a light rail line.

The city would prefer to keep transit separate from other vehicles to ensure a clear path for buses or light rail, an advantage staff hope would make transit more attractive.

After council picks a preferred transit option later this year, it will take at least two years for an environmental assessment and planning to be completed.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger has already thrown his support behind a light rail system in the lower city.

"We should aspire high," he said, noting there's hope the province will pay to build the system.
 
Kiwi said:
Could trains oust lanes on Main?
...
A suburban councillor is warning the city's plans to reduce lanes on its main arteries to make room for rapid transit will provoke a "rebellion" among car drivers.

...

Preliminary plans show parts of Main and King streets would be reduced from four traffic lanes to two wider lanes to create exclusive space for rapid buses or a light rail system. A fifth lane, now devoted to unloading and parking, would remain.

...
Click to expand...

He's worried about this:

ep_transitridership.jpg
ep_transittomorrow.jpg


Too many transit users? Less need for parking? Less smog?
 
City's proposal won't see any roads completely closed for cars. Simply it's proposing to basically bring back the old trolley system that used to be in Hamilton, how soon a suburban councillor forgets the trolley system that we used to have in downtown Hamilton.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q...5989,-79.872781&spn=0.000918,0.00176&t=h&z=19

A single lane for the LRT can easily be done for majority of Main St like above. Remember LRT going east bound will be on Main and LRT going west bound will be on King St so there won't be two transit lanes until you reach Longwood to McMaster.

Here's Main St two-way street
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q...8499,-79.906692&spn=0.000918,0.00176&t=k&z=19

You can see a large median in the middle that will be ripped up for two transit lanes. You can see three lanes heading east bound, it'll be reduced to two lanes.

The rest of Main St is 5 lanes until you hit the Delta. This shouldn't be a foreign concept as this is just bringing back the rail system that used to be in Hamilton, hence HSR - Hamilton Street Railway.
 
The public works department is holding a public information session on the A-Line May 6 at the Sackville Hill Seniors’ Centre on Upper Wentworth Street, and another on the B-Line May 8 at the Education Centre on Main Street West. Meeting times have not been announced.
 
Kiwi said:
The public works department is holding a public information session on the A-Line May 6 at the Sackville Hill Seniors’ Centre on Upper Wentworth Street, and another on the B-Line May 8 at the Education Centre on Main Street West. Meeting times have not been announced.
Click to expand...
Excellent, the A-line meeting is only about a five to ten minute bus ride from my house, so I'll definitely have to check that one out. Not sure about the B-line one though.
 
I'll try and go to both public information sessions. I'll definitely be going to the A-Line open house. I like how the city isn't wasting any time.
 
adma said:
Methinks he may be more worried about this
Main%20Street%2005.jpg
Click to expand...

Yes, but it seen it's days.

This was over kill.

If you walk from one end to the other end, you can see the building are to far from the street line let alone the road in many areas.

You look at the poles and look at TTC poles, they take up a lot of room in the first place. The poles are further apart than TTC.

There is some street life in that picture, but at night or on the weekend, you can roll a bowling ball down the street and hit nothing.

Most of the lost street life is cause by the city down sizing 48% and lost of industries.
 
Thanks so much for posting! I look forward to wading through the whole report. I wish they'd bite the bullet and go LRT. Though perhaps they could do something like the combo RT/funicular that they have in Haifa. Would be a pretty cool tourist attraction!
 
> May 1, 2008: BRT or LRT? Comparing Alternatives,
> with Lessons from
> Waterloo Region
>
> Public meeting and panel discussion.
>
> Date: May 1, 2008
> Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
> Location: The FRWY Cafe
> Address: 333 King St. E. (at Wellington St. N.)
> Hamilton ON L8N 1C1
> Admission: free
>
> Presenters
>
> * Jillian Stephen, Manager, Strategic Planning,
> Public Works
> Department, City of Hamilton
> * Becky Schlenvogt, Principal Planner,
> Transportation Planning, Region
> of Waterloo
> * Bob Bratina, Ward 2 Councillor (MC)
>
> Hamilton has a critical decision to make: when we
> build our new higher
> order transit systems, will we choose bus rapid
> transit (BRT) or light
> rail transit (LRT)? What's the difference? Which
> choice is better?
>
> Jillian Stephen will present an overview of the
> rapid transit
> initiative and explain how to contribute to the
> public consultations.
> Then Hamilton Light Rail will show a presentation on
> LRT.
>
> Keynote speaker Becky Schlenvogt will briefly
> discuss Waterloo
> Region's evaluation criteria and explain the
> differences between BRT
> and LRT.
>
> A panel discussion will follow, during which the
> presenters will take
> questions from the audience.
>
> There may never be a better opportunity for Hamilton
> to build a modern
> transportation system and enjoy the benefits of
> increased ridership,
> new investment, and improved quality of life.
>
> Please come out to this important meeting.
>
> Co-sponsored by Hamilton Light Rail
> (http://hamiltonlightrail.com) and
> Transit Users Group (http://hamitontug.com).
>
> For media inquiries, please contact Nicholas
> Kevlahan at email:
> kevlahan@gmail.com.
 
Open house information......

A-Line
DATE: Tuesday, May 6, 2008
TIME: 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm Presentation at 7:00 pm
LOCATION: Sackville Hill Seniors Recreation Centre - 780 Upper Wentworth St.

B-Line
DATE: Thursday, May 8, 2008
TIME: 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm Presentation at 7:00 pm
LOCATION: Board of Education - 100 Main Street West

Also here's Hamilton's rapid transit website (just went up!)

www.hamilton.ca/rapid-transit
 
In case anyone intends to go to the Open House tomorrow is the first Open House. Also both A and B-Line will be dicussed during the Open House not like how I spilt the two meetings for just A and B-Line.
 
I might go to the Thursday Open House as it will be in a more convenient location for coming from Toronto, and I want to see the Education Centre before it ends up biting the dust.
 
Wow, good for Hamilton. I've only seen Main St. once; it seemed empty and wide enough to accommodate a LRT lines. Screw these suburban councillors!
 
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