Hamilton Hamilton Line B LRT | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx
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DonValleyRainbow
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A lawyer living in and driving from Dundas. Does that not say it all?
More privileged folks trying to beat down a new transportation option for those who cannot afford to drive, or do not wish to drive.
Allandale25
Senior Member
Two key documents for today`s meeting: [links fixed]
- Report from Paul Johnston, Director, LRT Project Coordination. Also includes "Hamilton LRT A+B Line: Real Estate Investment Impact Analysis" by N. Barry Lyon Consultants Limited; and
- Project update presentation being given today.
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drum118
Superstar
junctionist
Senior Member
Lawyers as a group usually have a variety of opinions on any subject. Some are social justice advocates. Just because this lawyer is anti-LRT doesn't make him representative of all lawyers.
dowlingm
Senior Member
Lawyers driving is often a question of their practice. A criminal practitioner would have to attend courts, police stations etc. That said, if the people who aren't vehicle dependent would move to the LRT, those in professions who are driving dependent might not stress so much.
mdrejhon
Senior Member
We helped play a role in the #yesLRT efforts yesterday. City Hall overflowed with about 150 mostly #yesLRT people trying to fill 109 spectator seats -- so it was standing room only at first!
It was also a trying time for me, given my spouse's medical emergency as well as my stepdad hospitalization back at home, so it was good for me to cheer along the #yesLRT effort.
The #yesLRT crowd out crowded the #noLRT residents by a MASSIVE margin.
The funds spent by #noLRT on streetside billboards have totally gone to waste, IMO -- efforts are better focussed on getting better benefits out of the LRT. I just wish there was more sensible discussion rather than polarized arguing. For example, one of the noLRT residents brought up aesthetics of overhead wires -- but even wire visibility concerns can still be urbanized nicely with nicer poles, for example, rather than an excuse to not build LRT, as one of the many examples. Many cities have done that...
For #noLRT -- why not spend funds advocating improvements like that, rather that than wasting five figures of funds on #noLRT billboards, when the tide is clearly #yesLRT in all fronts (Those CBC Supercrawl LRT paintings, petition response count, number of followers on respective social media, etc, etc. -- all overwhelmingly #yesLRT)
It was also a trying time for me, given my spouse's medical emergency as well as my stepdad hospitalization back at home, so it was good for me to cheer along the #yesLRT effort.
The #yesLRT crowd out crowded the #noLRT residents by a MASSIVE margin.
The funds spent by #noLRT on streetside billboards have totally gone to waste, IMO -- efforts are better focussed on getting better benefits out of the LRT. I just wish there was more sensible discussion rather than polarized arguing. For example, one of the noLRT residents brought up aesthetics of overhead wires -- but even wire visibility concerns can still be urbanized nicely with nicer poles, for example, rather than an excuse to not build LRT, as one of the many examples. Many cities have done that...
For #noLRT -- why not spend funds advocating improvements like that, rather that than wasting five figures of funds on #noLRT billboards, when the tide is clearly #yesLRT in all fronts (Those CBC Supercrawl LRT paintings, petition response count, number of followers on respective social media, etc, etc. -- all overwhelmingly #yesLRT)
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mdrejhon
Senior Member
....and I can claim a personal success too here; the Gage Park LRT station appears to be coming back according to Paul Johnson's presentation and multiple mentions in other documents.
I'm the one who massively raised local awareness with the article in a 10,000-circulation newspaper (The Sherman Hub newspaper, award-winning community newspaper as one of the best in all of Province of Ontario) -- it got prime back cover placement -- causing people to "overload" the add station discussion LRT open houses with pleas for the Gage Park Station. This subsequently got noticed by CBC and TheSpec (mentions of Gage Park LRT station demand), adding even more feedback by residents to add the station (feedback count massively increased on the 2nd and 3rd days of LRT Open Houses, caused by readers of CBC/TheSpec who attended subsequent Open Houses).
Chaos Theory, my article was the butterfly! (And also my presentation at City Hall at the last LRT sub-committee). The city has now confirmed they are working to add back the Gage Park LRT station. A shocking number of people didn't know there was no Gage Park station, but CBC/TheSpec informed the entire city as a result of the early buzz caused by my initial article.
Certainly, there would still have been demand without it, but I've received word (including from city employees) that my involvements clearly massively amplified this. And a lot of people helped in this too, I just only helped the snowball rolling.
I also want to thank the nearly 20 pro-LRT delegations who braved the 11.5 hour City Hall meeting to give a 5-minute speech. And everyone in the spectator seats. That was tiring.
I'm expecting a Gage Park LRT station during LRT Open House #2!
Note -- It was also mentioned that fewer residents (but still many) also suggested moving Scott Park to Gage Rd too as well (callout to DC83). The City may only choose one of the two (Gage Rd instead of both Scott Park/Gage Rd and Delta), while two stops are needed between Sherman and Ottawa to keep LRT station spacing within the recommended guidelines -- otherwise stops are more than 1km apart for three consecutive stops! Besides, the Delta curve is a perfect place for a near-zero-service-slowdown stop due to a PSO speed restriction at the curve, while Gage Rd can be a farside-platform-traffic-priority-optimized stop.
I'm the one who massively raised local awareness with the article in a 10,000-circulation newspaper (The Sherman Hub newspaper, award-winning community newspaper as one of the best in all of Province of Ontario) -- it got prime back cover placement -- causing people to "overload" the add station discussion LRT open houses with pleas for the Gage Park Station. This subsequently got noticed by CBC and TheSpec (mentions of Gage Park LRT station demand), adding even more feedback by residents to add the station (feedback count massively increased on the 2nd and 3rd days of LRT Open Houses, caused by readers of CBC/TheSpec who attended subsequent Open Houses).
Chaos Theory, my article was the butterfly! (And also my presentation at City Hall at the last LRT sub-committee). The city has now confirmed they are working to add back the Gage Park LRT station. A shocking number of people didn't know there was no Gage Park station, but CBC/TheSpec informed the entire city as a result of the early buzz caused by my initial article.
Certainly, there would still have been demand without it, but I've received word (including from city employees) that my involvements clearly massively amplified this. And a lot of people helped in this too, I just only helped the snowball rolling.
I also want to thank the nearly 20 pro-LRT delegations who braved the 11.5 hour City Hall meeting to give a 5-minute speech. And everyone in the spectator seats. That was tiring.
I'm expecting a Gage Park LRT station during LRT Open House #2!
Note -- It was also mentioned that fewer residents (but still many) also suggested moving Scott Park to Gage Rd too as well (callout to DC83). The City may only choose one of the two (Gage Rd instead of both Scott Park/Gage Rd and Delta), while two stops are needed between Sherman and Ottawa to keep LRT station spacing within the recommended guidelines -- otherwise stops are more than 1km apart for three consecutive stops! Besides, the Delta curve is a perfect place for a near-zero-service-slowdown stop due to a PSO speed restriction at the curve, while Gage Rd can be a farside-platform-traffic-priority-optimized stop.
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denfromoakvillemilton
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Awesome! This is great lol.
WislaHD
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Looking good Mark!
These are exciting times we live in, an LRT coming to Hamilton!
These are exciting times we live in, an LRT coming to Hamilton!
DonValleyRainbow
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Way to go Mark! It's amazing the charge you have led on this one. Keep it up!
I also heard through Twitter at the meeting that you intended to speak, but the City didn't fund an ASL translator. Is this an ongoing challenge at Hamilton City Hall for you? I would hope that they would have accommodations more readily in place, whether it was an ASL translator or some other technological solution. Especially if you are so heavily involved in this and other future city initiatives!
mdrejhon
Senior Member
(For those not aware, I am a deafie)
To be clear, transcription interpretor (court reporter stenographer) who can go ~200WPM. I use text rather than ASL.
My ward city councillor raised a motion to always provide transcription for LRT subcommiteee meetings. Unfortunately, this was a special GIC, not the subcommittee, so both Plan A (transcriber) and Plan B (spouse had medical emergency) simultaneously failed! Matthew Green shared pizza with me in a brief atrium break at 830pm and promised me it would not happen again. I do not desire pity, and was still excited to see the #yesLRT support.
But that is beside the point. My brief statement presentation was not the most important one, but the #yesLRT visibility efforts were a huge success.
christiesplits
Senior Member
Thanks for attending, Mark. I noticed a few familiar faces - Hamilton is so small! I caught just the beginning of the public speakers on Joey Coleman's feed. I chuckled when the woman from the mountain spoke about the 20-something "latte sipping elites" who live downtown who will be caught in traffic when they get older and live on the Mountain with kids. Apparently there are no families living in The Delta, Stinson or Durand .
I'm concerned to hear that in the 100 or so public questionnaires submitted during the info sessions that it was nearly split in people supporting or opposing the LRT; I would not be surprised if there was a concerted effort by opponents to 'stuff the ballots.'
There is still a lot of work to be done in gaining the support of the suburbs. I frequent a Mountain Timmies at lunch and I hear the chatter from the customers - "It's a boondoggle," "It's a waste of money," "It will make it a pain to drive."
.I'm concerned to hear that in the 100 or so public questionnaires submitted during the info sessions that it was nearly split in people supporting or opposing the LRT; I would not be surprised if there was a concerted effort by opponents to 'stuff the ballots.'
There is still a lot of work to be done in gaining the support of the suburbs. I frequent a Mountain Timmies at lunch and I hear the chatter from the customers - "It's a boondoggle," "It's a waste of money," "It will make it a pain to drive."
drum118
Superstar