London Rapid Transit (In-Design)

[SaugeenJunction]

Update on LRT through Western. The university has narrowed the alignments down to two options as seen below, and has launched a website dedicated for RT running through Western: http://www.uwo.ca/ipb/publicaccountability/rapid_transit.html

All Western students also received the following email:

The City of London is proposing a rapid transit system featuring light rail and buses that is intended to help the city prosper and grow. There is currently an environmental assessment underway.

The City has identified four key corridors for rapid transit. The route that would serve the Western campus is a northern branch from downtown to Masonville Place. The plan proposes having a light rail transit line go through Western’s campus and suggests two possible routes. The University is a strong supporter of rapid transit and its benefits to Western and the City, but it is important to understand the potential impact of having a rail line run through campus on all activities on campus, including academia, research and leisure.

With this in mind, Western is undertaking an extensive process of consultation with the campus community to enable students, faculty, staff and alumni to voice their opinions.

The Western community’s feedback is important and there are two ways in which you can share your thoughts:

You can comment in writing to transit@uwo.ca by February 29, 2016.

You can attend a Campus Community Meeting. These will be held on two dates:
Tuesday, February 23 at 10am in UCC 315 – Council Chambers
Wednesday, February 24 at 1pm in UCC 290 – McKellar Room

I invite you to visit Western’s Rapid Transit page to learn more:
http://www.uwo.ca/ipb/publicaccountability/rapid_transit.html

Sincerely,
Gitta Kulczycki

Vice-President (Resources & Operations)
Western University

I will attend the Campus Community Meetings and post any relevant materials. I will also advocate for an LRT through our campus - It would be a game changer for Western. Traffic in London during rush hour is absolutely awful. Also we get free transit as students, which is great.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

The route (Elgin Dr) that goes by the majority of buildings on campus seems like a nobrainer.

 

[kEiThZ]

I'm curious. Has the province agreed to pay for London's LRT and BRT? How do they plan on funding this?

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

I'm curious. Has the province agreed to pay for London's LRT and BRT? How do they plan on funding this?

Individually, they will probably find funding for London somewhere in their transit budget.

But generally, that budget may as well be called debt.

 

[kEiThZ]

Has the province actually committed to funding the first phase?

 

[gweed123]

Has the province actually committed to funding the first phase?

Not officially I believe, but if you look at the "outside of GTHA" infrastructure pot, you'd have a hard time hitting $14 billion with the projects that are currently on the books.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Here is a render I dug up of the proposed University Drive bridge widening. It also gives you some context of how LRT will enter Western's campus (looking West).

 

[crs1026]

An LRT running right by Saugeen Maitland? Good grief - if anyone had suggested that back when I lived there, I would have asked them where they got such good stuff.

The routings selected appear to bypass the Health Sciences Center. That's a huge mistake. The interests of the students and the interests of the public who come onto the UWO campus, should be balanced. Asking the students to make the decision is a disservice to the broader Western community and stakeholders, in my view....and I'm an alumnus even.

- Paul

 

[AlbertHWagstaff]

An LRT running right by Saugeen Maitland? Good grief - if anyone had suggested that back when I lived there, I would have asked them where they got such good stuff.

The routings selected appear to bypass the Health Sciences Center. That's a huge mistake. The interests of the students and the interests of the public who come onto the UWO campus, should be balanced. Asking the students to make the decision is a disservice to the broader Western community and stakeholders, in my view....and I'm an alumnus even.

- Paul

Asking today's students about something that won't be in place until after the majority of them are long gone seems kind of a folly. What do they care? It won't be any help to them. It's like when the media were asking York University students what they thought of the subway going there back in 2006. The subway is supposed to open in 2017. I doubt that many of those 2006 students will still be at York in 2017.

Input is fine but the decision should be made in a greater context as Paul suggests.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Asking today's students about something that won't be in place until after the majority of them are long gone seems kind of a folly. What do they care? It won't be any help to them. It's like when the media were asking York University students what they thought of the subway going there back in 2006. The subway is supposed to open in 2017. I doubt that many of those 2006 students will still be at York in 2017.

Input is fine but the decision should be made in a greater context as Paul suggests.

I honestly think the University is just having these workshops for "transparency", so they can say "we consulted you guys!!". At the end of the day I think that the administration will make the final call, and selectively use student input when it suits them. I think its better that way.

 

[Duck]

I honestly think the University is just having these workshops for "transparency", so they can say "we consulted you guys!!". At the end of the day I think that the administration will make the final call, and selectively use student input when it suits them. I think its better that way.

I feel like that is exactly what happened in Kitchener/Waterloo, too. I went to a lot of the open houses and public meetings (and there were a lot of them), and while everyone was friendly and very receptive, a lot of the meetings definitely had a feeling of "Well, that's nice, but we already made up our mind" to them.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Today was Western University's last "public" meeting/presentation on LRT through campus. I have posted the most relevant slides. Unfortunately I could not find the presentation online, so sorry for the quality.

First up was a summary of the SHIFT Rapid Transit plan London wants to implement:

We then dove into Western Campus-specific stuff, for LRT alignment:

Evidently electro-magnetic interference is of huge concern for the University. As a school with lots of research, thus lots of research equipment, there is a big concern about this. The feeling I got is that an LRT route past Natural Science (research heavy area) on Elgin Drive will not happen, due to these concerns. EM interference was mentioned over and over during the presentation.

These are the two routes that the city of London is "allowing" Western to choose from (again, sorry for the quality):

The university has hired Parsons to do a traffic study of the campus:

This is a recommendation that Parsons made to both allow LRT on campus, and remove car traffic from campus. When you weigh the concerns of the Western administration, and the goal of having a car-free campus in 10 years, it actually seems like a great compromise. Remember, Western is more conservative than other Universities, and "fast change" is a hard sell.

At the end of the 2 hour presentation, the people from SHIFT distributed an "LRT Lookbook" highlighting LRTs through the world, and even had a specific section dedicated to University campuses. I thought this was brilliant.

Overall I'm optimistic about RT (hopefully LRT) through Western. With a student + faculty population of over 40,000 we need to get this right. I am concerned about the sentiment of those who want LRT to go TO campus and not THROUGH it. I am considering starting up a student advocacy group to ensure that the proper route is chosen.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Also, published today in the London Free Press:
Light rail divides Western University officials and students

Gives you a sense of growing divisions regarding LRT at Western.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

I think starting up a student advocacy group is a great idea. Go for it.

 

[salsa]

Overall I'm optimistic about RT (hopefully LRT) through Western. With a student + faculty population of over 40,000 we need to get this right. I am concerned about the sentiment of those who want LRT to go TO campus and not THROUGH it. I am considering starting up a student advocacy group to ensure that the proper route is chosen.

Thank you for your passionate and well-informed involvement in the transit planning process. If an advocacy group is what it takes to ensure that the best option prevails, then go for it .