Hamilton Hamilton Line B LRT | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx

[TheTigerMaster]

Mr. Byford had a meeting with provincial officials regarding Waterfront West LRT. Hopefully we'll see something about that soon.

Waterfront West, or East Bayfront?

If it's Waterfront West, that would be completely unexpected, but a nice surprise.

I was talking about the Waterfront West LRT. Mr. Byford met with provincial officials in the summer to discuss the project:

The proposed route includes the East Bayfront LRT, which was dangled as a possibility in the province’s last budget but remains far from certain. And it adds the Waterfront West LRT, which last saw the light of day as part of the Transit City plan championed by former mayor David Miller.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/city-leaders-push-for-waterfront-lrt/article20269853/

Regarding East Bayfront LRT, didn't the Liberals commit to funding that during the election campaign? Or was that another eastern LRT/streetcar line?

 

[nfitz]

Regarding East Bayfront LRT, didn't the Liberals commit to funding that during the election campaign? Or was that another eastern LRT/streetcar line?

It was highlighted during the 2014 budget, which lead to the government falling.

After the election, it was again mentioned in the 2014 budget.

 

[mdrejhon]

With the talk of the province wanting to integrate the LRT with GO services... why not make the B-Line LRT turn left at Eastgate, go for 1.5 extra kilometers, and connect with Confederation GO station as its western terminus?

See Conferederation GO related construction photos -- the first step is that the underpass is being rebuilt over Centennial Parkway. Metrolinx now owns the land that will be used for the bus loop and parking lot.

Ideally, I'd like the A-Line too, so both of Hamilton's two future GO stations are connected to Hamilton's LRT network. But why terminate at Eastgate when you could build the LRT just a mere 1.5km north to connect to Hamilton's future second GO station? It seems that it would make a lot of sense for incoming and outgoing transfer traffic -- since the terminus of half-hourly GO service will almost certainly be located at Confederation by then.

Some disused Hamilton industrial lands are apparently for sale. If the industrial waterfront gets "more interesting" over the next 30 years, and the GO electricification eventually arrives to Hamilton -- by even a partial version of a Pittsburgh-style overhaul (as the city eventually wakes up on that, due to the mini condo boom and finally starting B-Line), we'd even someday warrant an infill RER station between JamesNorth and Confederation! We'd then now have two east-west rail-based public transit corridors, serving residential, tourist, and business, with B-Line, A-Line and GO RER forming a transit loop in the Lower City. The decision to do a B-Line LRT hard-left on Centennial Parkway from Eastgate towards Confederation Station may end up becoming an important transit decision for our kids tomorrow, even if not necessarily in the lifetimes of ourselves.

 

[WislaHD]

Excited for the news from the province.

I would be stoked if WWLRT gets full funding. Probably the line I look forward to most after the Crosstown.

 

[Rainforest]

Excited for the news from the province.

I would be stoked if WWLRT gets full funding. Probably the line I look forward to most after the Crosstown.

I don't mind WWLRT getting funded.

However, wouldn't it be more logical to start with restoring the funding for lines whose funding was truncated?

I mean Eglinton to the airport, and Finch West from Keele to Yonge.

 

[mdrejhon]

I mean Eglinton to the airport

I am now more in favour of ECLRT to Square One (in favour of chopping the Eglinton SmartTrack spur), and a large discount on using UPX from the future Mt. Dennis mobility hub. The big cost savings from cancelling an underground SmartTrack spur (it'll probably need to be at least 50% trenched and 50% underground due to the pesky Dennis curve and Eglinton ROW limitations), is probably a cost of several billion dollars just for the Eglinton spur alone, and could potentially fully pay for instead extending ECLRT to Square One.

However, if we keep the Eglinton spur for SmartTrack, I would say, go ahead and direct ECLRT to the airport.

Back closer on topic, there's some tidbit of good news: Metrolinx posted an advertisement in today's Toronto Metro newspaper that included mentioning that Hamilton JamesNorth GO will open this summer, as planned.

 

[smably]

Some smart commentary on the Hamilton LRT situation from Raise the Hammer: http://raisethehammer.org/article/2477/mayor_premier_out_of_sync_on_rapid_transit_funding_commitment

There are a few possible explanations for the discrepancy between their statements:

1. Mayor Eisenberger and Chris Murray are wrong, and Premier Wynne and Minister Del Duca did not actually commit to full capital funding for LRT.

2. Premier Wynne and the Ontario Government are sowing uncertainty about LRT funding in the hopes that Hamilton's leaders lose their nerve and the LRT plan collapses.

3. Premier Wynne knows that Mayor Eisenberger wants to establish a citizens' jury, and she doesn't want to be perceived as prejudicing the city in favour of a particular option (i.e. LRT).

 

[mrxbombastic]

Some smart commentary on the Hamilton LRT situation from Raise the Hammer

Definitely broadened my understanding of the complex issue of this LRT. Interesting to consider how close (or distant) the province is willing to get to this project given they seem to want to be neutral actors solely dispensing money to whatever RT Hamilton eventually builds with the expectation, though not requirement, that it will be LRT

 

[DC83]

Council has just upped our LRT request to the Province from $800 Mil. to $1.1 Bil. by tagging on a $300 Mil request for new buses and a ($200 Mil.) Bus Maintenance Facility.

Sounds like Staff are on board with this LRT-Sabotage. You're welcome, Mississauga.

 

[christiesplits]

As a new resident of Hamilton I am baffled by the city's inaction of the LRT front. Outside of the three downtown councilors there is absolutely no leadership at City Hall. The window was open, the money was there, and the city dithered. What a shame.

 

[aquateam]

I am now more in favour of ECLRT to Square One (in favour of chopping the Eglinton SmartTrack spur), and a large discount on using UPX from the future Mt. Dennis mobility hub. The big cost savings from cancelling an underground SmartTrack spur (it'll probably need to be at least 50% trenched and 50% underground due to the pesky Dennis curve and Eglinton ROW limitations), is probably a cost of several billion dollars just for the Eglinton spur alone, and could potentially fully pay for instead extending ECLRT to Square One.

If we can pay for transit by cutting off the implausible segments of unfunded fantasy lines then Wynne should be able to fund the entire Big Move without any revenue tools.

 

[mrxbombastic]

Hamilton LRT recieves funding as the last piece of the $16 Billion in the current Moving Ontario Foreward funding package. This was indicated in the 2015 Budget see here for graph below http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2015/ch1b.html#ch1b_3

 

[Markster]

The specific Hamilton quotes:

Unlocking the value of certain government assets will allow us to
[...] accelerate service enhancements
on the GO Transit network, laying the foundation for Regional Express Rail. It will
also allow us to enhance regional mobility by investing in new transit projects in
Mississauga, Brampton and Hamilton.

As part of the establishment of dedicated funds outlined in the 2014 Budget,
the government announced an asset optimization target of $3.1 billion. In this
Budget, the government is announcing that it is revising its asset optimization
target to $5.7 billion —a $2.6 billion increase over the 2014 Budget projection.
This increase will help support the Province to:
[...]
> Enhance regional mobility by investing in Metrolinx’s Next Wave projects
of The Big Move, such as the Hurontario–Main Light Rail Transit project in
Mississauga and Brampton, and rapid transit in Hamilton.

In addition to RER, the Province will work with related municipalities to move
towards implementation of the Hurontario–Main Light Rail Transit project in
Mississauga and Brampton, and rapid transit in Hamilton. These projects will help
improve regional mobility and can connect to the GO Transit network.

Note that it carefully says "rapid transit" while Hamilton dithers on implementation.

There are no numbers attached, merely a commitment to commit to something. However, by mentioning Hamilton in the same breath as Mississauga, it certainly makes it look like they would get the same 100% deal.

 

[mrxbombastic]

Of course its not certain it will be LRT, perhaps i should have been more careful there, but with Eisenberger at the wheel trying to rally support for it, it seems likely.

Given that it is in the same $16 Billion Pot. 16B:13.5B (RER), 1.6B HMLRT, and 800M for Hamilton RT. Then 900 Million left over from RER and HMLRT seems like the perfect amount to allocate to Hamilton and other small project changes and improvements

 

[minilude]

Check out del duca's twitter, yes Hamilton is getting the last piece. Ontario gov is really pro-LRT lol