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

See TheSpec.com article on the LRT announcement. Scroll down to the comments -- the commentators are going abuzz with rapidly upvoting and downvoting comments from what looks like multiple lurkers from both sides watching the boards. The anti LRT people have their arms up in the air and trying to spread FUD and lies. I've never seen TheSpec comment boards going this abuzz in such a short time period, for an LRT-related article.

Whether you're pro-LRT or anti-LRT, urbantorontoers are a more logical lot than the commentators there.

www.thespec.com/news-story/5643988-update-wynne-promises-1-billion-for-hamilton-lrt-go-transit/
 
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mdrejhon said:
See TheSpec.com article on the LRT announcement. Scroll down to the comments -- the commentators are going abuzz with rapidly upvoting and downvoting comments from what looks like multiple lurkers from both sides watching the boards. The anti LRT people have their arms up in the air and trying to spread FUD and lies. I've never seen TheSpec comment boards going this abuzz in such a short time period, for an LRT-related article.

Whether you're pro-LRT or anti-LRT, urbantorontoers are a more logical lot than the commentators there.

www.thespec.com/news-story/5643988-update-wynne-promises-1-billion-for-hamilton-lrt-go-transit/
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Why would anyone from Hamilton be anti-LRT, given that the province is paying for it?
 
gweed123 said:
You could ask the same thing about Scarborough...
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Yeah, see how well that's gone. Opening bumped many times, from 2012 to now procurement won't start until the 2020s.

Seems like a nice idea in Hamilton, but given that political climate there, I doubt this will be built on the schedule that came out today.
 
Is there a map available of the new funded route? Would the spur to the GO station need to go through an Environmental Project Report?
 
ehlow said:
Why would anyone from Hamilton be anti-LRT, given that the province is paying for it?
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Currently, the downvoters are winning. (There were a lot of upvoters earlier today). There's plenty enough LRT haters in the Mountain area to sabotage things for the Lower City. But hopefully we can announce a good BRT expansion for the rest, for a little appeasement...
 
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nfitz said:
Yeah, see how well that's gone. Opening bumped many times, from 2012 to now procurement won't start until the 2020s.

Seems like a nice idea in Hamilton, but given that political climate there, I doubt this will be built on the schedule that came out today.
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Does anyone know what the position of the NDP was on the Hamilton LRT in the last election? Did it even come up? Just wondering if it would be safe from the axe if an NDP government came into power in 3 years. The PC plan, unless there's a radical change in course (and given who they just chose as their leader, that's unlikely), would likely be to scrap it.

Given that this project is now 100% funded by the Province, I don't think the anti-LRT faction on Hamilton Council has as much ground for opposition now, since the construction cost is no longer their concern.
 
ehlow said:
But... Scarborough was about whether to build using subway tech or LRT. Do Hamiltonians who are against an LRT want a subway instead or something?
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Hamilton anti-LRT people want a BRT network instead. This is much needed in concurrency, but isn't mutually exclusive to the idea turning Hamilton's main east-west bus route into an LRT.

Fortunately, Hamilton, on average, has been more pro-LRT than anti-LRT.
Although support has wavered, but not lower than Scarborough.
The Hamilton political climate is challenging, but not nearly as much as the Rob Ford era nor Scarborough.

Scarborough approved a subway in 2005, only to flip flop multiple times. Hamilton hasn't even flip flopped or wavered even remotely nearly as much as that over the last decade! Hamilton started talking about the LRT "idea" in 2007. Our city council is a token box of piranhas sometimes, but look at Toronto/Scarborough, it's a massive tank of sharks in feeding frenzy in comparison.
 
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gweed123 said:
You could ask the same thing about Scarborough...
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Because Miller's proposals were extremely poorly thought out. You have the most expensive LRT line in the world on Eglinton where it would have made far more sense to put an actual subway, and you have 2 proposals (Sheppard and Scarborough LRT) that are logical extensions of existing subway lines that force people to transfer. Not surprisingly people hate this and we end up with 4 years of a crack addict mayor. At least the province manages to save face by putting LRT lines (Hurontario and Hamilton) in the 905 where there is more political support for LRT and where we are far less likely to need light rail pushers to push people into crush loaded LRVs than Eglinton.
 
mdrejhon said:
Hamilton anti-LRT people want a BRT network instead. This is much needed in concurrency, but isn't mutually exclusive to the idea turning Hamilton's main east-west bus route into an LRT.

Fortunately, Hamilton, on average, has been more pro-LRT than anti-LRT.
Although support has wavered, but not lower than Scarborough.
The Hamilton political climate is challenging, but not nearly as much as the Rob Ford era nor Scarborough.

Scarborough approved a subway in 2005, only to flip flop multiple times. Hamilton hasn't even flip flopped or wavered even remotely nearly as much as that over the last decade! Hamilton started talking about the LRT "idea" in 2007. Our city council is a token box of piranhas sometimes, but look at Toronto/Scarborough, it's a massive tank of sharks in feeding frenzy in comparison.
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I'm sorry.. I understand wanting a subway instead of LRT in Scarborough, but I don't understand wanting a BRT instead of LRT in Hamilton. Especially if the province is paying 100%.. Why? A BRT is the same thing as LRT except the vehicles have tires and are not as long.. it still takes a lane of the road. It seems like a downgrade in almost every way.
 
gweed123 said:
Does anyone know what the position of the NDP was on the Hamilton LRT in the last election?
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They were strongly in support of it, and many of the activists who spearheaded the pro-LRT movement have NDP ties, or at the very least, sympathies.
 
JasonParis said:
I'm eagerly awaiting on a map here too.
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Speaking of maps, wouldn't it be nice to have one Google Map (Google Earth Map) with all of the transit investments shown in Ontario. I know there was something like this done for Scarborough during the debate...
 
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