kEiThZ
Superstar
I am really impressed with Mississauga. They are really showing some serious maturity and foresight. What a contrast with their past....and with Brampton.
The real hilarity starts when this thing goes into service and Mississauga becomes a more attractive destination for residents and business as Brampton starts falling further behind and they wonder why.
The real hilarity starts when this thing goes into service and Mississauga becomes a more attractive destination for residents and business as Brampton starts falling further behind and they wonder why.
Tuscani01
Senior Member
I've said it before and I'll say it again.
Mississauga benefits from being completely overshadowed by Toronto. If most of Mississauga actually knew about the LRT plan, there would be a huge fight against it. The lack of media in Mississauga means that this can sail right through to construction without the opposition having a platform to spread untruths and stoke fears.
At the same time, those who do know about the plan and are well informed of what is happening in Mississauga are showing up to public meetings and are excited for these plans, giving Councillors the impression that there is very little opposition. I think we will start seeing the immaturity come out once shovels hit the ground and people in Mississauga finally notice what is happening.
I guess there is a benefit to having no daily paper or TV stations afterall.
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
And a benefit of this I guess is that once the HuLRT is up and running, lots of people will in a sense be forced to see the merits of LRT, which hopefully opens the door to future LRT projects in Mississauga.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
How do you explain the fight against LRT in Brampton?
Tuscani01
Senior Member
There's a lot wrong with Brampton beyond the LRT vote. That council has more blood on its hands than just the LRT decision. It's quite a dysfunctional group.
In Brampton's case, council went against what the majority wanted - as evidenced through countless public consultations where supporters far outnumbered those against.
Brampton is the opposite of Mississauga. The lack of media attention there means their council gets away with everything.
Rainforest
Senior Member
That's an interesting and elaborate theory; but more often than not, the simplest explanation is the right one.
There is no opposition to Hurontario LRT, because it is being planned in the right place, and with the right stop spacing.
We can compare it to Eglinton LRT in Toronto; lots of coverage, and still no opposition.
Allandale25
Senior Member
Unlike the Eglinton LRT, most of the HMLRT or HuLRT wasn't proposed to be underground in the denser urban areas. Further, the Crosstown has a large portion in Scarborough running in the centre of the boulevard which was easy because the ROW was wide enough to handle it.
Brampton is more challenging because of the size of the ROWs. So I don't think it's really fair to compare the two. Further, the original Crosstown LRT was supposed to go to Sheppard in Scarborough. There was some opposition, politicians ran with it, and now we're getting a one-stop subway. So again, I don't think an easy comparison can be made that there was "no opposition" to the Crosstown project.
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Tuscani01
Senior Member
No opposition? It would have been up and running already if that were the case. The project was on hold for some time and nearly canceled under Ford, not to mention the Province also pulled and delayed funding. A good portion of the planned route was also cut, so we are getting a trimmed line similar to the HuLRT. This was all enabled by the anti-LRT backlash. The only thing that saved it was the fact that a good portion of it is underground.
Edit: Just noticed @Allandale25 said pretty much the same thing.
Allandale25
Senior Member
Also, I seem to recall (with the risk of going off topic), that some internal folks wanted to use non-LRT technology for Crosstown. Again, this just shows that the notion of "no opposition" or Crosstown have an easy ride, is problematic.
aquateam
Active Member
SKYTRAINNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hopkins123
Senior Member
I concur. Lots of people are still mightily pissed off that the Eglinton East right-of-way of the Crosstown is not going to be grade-separated despite the fact that it would have been very feasible to do so.
Karen Stintz and John Parker aren't even in politics anymore, why we're sticking rigidly to their plan is ridiculous.
Hopkins123
Senior Member
Brampton just wants the line tunnelled (roughly for a 1 kilometre stretch) through their downtown core where the roads are incredibly narrow and congested. Is that too much to ask? I don't see how they're really being anymore difficult or unreasonable than other jurisdictions. Even further down the line HuLRT is going to be tunnelled through Port Credit now.
Voltz
Senior Member
Who are these lots of people, besides yourself?
Allandale25
Senior Member
Some might argue that the high cost of the tunnel could result in fewer dollars to expand the network more in Brampton. Also, there might be complexities given the water situation. Plus, if some in the downtown core were concerned about construction impacts and that was one of the reasons some Councillors said no, imagine how they'd react to cut and cover construction?