doady said:
The escarpment is a major physical barrier, for both cars, transit, cycling, etc. This might sound crazy but maybe a subway along James Street to Upper James Street would be best. If could be modeled after MUNI Metro, and the lines diverge to serve multiple corridors on Hamilton Mountain as surface light rail.
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Wasn't there a funicular operating on that section at one point? I don't think a regular subway train could handle the incline.
 
mpd618 said:
Wasn't there a funicular operating on that section at one point? I don't think a regular subway train could handle the incline.
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Hamilton had two funiculars: at James Street and at Wentworth Street. The roadways up the escarpment with bus service sunk them both. This is why I think my idea of a trolley bus tunnel is actually much more feasible and fiscially sensible than a LRT subway. For rail you would pretty much have to elevate the sucker through Downtown Hamilton.
 
ShonTron said:
Hamilton had two funiculars: at James Street and at Wentworth Street. The roadways up the escarpment with bus service sunk them both. This is why I think my idea of a trolley bus tunnel is actually much more feasible and fiscially sensible than a LRT subway. For rail you would pretty much have to elevate the sucker through Downtown Hamilton.
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Why not do a gondola? If the purpose is to connect Upper James with the B-Line LRT and the GO station, I would think a gondola would be the perfect technology to handle the escarpment. It would also be the easiest way to elevate through downtown.
 
Think it's rather ironic that Hamilton with a population of roughly 500 000 residents does not qualify for LRT service according to some. Meanwhile here in Toronto we point to cities such as Portland (population ~ 600 000), Cincinnati (population ~ 300 000), Minneapolis (population ~400 000), and Calgary (population ~ 1 000 000) as examples of reasons why we MUST build LRT in Toronto (population ~ 2 600 000). Where is there more similarity?/?
 
Woodbridge_Heights said:
Think it's rather ironic that Hamilton with a population of roughly 500 000 residents does not qualify for LRT service according to some. Meanwhile here in Toronto we point to cities such as Portland (population ~ 600 000), Cincinnati (population ~ 300 000), Minneapolis (population ~400 000), and Calgary (population ~ 1 000 000) as examples of reasons why we MUST build LRT in Toronto (population ~ 2 600 000). Where is there more similarity?/?
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Perhaps the people pointing at those cities as examples are not the same people questioning LRT in Hamilton ;) Isn't democracy wonderful?!?!
 
Woodbridge_Heights said:
Think it's rather ironic that Hamilton with a population of roughly 500 000 residents does not qualify for LRT service according to some. Meanwhile here in Toronto we point to cities such as Portland (population ~ 600 000), Cincinnati (population ~ 300 000), Minneapolis (population ~400 000), and Calgary (population ~ 1 000 000) as examples of reasons why we MUST build LRT in Toronto (population ~ 2 600 000). Where is there more similarity?/?
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No, the east-west LRT from Eastgate to Dundas (where I'd end it) is entirely reasonable and a great thing. This side discussion is how best to service the Mountain, with its non-linear trip generators and spread-out post-war urban form. There definitely needs to be a way of figuring out how to provide it - I don't think LRT is necessarily the best option for that. I think an open (t)BRT might be actually the best option to serve the Mountain from Downtown. I also think a streetcar circulator isn't a bad idea either to serve the second Hamilton GO station and the waterfront.
 
Woodbridge_Heights said:
Think it's rather ironic that Hamilton with a population of roughly 500 000 residents does not qualify for LRT service according to some. Meanwhile here in Toronto we point to cities such as Portland (population ~ 600 000), Cincinnati (population ~ 300 000), Minneapolis (population ~400 000), and Calgary (population ~ 1 000 000) as examples of reasons why we MUST build LRT in Toronto (population ~ 2 600 000). Where is there more similarity?/?
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City boundary definitions are different in the states, like Toronto pre-amalgamation. All the US cities you've listed have over 1 million people in their metropolitan areas.
 
the first come first serve basis thing sounds a bit miscommunicated.. Its not like they will only fund projects that are ready to go (I.E. DRL, ah, you haven't done your EA yet? Too Bad! HAHA!), but rather the projects that are ready to go will get funding first as they can go up fastest. I.E. the first thing to start construction would be the Hurontario LRT as it is essentially contract ready. All it is saying is that they are not going to be delaying the Hurontario LRT funding until year 5 of the funding or something. You may see a 2 year phased opening of the LRT with the section south of Steeles opening in 2017 or 2018 and the northern section opening a year or two later, but its not like they will be handing out funding to which city can schedule a meeting with Glen Murray first.
 
gweed123 said:
Why not do a gondola? If the purpose is to connect Upper James with the B-Line LRT and the GO station, I would think a gondola would be the perfect technology to handle the escarpment. It would also be the easiest way to elevate through downtown.
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The problem with a gondola, apart from the fact that it's a needless introduction of a gadgetbahn, is that it forces a transfer on both ends. In Vancouver, crush-loaded articulated buses climb the 300 meter vertical of Burnaby mountain every day to serve students at SFU. I think a high frequency bus up the Claremont Access road will be enough for North-south transit in Hamilton for the forseeable future.
 
I've been reading up on this a bit. If I understand correctly: James North GO station will be the new main GO station in Hamilton, correct? This is because the tracks are better and will allow more service, right?

Yet, this LRT does not connect to that GO station, it seems to be about 1km away... That doesn't seem great to me.
 
ehlow said:
I've been reading up on this a bit. If I understand correctly: James North GO station will be the new main GO station in Hamilton, correct? This is because the tracks are better and will allow more service, right?

Yet, this LRT does not connect to that GO station, it seems to be about 1km away... That doesn't seem great to me.
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As I understand it, the James Street North station will only have 2 or 3 departures to start, and be built as a stub-end terminal. (Even though through tracks would allow trains to stop there on way to Stoney Creek, Grimsby, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.)

There are currently four trains a day from the TH&B Hamilton GO Centre. Plus that's where the route 16 and 47 buses terminate as well as where Greyhound and Coach Canada stop, though I could see Route 16 divert to serve James Street South and get to 403 via York Blvd. The current GO Centre will still be the main GO station for some time, at least until GO operates regular commuter train service towards Niagara.
 
I might be confused but THIS document seems to indicate that the James St. North building won't actually be used as the station. It will instead be across the street in a newly constructed pavillion. Can anyone shed some light on this?
 
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