TheHonestMaple
Active Member
I thought Metrolinx was going to release updated design drawings this month, does anyone know anything about that?
- Thread starter Kiwi
- Start date
DC83
Senior Member
Some good news for rapid transit in Hamilton; Starting next month (Sep 2023) both A-Line & B-Line Express bus routes will run seven days a week (finally getting Sunday service!).
One big change is the streamlining of the A-Line route, which will no longer travel north along John, but will instead stick to James Street. It’s stop at Frank Cooke DowntownTerminal has been eliminated, replaced with a stop at King & James.
The old A-Line route was very slow downtown, and around Mohawk College, so this is a welcome change!
OLD ROUTE
NEW ROUTE
More info on other HSR changes, specifically lower Stoney Creek, can be found here:
www.hamilton.ca
One big change is the streamlining of the A-Line route, which will no longer travel north along John, but will instead stick to James Street. It’s stop at Frank Cooke DowntownTerminal has been eliminated, replaced with a stop at King & James.
The old A-Line route was very slow downtown, and around Mohawk College, so this is a welcome change!
OLD ROUTE
NEW ROUTE
More info on other HSR changes, specifically lower Stoney Creek, can be found here:
Bus News Fall 2023 | City of Hamilton
Beginning Sunday, September 3rd, 2023 HSR is implementing service improvements as part of year seven of the City of Hamilton’s Ten-Year Local Transit Strategy, including a $0.10 increase on PRESTO fares and a $0.25 increase on cash fares that will go into effect on Friday, September 1st, 2023.
www.hamilton.ca
wopchop
Building Toronto
It really depends on what you a building. Field labour is a big cost for sure, but it is not all the cost.
The construction unions all negotiated wage increases in this past year, ranging from 6-10% over multiple years (generally three). That seems high, but that is below the average level of inflation, and certainly below the level of material cost inflation we have experienced due to fuel, steel, concrete, etc.
Jonny5
Senior Member
More info on other HSR changes, specifically lower Stoney Creek, can be found here:
Bus News Fall 2023 | City of Hamilton
Beginning Sunday, September 3rd, 2023 HSR is implementing service improvements as part of year seven of the City of Hamilton’s Ten-Year Local Transit Strategy, including a $0.10 increase on PRESTO fares and a $0.25 increase on cash fares that will go into effect on Friday, September 1st, 2023.
As someone who grew up in the far west of Hamilton, I recall always wondering what was this mysterious Fiesta Mall that the bus went to.
I assumed it was some large mall complex like Limeridge or Jackson Square, but then one day we finally drove by it, for whatever reason we would be all the way out there I don't remember, and I discovered it was just a grocery store and a Shoppers Drug Mart, and maybe a bank branch or something, but there was nothing mall about it. I felt betrayed!
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Sunnyside
Active Member
Good QOL change. The A Line should be able to generate a lot more ridership than it does currently with this. Likewise, ending the 41A should make the western end far more useful, especially given that the frequencies on the entire 41 aren’t too high to begin with. The sentiment at HSR has been that things are finally changing, no more of essentially the same old services for years now. And I love that the mapping has been updated (I think it’s a member of this forum doing them?!). Looks quite clean to match the new energy bubbling forward.Some good news for rapid transit in Hamilton; Starting next month (Sep 2023) both A-Line & B-Line Express bus routes will run seven days a week (finally getting Sunday service!).
One big change is the streamlining of the A-Line route, which will no longer travel north along John, but will instead stick to James Street. It’s stop at Frank Cooke DowntownTerminal has been eliminated, replaced with a stop at King & James.
The old A-Line route was very slow downtown, and around Mohawk College, so this is a welcome change!
OLD ROUTE
View attachment 501153
NEW ROUTE
View attachment 501154
More info on other HSR changes, specifically lower Stoney Creek, can be found here:
Bus News Fall 2023 | City of Hamilton
Beginning Sunday, September 3rd, 2023 HSR is implementing service improvements as part of year seven of the City of Hamilton’s Ten-Year Local Transit Strategy, including a $0.10 increase on PRESTO fares and a $0.25 increase on cash fares that will go into effect on Friday, September 1st, 2023.
Sunnyside
Active Member
Thank you for this. Seems to be a myriad of things raising costs then.
KevinT
Active Member
It originally had an indoor section with shops, a restaurant, and a bar that connected between two larger anchors, but that's been gone for a while now.
From Facebook:
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DC83
Senior Member
Retiring the 41-A is also huge. That means a Mohawk bus in/out of the Meadowlands every 15 mins vs every 30 mins.
Mohawk also needs an express bus in anticipation of the Re-Envision plans. Maybe next fare increase lol
I’m curious why they haven’t named the ‘select stops’ the 20 A Line will serve downtown, according to the city’s website “Route 20 will operate express in the lower city, serving select stops.”
Fiesta Mall was small, equivalent to Queenston Mall which stood at the S-E corner of Queenston & Nash before it was big-boxed.
That centre glass entrance was actually a ‘marquee’ for the movie theatre inside. It was very popular up until the early 2000s right before they tore up this mall.
That movie theatre replaced the drive-in theatre that stood on this spot before Fiesta Mall was built.
This land has been totally under-utilized pretty much it’s entire existence, so it will be nice to see a development like 200 Centennial Parkway around the corner:
Parkway Plaza Redevelopment (Stoney Creek) | UrbanToronto
Parkway Plaza Redevelopment (Stoney Creek), Toronto by 1, Chamberlain Architect Services Limited
The B-Line LRT will eventually extend here, and there’s already lots of intensification happening right across the street, so it’s only a matter of time before this big box blunder is gone!
Branden Simon
Active Member
DC83
Senior Member
Hmm, does it explain why the City built Enhanced Transit Shelters in front of its rural Mount Hope Offices rather than along the B Line route as intended?
The folks standing in the rain at the Queen Street B-Line stops are asking
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Chris R.
Senior Member
Received a response from City Staff:
Amare
Senior Member
So...~2035 completion then?
Chris R.
Senior Member
My optimistic timeline is:
Start: Q1 2025
Testing: 2029
Open: 2030
My pessimistic timeline (assuming it's not cancelled or changed significantly):
Start: Q4 2025 - Q1 2026
Testing: 2030/2031
Open: 2031/2032.
So I'd expect sooner than 2035, considering this is a moderately simple project compared to the Ontario Line or Crosstown. I generally take the completion deadline and add 12-24 months for a realistic completion date compared to other transit lines. Eglinton Crosstown is ridiculous because it's like 6 years late.
blaixx
Active Member
If we look at Waterloo's LRT as a comparable, here's how it went.
Utility relocation: late 2013
Financial close: May 2014
Groundbreaking: August 2014
"90% completion": End of 2016
Open to the public: June 2019
The first announced completion date was late 2017 but by December 2017, only 3 of the vehicles had been delivered by Bombardier. The last vehicle was not delivered until December 2018. It seems likely that the line would've opened in 2018 if not for the vehicle delivery issue. I think the Hamilton LRT is a slightly more complex project due to the bridge over the 403 so I think your 5-year "optimistic" timeline is realistic.
Utility relocation: late 2013
Financial close: May 2014
Groundbreaking: August 2014
"90% completion": End of 2016
Open to the public: June 2019
The first announced completion date was late 2017 but by December 2017, only 3 of the vehicles had been delivered by Bombardier. The last vehicle was not delivered until December 2018. It seems likely that the line would've opened in 2018 if not for the vehicle delivery issue. I think the Hamilton LRT is a slightly more complex project due to the bridge over the 403 so I think your 5-year "optimistic" timeline is realistic.
I know you're exaggerating but surprisingly, the crosstown is "only" 3 years late (and counting) from its original date of 2020. And for what it's worth, by 2015 the estimate had already been revised to fall 2021 (2 years ago). I think it feels like longer because completion has seemed imminent for ages now!
innsertnamehere
Superstar
5 years construction is realistic I think - but I fear we are underestimating the procurement timeline. This is going through the typical IO P3 process.
The Hurontario LRT issued it's RFQ in October of 2016, and had it's winning bidder selected October 2019. So 3 years in procurement.
Finch west had its RFQ issued September 2015, winning bidder was selected May 2018. So 2.5 years.
Hamilton hasn't even had it's RFQ issued yet. The last IO market update didn't even list the project as having a tentative time for RFQ issue.
Assuming optimistically the RFQ gets issued Q2 2024, and a 2.5 year procurement, we are looking at:
RFQ: Q2 2024
RFP: Q1 2025
Project Close: Q4 2026
Construction start: Q1 2027
Construction completion: Q1 2032
And that is if the RFQ is issued Q2 2024, and if the procurement process takes only 2.5 years. And if construction takes 5 years.
The Hurontario LRT issued it's RFQ in October of 2016, and had it's winning bidder selected October 2019. So 3 years in procurement.
Finch west had its RFQ issued September 2015, winning bidder was selected May 2018. So 2.5 years.
Hamilton hasn't even had it's RFQ issued yet. The last IO market update didn't even list the project as having a tentative time for RFQ issue.
Assuming optimistically the RFQ gets issued Q2 2024, and a 2.5 year procurement, we are looking at:
RFQ: Q2 2024
RFP: Q1 2025
Project Close: Q4 2026
Construction start: Q1 2027
Construction completion: Q1 2032
And that is if the RFQ is issued Q2 2024, and if the procurement process takes only 2.5 years. And if construction takes 5 years.