I never expected any magic bullet that was going to traverse the city in 15 minutes. 32-34 minutes sounds just about right when you look at Finch West or Hurontario. The only way to get any faster across the city would be to tunnel, like Eglinton. Which obviously was never planned.

If we do see a tunnel along Dundurn or something, that would be amazing. But I highly doubt that. Likely just widening of Dundurn with a wide turning radius at Main Street with signal priority at King. Looking forward to seeing the plans though.

And what about the City’s deal with Loblaws to maintain surface parking at the plaza? Has that been scrapped?

This whole process has been too secretive, leaving everyone guessing all the time.

It would be very nice if they would be more transparent. That goes for all Metrolinx projects though.
 
We’ve got to ask who’s benefitting from this $3.4 Billion (taxpayer-funded) project that won’t get Hamiltonians across the City any faster (as promised), but will significantly increase property values along a route with all new underground infrastructure…
 
The whole point of these LRT projects is to
  • Provide reliable transit for the incoming population boom.
  • Attract high density development to the cities which they are building them in, to increase tax revenue.
  • Give these cities a break on replacing infrastructure.
  • Create tens of thousands of jobs (engineering, construction, etc)
There's really nothing secretive or scandalous about these projects. The provincial government is trying to give the economy a boost by investing in infrastructure.
 
We’ve got to ask who’s benefitting from this $3.4 Billion (taxpayer-funded) project that won’t get Hamiltonians across the City any faster (as promised), but will significantly increase property values along a route with all new underground infrastructure…
Every ratepayer in the City of Hamilton is benefiting from the LRT because the City of Hamilton was too impoverished to fix the infrastructure. This will allow significant redevelopment in the Lower City, working both as a slum clearance project, and to profit the City, as the increase property tax will exceed the expenses from increased population
 
It’s become pretty obvious that all Hamilton really needs to improve public transit is its Re-Envision HSR plan with bus lanes and enhanced vehicles/amenities.

All for 1/3 of the cost.

The plan we have now benefits land/property owners first, with transit riders taking the back seat.

LRT was planned to move people rapidly across the City, with upgraded underground infrastructure as a side benefit.

The plan seems to have shifted to an Infrastructure Upgrades project with a tram as an added benefit. And that’s unfair to transit riders.
 
It’s become pretty obvious that all Hamilton really needs to improve public transit is its Re-Envision HSR plan with bus lanes and enhanced vehicles/amenities.

All for 1/3 of the cost.

The plan we have now benefits land/property owners first, with transit riders taking the back seat.

LRT was planned to move people rapidly across the City, with upgraded underground infrastructure as a side benefit.

The plan seems to have shifted to an Infrastructure Upgrades project with a tram as an added benefit. And that’s unfair to transit riders.
Literally from the Metrolinx website:

Hamilton LRT isn't just a transit project. The project scope will include a complete revitalization of both private and public utilities along the transit route, including water, gas, and telecommunications lines. Together, the introduction of a modern LRT system and utility infrastructure improvements carried out by the Hamilton LRT project will set the stage for sustainable growth and city-building for decades to come.

Infrastructure improvements will span the entire project corridor, and include:

  • Replaced sewers
  • All new watermains
  • Brand new gas mains
  • New hydro lines
  • New telecommunications lines
  • Restored sidewalks and roads
 
Literally from the Metrolinx website:

Hamilton LRT isn't just a transit project. The project scope will include a complete revitalization of both private and public utilities along the transit route, including water, gas, and telecommunications lines. Together, the introduction of a modern LRT system and utility infrastructure improvements carried out by the Hamilton LRT project will set the stage for sustainable growth and city-building for decades to come.

Infrastructure improvements will span the entire project corridor, and include:

  • Replaced sewers
  • All new watermains
  • Brand new gas mains
  • New hydro lines
  • New telecommunications lines
  • Restored sidewalks and roads

Exactly. This project now puts land owners & developers first, and transit riders (and renters) last.

That’s not fair.

Let’s save money and implement Re-Envision HSR with Bus Lanes, Enhanced Stops, and Electric-Hybrid Buses.

If Hamilton wants new sewers and pipes, the City can pay for it themselves.

It’s not the responsibility of Provincial & Federal tax payers to replace Hamilton’s ageing infrastructure.
 
What? I'm confused lol. You're taking issue with the fact that the province is volunteering to pay for all our aging infrastructure AND paying for a high capacity public transit system.

It’s not the responsibility of Provincial & Federal tax payers to replace Hamilton’s ageing infrastructure.

ps I love the ever-changing description (Reliable, High Capacity) since it’s def not Rapid Transit anymore lol
 
We’ve got to ask who’s benefitting from this $3.4 Billion (taxpayer-funded) project that won’t get Hamiltonians across the City any faster (as promised), but will significantly increase property values along a route with all new underground infrastructure…

Every taxpayer in the city benefits from ancient crumbling underground infrastructure being replaced wholesale on the province' dime rather than piecemeal on the city's. Although not cheap, it will never be cheaper, nor spread amongst so wide a tax base.
 
I always assumed that the city will eventually need a second east-west line to complement the B-Line LRT after it densifies enough and needs a truly rapid system. A combination elevated and tunneled [light] metro would be great. I'm also somewhat peeved about the alignment change as it removes the Longwood replacement from the LRT budget despite still needing to be done (the pedestrian facilities on it are atrocious despite being a school route and it has sharrows for cyclists).
 
I always assumed that the city will eventually need a second east-west line to complement the B-Line LRT after it densifies enough and needs a truly rapid system. A combination elevated and tunneled [light] metro would be great. I'm also somewhat peeved about the alignment change as it removes the Longwood replacement from the LRT budget despite still needing to be done (the pedestrian facilities on it are atrocious despite being a school route and it has sharrows for cyclists).
Fortunately the city is now saving literally billions on King Street infrastructure upgrades, so they can likely pencil in the Longwood Bridge replacement at some point. I'm also actually somewhat happy to know that Frid Street is going to get a complete makeover. Might help to encourage commercial development in this 'district'. I also read on Global News, Danielle Bury, director for the Hamilton LRT project says that the route change will not change the total trip time. So they must be making that 2 or 3 minutes up somewhere. Looking forward to finding out how.
 
Longwood bridge has been a pet peeve of mine because it could easily stand to lose a SB lane, shift all the lanes over and throw in a 2-way bike lane beside the existing sidewalk - but any improvement has just been ignored in favour of waiting for a rebuild. City is getting better with rapid "temporary" fixes but seemingly only after someone literally dies.
 

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