[crs1026]

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

It's certainly in the Province's interest to stimulate growth and public investment in Hamilton, so that it becomes a sustainable population center as an alternative to say more density in downtown Toronto, which would create demand for more public transit in places where it might be even costlier to build. .

There may be an element of redistribution of wealth in this, and it's a very subjective formula, but that's democracy for you. And that's not bad. Hamilton needs the boost and can't raise the money from its own tax base.

As a Torontonian I'm certainly not sorry to see my tax dollars going to this project in Hamilton. Taxpayers in, say, Huntsville, might question what's in it for them.... there will always be differing opinions on this. But certainly spreading out provincial investments to growing Ontario cities in an equitable manner is appropriate.

Personally I'm in favour of LRT as the backbone, as opposed to BRT, but that's a whole bigger issue. Let's see where Hamilton grows in comparison to say London which has chosen BRT. I suspect Hamilton will do better, as K-W has, but we will have to wait years to know one way or the other.

- Paul

 

[TheHonestMaple]

Job postings for construction managers for the Hamilton LRT are now starting to be posted on the Metrolinx website. Looks like things are really starting to kick off behind the scenes.

 

[Chris R.]

I spoke to some people in the media, and they told me that Metrolinx is finally starting to discuss with media about the project which tells me things are moving. Two pieces of information I've been able to find:

1) The Ward 2 office mentioned that major construction won't actually touch Ward 2 in 2024, which tells me that they may be moving forward with a phased approach, which could mean less disruption, but a slower construction.

2) I was able to find out that the LRT will travel along the western edge of Dundurn, which is perhaps unsurprising, but useful to know regardless. No details on whether this will include purchase of property at the plaza, but I find it likely there will be, unless Dundurn is closed to traffic here.

Also Metrolinx apparently says the Dundurn turns won't slow the LRT significantly because the train would have already been travelling slow in and out of the station anyway.

 

[TheHonestMaple]

It would be nice if they still built the Frid Street extension. It's weird that this 'innovation' district is split into two areas. Maybe the provincial funding for the maintenance yard includes that. It would make sense as it would give employees of the maintenance yard access to the facility from both Aberdeen and Main Street.

Also, they just posted this on their instagram.

Hamilton LRT Virtual Event

Virtual Open House November 30, 2023

www.metrolinx.com

 

[SaugeenJunction]

It would be nice if they still built the Frid Street extension. It's weird that this 'innovation' district is split into two areas. Maybe the provincial funding for the maintenance yard includes that. It would make sense as it would give employees of the maintenance yard access to the facility from both Aberdeen and Main Street.

Also, they just posted this on their instagram.

Hamilton LRT Virtual Event

Virtual Open House November 30, 2023

www.metrolinx.com

Lots of good questions being posted at the engagement link. UTers, go ask and vote away! Of course signal priority is currently ranked number 1.

 

[Chris R.]

Lots of good questions being posted at the engagement link. UTers, go ask and vote away! Of course signal priority is currently ranked number 1.

At least 5 might be mine

 

[Chris R.]

Will edit with more photos and screenshots, these are two new renders:

 

[akiraredacted]

I'll copy and paste what I wrote on SSP:

Here's what I've gathered from the Hamilton LRT online 'Open House' Meeting:

- The community centre is intended to open in the Royal Connaught early in 2024, supposedly they're putting the final touches on the space.
- The LRVs will be selected during Package 2 of the construction process.
- Signal priority is a top priority and will be maintained even with the recently changed alignment at King/Main and Dundurn.
- There will be more renderings in January.

 

[Chris R.]

I'll copy and paste what I wrote on SSP:

Excited for more renders, despite these not being the best quality renders. I wish they hired like a building developer render firm to make it look amazing!

 

[TheHonestMaple]

I was a little disappointed with the presentation tonight. There really wasn't any new information given, just the renders. I was hoping they would share some screenshots of the drawings. Oh well. At least there is a committee meeting in December.

 

[allengeorge]

The packaging seems to make sense. From what I understand, all the civil works are one package (and hopefully there should be a large number of local qualified bidders for that), while the transit portion is a separate package (probably the usual suspects).

 

[NoahB]

This just shows that the actual LRT costs are half of what is announced. The other half is utility and other city infra upgrades.

 

[Chris R.]

This just shows that the actual LRT costs are half of what is announced. The other half is utility and other city infra upgrades.

Good point! This was always somewhat known, but it's good to see it reiterated in the official MX documents.

 

[Mount Dennis Resident]

Wonder if they included the water, natural gas, communication lines, sewer, hydro, roadway, sidewalks, etc. costs in all transit costs? If they didn't do the transit, would they have done them anyways because of "age", leaks, rust, and deterioration.?

 

[urbancog]

Since 2013, City of Hamilton has enforced a moratorium on cutting any of its roads for 5 years after reconstruction - good asset management. As the LRT work involves full reconstruction of the streets it touches, this will have triggered the need to replace a lot of old infrastructure in that's been in the ground for decades so there's no need to cur the road within 5 years. Hence the large scale of the utility works for the project.