[SteelTown]

Act now on King Street buses: Bratina

August 18, 2008
Elisabeth Johns

Removing buses from the Gore Park area is in sight thanks to funds from GO Transit, Councillor Bob Bratina says.

He is urging city staff to get the buses off King Street now since GO Transit has put forward $100,000 to accommodate at least five city buses at its Hunter Street location.

"Now is the time to act," Bratina said. "There's money in place."

The downtown councillor is suggesting buses be removed prior to the construction of the new downtown transit terminal, which is expected to be complete by 2010.

Bratina believes buses could be removed sooner than recommended from King Street, where he said they sit idling and blocking the view of the park. He figured they could be off the street by May, following the redevelopment of the GO Transit terminal.

The $100,000 will go toward creating platforms for the city buses at the GO Transit's Hunter Street terminal, Bratina said.

The rest of the city buses will be moved to the expanded terminal on MacNab Street, between King and Main streets.

But there's not enough room on MacNab Street now to move some of the buses and won't be until the terminal is expanded, warned Kathy Drewitt, the executive director of the Downtown Business Improvement Area.

"It needs to be planned out so it's as seamless as possible and less disjointed to (bus passengers) as possible," Drewitt said. "There isn't enough room until the new structure is built."

The whole point of making King Street near Gore Park a pedestrian-only zone is to encourage people to use transit more to visit downtown, she added.

"Without going through all the steps, it's not going to be as successful as Councillor Bratina would like to see it happen," she said.

This project is expected to cost $8 million. City council is also hoping the province will pick up some of the tab.