Rapid Transit

[HillStreetBlues]

Great move by Metrolinx. The A Line will serve more people in more neighbourhoods. It's a step towards building a real network.

Hopefully it's real BRT, with dedicated lanes and quality stations and high-frequency. It will be important to push for the best quality BRT possible.

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by HillStreetBlues

Hopefully it's real BRT, with dedicated lanes and quality stations and high-frequency. It will be important to push for the best quality BRT possible.

The Spec:

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca said Thursday the 16-kilometre bus rapid transit line will replace an earlier planned two-kilometre rail spur to the West harbour GO Station.…

There is no price tag yet for the A line bus rapid transit project, but Del Duca said he expects at least some of the cash to come from the $1-billion LRT budget.

Cutting an A-line rail spur out of the $1 billion LRT budget should save around $125 million, said Metrolinx officials.

Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger expressed hope the savings would cover the entire cost of the proposed BRT line, but added it was too soon to estimate a project cost.

I imagine the formula will be something like $125M divided by 16 ($7.8M per kilometer) merged with the cost savings arising from the existing A-Line Express.

Then further compressed by a council unwilling to spend on transit or concede lanes to dedicated service.

CBC Hamilton:

Coun. Donna Skelly of Ward 7, meanwhile, is an LRT skeptic. She doesn't know what to think about the announcement until she knows more details.

She's worried what it will mean to Hamilton's Mountain accesses, and the lack of public input.

And if it means dedicated bus lanes on Upper James, she said, "I don't think that's a good idea. I really don't. What will that do to traffic flow?"

Echoes of her stand on pedestrianizing Upper James:

“I think Upper James should be treated as the priority on the Mountain,” said Skelly who noted Upper James links the city with the John C. Munro-Hamilton International Airport and connects several neighbourhoods through the corridor.

Skelly said her initiative involves sidewalk and pedestrian areas only. “We are not talking about ripping up the road,” she said.…

Skelly said she will be asking city staff in the fall to prepare a report on how Upper James can be urbanized without impacting traffic flow, including the possibility of adding bicycle lanes.

That motion was of course seconded by Councillor Skelly's neighbour, Councillor Whitehead.

Even though this announcement came in response to an overture made by Whitehead and Merulla, it's entirely possible that he may become filled with unanswered questions that impair his political support.

Then there's the wild card of Ward 11, whose residents axed Transcab service to lower their taxes a year after the pilot service launched.

By all means, we should push for the best quality BRT possible. But history demonstrates that if there is any cost to the City of Hamilton beyond the current status quo, all bets are off.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

I'm just worried about the LRT line stopping at the Circle - I couldn't care less about Upper James...

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

I'm just worried about the LRT line stopping at the Circle - I couldn't care less about Upper James...

Wait for the RFP. Maybe they'll find a way to revert to the interim terminus identified under Option 3 (phased build) in Metrolinx's BCA: King & Ottawa.

[Rg2016]

If it doesn't turn out to be like this ^ I smell metrolinx corruption. Any time a mayor can just alter and move those bus anywhere in the future..


Thats in Markham btw, (Viva bus)

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

I'm just worried about the LRT line stopping at the Circle - I couldn't care less about Upper James...

Yup, that's going to be a big problem.
There's a large amount of people being ignored basically from Parkdale to Centennial. Not being able to take someone all the way to Eastgate Square and all the surrounding stores and businesses is a bad idea. Add the fact that the Hamilton/Stoney Creek border seems like the logical place to end the line.

Yes, ending at the circle may be temporary - but you know what they say about first impressions? They need to get it right the first time.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

Wait for the RFP. Maybe they'll find a way to revert to the interim terminus identified under Option 3 (phased build) in Metrolinx's BCA: King & Ottawa.

Or maybe it can be extended another 750m to Parkdale and meet directly with one of those elusive N-S bus route creatures that may feed it.

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by Rg2016

If it doesn't turn out to be like this ^ I smell metrolinx corruption. Any time a mayor can just alter and move those bus anywhere in the future..


Thats in Markham btw, (Viva bus)

Respectfully, it won't, and not because of "Metrolinx corruption".

The road illustrated in the VIVA Next mockup is 10 lanes wide, with two of those lanes dedicated to BRT and one to a cycle track. James/Upper James has at best half that capacity. Recall how fondly mountain and suburban councillors embraced the 2 km King Street bus lane pilot on a street with equal lane capacity, then imagine how they would react were it implemented permanently over a 16 km stretch of road.

Spoiler alert: They're already united against it.

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Or maybe it can be extended another 750m to Parkdale and meet directly with one of those elusive N-S bus route creatures that may feed it.

Indeed. Though if you assume that the Parkdale remains on its current 30 minute headway and LRT operates on the proposed 6, Metrolinx might not have judged transfer ridership to be a compelling synergy.

Again, however, all things are possible until the RFP is issued. Or, more accurately, if the RFP is issued: Council can ultimately kill the project if they object to the terms of the RFP.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

Respectfully, it won't, and not because of "Metrolinx corruption".

The road illustrated in the VIVA Next mockup is 10 lanes wide, with two of those lanes dedicated to BRT and one to a cycle track. James/Upper James has at best half that capacity. Recall how fondly mountain and suburban councillors embraced the 2 km King Street bus lane pilot on a street with equal lane capacity, then imagine how they would react were it implemented permanently over a 16 km stretch of road.

Spoiler alert: They're already united against it.

Ottawa's planning to build something similar on a thinnger road:

Originally Posted by rocketphish

A new Transitway? City to debate $148M rapid-bus Baseline corridor

OBJ Staff
Published on January 30, 2017

And wasn't the King bus lane a city only thing? Metrolinx will hopefully role their eyes at councillors and use real information about how useful bus lanes are.

[thistleclub]

From the Ottawa article:

"The $148-million vision is to construct two bus-only lanes down the centre of Baseline Road, starting with the 14-kilometre section between the existing Heron Transitway station and Baseline station near Algonquin College.

Baseline Road would be widened to six lanes in most sections, with bus traffic separated from other vehicles."

[davidcappi]

I wouldn't mind the LRT stopping at the circle, and potentially running BRT from there out to Fifty Road/Winona someday to accommodate the growth in that direction. I like the idea of that shift happening at Parkdale, not the Traffic Circle though...

Ok Eastgate. It should go to Eastgate

[HamiltonBoyInToronto]

does not make any sense at all to have the end of the line be at the circle ... Eastgate is a no brainer

[HillStreetBlues]

Is the agreement council will have to approve going to include BRT? And, if so, could this be a pretense to kill the entire project?

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

Indeed. Though if you assume that the Parkdale remains on its current 30 minute headway and LRT operates on the proposed 6, Metrolinx might not have judged transfer ridership to be a compelling synergy.

Again, however, all things are possible until the RFP is issued. Or, more accurately, if the RFP is issued: Council can ultimately kill the project if they object to the terms of the RFP.

And this is where the issue of improving connecting bus services to complement the improved B-line service starts to factor in.

Wait until some councilors begin to focus on the "cost" of doing that... I really don't think many have realized this transit planning goes way beyond the LRT (and BRT) alone. Despite Rapid Ready and other reports over the years.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by HillStreetBlues

Is the agreement council will have to approve going to include BRT? And, if so, could this be a pretense to kill the entire project?

I would think not, given that the recent announcement is basically a commitment to start planning the BRT at this point, and the LRT will be going into procurement before BRT plans are ready for discussion.

It would be different if they were a package deal.

[SteelTown]

Hamilton LRT design, environmental report goes public ahead of crucial vote

Hamilton Spectator
By Matthew Van Dongen
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/71...-crucial-vote/

The final design and environmental report on Hamilton's LRT is ready to roll — so long as council is willing to sign off in a crucial vote.

The city's LRT team is recommending council sign off on an updated environmental assessment — all 1,200 pages or so — for the $1-billion light rail transit project and submit it for provincial approval.

The report went public today online in advance of a special LRT meeting March 28.

That council vote is a critical milestone because the environmental assessment needs provincial approval before project manager Metrolinx can solicit requests for proposals to design, build, operate and maintain an LRT line proposed to run from McMaster University to the Queenston traffic circle.

A council thumbs up would kick-start a 30-day formal review period allowing the public to send feedback or objections to the Ministry of Environment. Minister Glen Murray would then have 35 days to consider any objections before announcing whether the project can go ahead, or needs more work.

The report provides details on the changes to the LRT plan since Hamilton originally pitched the project in 2011.

The major changes include:

•a shortening of the route that now ends in the east at Queenston traffic circle, rather than Eastgate Square. (A proposal for an A-line spur was recently replaced with a new, separate express bus proposal from the harbour to the airport.)

•running dedicated LRT tracks primarily down the centre lanes of King and Main streets, rather than along the side and using mostly centre-island platforms;

•Building a maintenance and storage facility off Chatham and Frid streets, east of Longwood Road. That plan requires a long-planned extension of Frid Street.

•An underpass to allow LRT cars to travel under a CP rail spur in the east end;

The report also gives a nitty-gritty look at possible post-LRT changes to bus service and predicted traffic snarls that need to be addressed.

Unlike the city's 2011 EA submission, the latest version doesn't publicize estimated costs for various elements of the project.

That's because Metrolinx is embarking on the procurement process and doesn't want to tip its hand to prospective bidders, said city LRT point person Paul Johnson.

[SteelTown]

http://hamilton.siretechnologies.com...doctype=AGENDA

[realcity]

Should go down Main (no turns or bridge needed) and all the way to eastgate

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by realcity

Should go down Main (no turns or bridge needed) and all the way to eastgate

I've been thinking about it, and I believe King actually makes more sense for this streetcar. It leaves the shorter and more efficient route open for when the city decides to build actual rapid transit and puts in a subway (or maybe elevated rail, depending on how technologies progress).