MacIsaac: "We continue to be impressed by the work that Hamilton has done and Hamilton will continue to be one of the top 15 priorities in the plan"
By Rob Faulkner
Published in the Hamilton Spectator on November 25, 2008
No surprises for Hamilton.
That's what Rob MacIsaac says we can expect as regional transportation agency Metrolinx unveils a near-final plan to ease gridlock, pollution and car dependency in greater Toronto and Hamilton.
Today, Metrolinx will post online an updated version of its regional plan. A draft of The Big Move: Transforming Transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area was released in September.
In the 25-year, $50-billion draft plan, Hamilton was slated to get four rapid-transit lines. An east-west B line - on Main or King from Eastgate Square to McMaster University - was a priority in the first 15 years. Whether bus or rail is undecided and awaits analysis to be done in 2009.
"I don't think there will be any surprises for Hamilton. We continue to be impressed by the work that Hamilton has done and Hamilton will continue to be one of the top 15 priorities in the plan," MacIsaac said of the B line yesterday.
The City of Hamilton worked intensely on its proposal for light rail transit, with public surveys, trips across North America to see LRTs, and studies of possible routes.
The city says it can have shovels in the ground for LRT by 2011. MacIsaac has hinted Hamilton funding will surface in the latter years of the 2009-13 budget, then ramp up.
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger, a Metrolinx board member, said there are no substantial changes for Hamilton when one compares the draft to today's more final plan.
It still sees an east-west line, and a north-south line, of rapid transit slated within the first 15 years of the Metrolinx vision. Other lines will come later. GO Transit enhancement is still there, too.
"It's pretty much as expected for me," Eisenberger said. "I think Hamilton has fared quite well in the overall plan. For me, the next challenge is the five-year capital plan" outlining project funding.
The Metrolinx board votes Friday on the final regional transportation plan. MacIsaac said it will also see an interim 2009-13 budget, but "not much detail," on project funding.
"It begins to set the table for the finely grained five-year budget to be completed this summer," MacIsaac said. He said he "anticipates" Hamilton will see project funding in that budget.
Today, the unapproved plan will be posted at metrolinx.ca under Board Agenda items. It is not final without board approval; Friday's meeting may call for revisions before the final plan is printed.
"I have some confidence that it will be well received by the board," MacIsaac said. "I don't know if I will have a unanimous vote. But I am feeling good about it, going into the board meeting."