Light Rail

International Village BIA Letter to Council on Light Rail Transit

By RTH Staff
Published August 11, 2011

The International Village BIA board of management sent the following letter to Mayor Bob Bratina and Council:

Mr. Mayor and Members of Council;

As members of the International Village BIA Board of Management, we would like to formally state our support for Light Rail Transit in the City of Hamilton. We have been active participants in not only the planning process, but in educating the members of our BIA on how LRT will affect our city in the future.

Our Executive Director, Susan Braithwaite has been a member of the LRT Citizen Advisory Committee for a year now and she has been very active in keeping us up to date on new progressions in the planning of LRT, specifically the B-Line.

We have circulated newsletters, hosted public information centres and toured our BIA on our own and with members from the city to discuss how our membership feels about the possible implementation of the B-Line.

We do have some major concerns with the planning process that the city is well aware of. Our biggest concern is the proposal to close down vehicular traffic between Walnut and Mary St. as we are unsure if this is the right option for the businesses affected along that stretch of King St. E. Our preferred route for LRT has always been Main St. and we hope that a continuation in funding for the planning process may help to explore this option further.

We can see the long-term benefits of implementing LRT in Hamilton. It will not only reduce pollutants along with many other benefits, but it will also make the flow of transportation from east to west and eventually north to south, far more accommodating to those who live, shop, work and play in our great city. This is not a "fast fix" but something we need to understand will affect not only ourselves, but future generations alike.

We are also supportive of the GO train service being at the forefront of transportation planning in Hamilton, but we believe that both plans (LRT & GO) can move ahead as planned as part of the Metrolinx "Big Move" strategy.

We encourage council to be proactive in asking for more funding from the Province so that we can continue on with the planning process for LRT, and hopefully see all this hard work come to fruition in the near future. Now is the time to take this possible opportunity and implement the most valuable and effective transportation system our city may ever see.

Sincerely,

The Board of Management
International Village BIA

6 Comments

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By TnT (registered) | Posted August 12, 2011 at 15:52:56

The IV is becoming one of the most progressive stretch of growth in our city. Galleries, grocery store, resaurants, retail and residential. Is the problem that people living in StoneCreek don't care, or what?

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By Robert D (anonymous) | Posted August 12, 2011 at 16:36:44 in reply to Comment 67938

Sorry, I'm missing the reference to Stoney Creek....what?

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By -Hammer- (registered) | Posted August 12, 2011 at 17:38:40

I've always wondered, if someone though about opening a small produce/farm market directly across from Denninger's. It just strikes me as a good location for it. Like Kin's Farm Market in the Burlington Mall.

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By AETHERMAN (registered) | Posted August 13, 2011 at 01:01:51

"IF" LRT ever becomes a reality, I'll bet those BIA LRT advocates and normal business owners along LRT routes will WHINE OUT LOUD about increased property taxes, having a much harder time selling their buildings, experiencing rattling windows and vibrations that will knock products off shelves and walls, make apartment tenants complain, etc. when LRT's pass by many times every day of the year! Steel wheels rolling on gapped steel rails send out infrasonic vibrations! Rubber tires on Buses don't do that! (db)

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By jason (registered) | Posted August 13, 2011 at 13:22:52

I'm with the IV on the route issues through their area, however my solution isn't to use Main St, but instead do one of two options:

  1. Have the trains run in mixed traffic from Wellington to Mary. And remember, think of the future scenario of how King will function, not how it looks today. There won't be any shortcut traffic. It will all be on Main or Cannon. There's no reason for a bottleneck, because it will be a local traffic street. one lane each way, parking on both sides with an LRT stop at Walnut.

  2. Maintain King as a one-way street through this stretch and run the eastbound LRT on King in it's own lane with the westbound lane being for cars. The westbound LRT can divert on Wellington to King William to Mary with stops at King/Walnut, King William/Walnut (or even Ferguson given it's pedestrian friendly design and rail history) This gives King William a bit of visibility and hopefully will help it to develop some high density residential, restaurants etc.....and keeps the trains close together in a safe walking distance.

Comment edited by jason on 2011-08-13 13:23:55

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By jason (registered) | Posted August 13, 2011 at 13:29:41 in reply to Comment 67966

vibrations that will knock products off shelves and walls

Umm, It's a light rail train, not a magnitude 9 earthquake. The two aren't even comparable:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gckN2ANG_...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu2_j_m2-...

Comment edited by jason on 2011-08-13 13:30:23

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