Opposition to mayor’s downtown LRT plan gaining ground

bramptonguardian.com
June 4, 2015
By Peter Criscione

Mayor Linda Jeffrey still has work to do to convince her city that a light rail transit route straight through downtown Brampton is the way to go.

“Brampton Council will need to show commitment and courage to develop a downtown area that will allow the city's core to continue to grow as well as attract businesses and visitors from the Greater Toronto Area and beyond,” Jeffrey said.

Next week, senior planning staff will attempt to deliver a pitch for an LRT route to business leaders at an event organized by the Brampton Board of Trade (BBOT).

Shortly after elected mayor, Jeffrey upset downtown residents when she publicly supported the Hurontario/Main LRT to run into the city centre.

Some residents believe laying tracks straight up to the Four Corners area will destroy its heritage character and charm.

With the Ontario backing the $1.6 billion, 23-km LRT project financially, Jeffrey now has the arduous task of selling the downtown course to a reluctant public.

“We need an LRT that benefits all of Brampton, not just the six kilometres between the Mississauga border and the downtown core,” states resident Elaine Belcher, in a recent letter to members of council.

Belcher is part of the bloc of opposition lining up against Jeffrey’s wishes for a direct link connecting Mississauga’s Port Credit to the GO Transit line in Brampton downtown.

They want council to consider one of the various alternatives being proposed - including connecting east to the Bramalea GO Station via Steeles Avenue - that would swing the LRT away from the heritage district.

“This is a really big decision and a costly one - one that could make or break Brampton,” Belcher said.

The official pitch in support of the proposed route has already begun.

The mayor recently joined downtown councillors Jeff Bowman and Martin Medeiros for a town hall meeting where she made clear that she would be asking council to back the plan, which is arguably the most cost-effective now that the province is footing the lion’s share of the bill.

Jeffrey maintains the LRT would be an improvement for downtown Brampton.

“I believe a strong transit network is the price of admission for any world class, successful city,” said Jeffrey, who is in Edmonton this week for a meeting with the mayors of Canada's largest cities.

City officials will now hope to make that argument to the business community at the Courtyard by Marriott on June 11.

The BBOT supports light rail but has taken the position that alternative routes should be considered “to ensure an appropriate balance of convenience and cost effectiveness, and mitigates negative impacts on local businesses.”

Working with provincial agency Metrolinx, city staff, recommended the downtown proposal.

As opposition got louder, council directed staff to come up with other options.

Those alternatives now include transit running east or west of Main Street or routing the LRT underground in one section near Nanwood Drive.

Groups argue any of the other routes would be better than the current proposal.

“The current plan is simply an extension of Mississauga’s LRT, ultimately giving Mississauga’s LRT a place to turn around,” Belcher said. “It doesn’t connect Bramptonians to anything of importance in Brampton.”

Local advocacy group Citizens for a Better Brampton (CFBB) has also taken a hardline against the current proposal.

“It will create traffic chaos, will complicate future expansion of the LRT, eliminate all street parking vital to downtown business and create pedestrian safety issues running the LRT parallel with sidewalks, north of Wellington Street,” said

Chris Bejnar, CFBB spokesperson. Bejnar said the LRT plan should link to the Queen Street corridor, where a lot of residential development is currently taking place.

“It (current plans) might be the most cost effective solution, but not the best solution.”

But Jeffrey does have support locally.

Kevin Montgomery and members of Fight Gridlock counters the LRT should align with transit projections and recommendations for rapid transit, which happens to be focused on Hurontario/Main Street.