Brampton LRT integral part of regional transit plans

BramptonGuardian.com
Aug. 12, 2015
Sony Rai

When the going got tough, Brampton decided to defer. By not making a decision on the Brampton Huron Main LRT route, Brampton council did not just fail its residents; it failed both Peel and neighbouring York Region. By not taking the advice of consultants, the Province, and an overwhelming number of citizens, Brampton council is threatening a critical piece in the regional transit network that includes linkages to two Go stations as well as future rapid transit on Queen Street linking to Highway 7 and the Spadina subway extension.

Brampton, the sprawling suburb familiar with building subdivisions and big box retail stores, is in a transition. Like many GTA suburbs, Brampton is urbanizing, making a gradual transition that is occurring in municipalities across the GTA. Unlike its progressive GTA suburban counterparts, however, Brampton is struggling with making decisions about its future.

This is unfortunate as the HMLRT project affects residents in Mississauga and residents in Vaughan, as downtown Brampton sits directly between the future Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and downtown Mississauga. Delaying or changing what experts and consultants have determined is the right approach will have a ripple effect beyond Brampton. This decision is about fulfilling a role as a member of a larger region and affects the entire Region, not just one stretch of roadway.

The City of Vaughan is getting a subway. It’s also trying to build a downtown from scratch around where that subway terminates. Vaughan’s hoping to use higher order transit to build a downtown around an area that is used primarily for the manufacture, storage and movement of goods. Surrounded by 400 series highways and low-rise industrial buildings, the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre has been championed as the urban centre of a vast and sprawling suburban municipality.

Unlike Vaughan, you already have all the pieces of a great downtown that Vaughan aspires for: a city hall, an arts and culture venue, an art gallery all within walking distance to a Go Station, not to mention a great mix of older building types of different scale and height.

Unfortunately, the most impressive thing about Brampton’s downtown currently is the number of lease signs hanging in store windows. At a vacancy rate of 23 per cent, downtown Brampton is unprecedented in the GTA where commercial and residential investment is at all-time high. With this type of vacancy rate, one would think business owners would be clamouring for investments such as the LRT. Shifting the LRT route away from the downtown will only further negatively impact business owners, not help them.

As a council, this is an important decision to get right. Brampton’s infrastructure is aging. Like all other 905 municipalities, Brampton has too much sprawling infrastructure for the number of taxpayers available to pay for its replacement, repair and maintenance. These issues will only become exacerbated over the next several years.  You need density where there’s existing infrastructure and you need to mix and diversify your economy. You also need to provide residents with a car-free option for mobility. Downtown Brampton is the best place for all this to happen.

City building is tricky business. It gets trickier when you try to build a city on the bones of a sprawling suburb. It gets even more difficult when you have a council and citizens undergoing changes they are not experienced with. Sprinkle in some local politicians trying to score points and you have a familiar theme playing throughout the GTA: the inability of ward councillors to make decisions that benefit the future of their own city and the broader region.

The impact of these decisions is enormous and mistakes are very unforgiving.  As Brampton, Mississauga, Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Markham all begin the process of urbanizing, these types of decisions will need to be made on a regular basis. Note to council: it’s only going to get tougher. If you can’t get the easy ones right, I worry.

Sony Rai is the director of Sustainable Vaughan, a citizens’ environmental coalition.