Phase one of new Mississauga Transitway opens Monday

Mississauga.com
Nov. 16, 2014
By Graeme Frisque

Residents got the chance to see their tax dollars in action on Saturday (Nov. 15) as the City held an open house for the first phase of the Mississauga Transitway.

Visitors were treated to refreshments, giveaways and a free bus tour of the four new stations - located at Central Parkway, Cawthra Road, Tomken Road and Dixie Road – that are set to officially open on Monday (Nov. 17).

Slated to complete construction of all 12 new stations by 2017, the new dedicated transit corridor will eventually run from Winston Churchill Blvd. to Renforth Ave.

"We're gonna change the way people move in Mississauga, this is the first piece of rapid transit way we've ever had in this city," said Geoff Marinoff, Mississauga Transit Director, of the new line.

Phase one will include three routes that will transition onto the transitway and will provide east-west service and north-south connections between the City Centre Transit Terminal and Dixie Rd.

Marinoff said that the opening drew so much attention that extra buses were needed to accommodate everyone who wanted to tour the new line.

First-time riders were given a commemorative passport that they could have stamped at each station as a keepsake of the launch. Transportation and Works Transit also held a draw giving people a chance to win Presto cards loaded with anywhere from $100-$250, or the choice of a set of headphones for younger winners.

"I'm not sure that at this point in our lives we'll actually use (the transitway) too often, but we want to know what's going on in the community, how it's going to work and wanted to see it," said long-time Mississauga resident Lisa Boulard, who came out with a group of friends on Saturday for the tour.

"We're hoping it increases property values. We all own homes in the area and it's great for the future of the city," she added.

Phase two of the project, scheduled to be completed in 2016, will add eight more stations and expand the transitway by a further 14 kilometres. The final station at Renforth Ave. is expected to be completed by GO Transit in 2017.

Once completed, the Renforth station will connect to the Kipling Mobility Hub in Etobicoke, providing TTC riders access to MiWay and Mississauga and vice-versa.

The Transitway expansion and the planned light rail transit (LRT) route expected to run north-south on Hurontario St. from Brampton to Port Credit are part of an overall plan to help accommodate the transit needs of an ever-growing population. Projections suggest up to four million new residents across the GTA and Hamilton area over the next 30 years.