Raise the Hammer

Everyone fails to mention that King and Main Street are two of 4 streets in Hamilton's west end (west of Dundurn) with direct access to the 403 from downtown. That attribute alone justifies the traffic congestion, which is minimal to say the least. Imagine the congestion for the commuter coming back from Toronto, taking the Main Street East exit off the 403, being welcomed by a two lane street that has a traffic light less than 200 metres away at Main and Dundern. If you think traffic is bad, and crossing the street is difficult in current circumstances, you are in for a rude awakening if two lane streets come to Main and King. The infrastructure expense to modify lanes, street lights, and medians does not justify a 2 way conversion.

I live on James and Main, and drive past 6 major intersections downtown to reach the highway in less than 10 minutes. People commenting on this article should drive down Spadina to jump on the QEW if they want to experience congestion.

Also, the people who say crossing the street is dangerous on King and Main, what's wrong with you? I do agree that speeds can reach limits that are pushing safety, but you have ONE direction to look. Jay walking could not be easier! But let's ignore jay walking, why don't you walk to an intersection and wait for a green light if you think it's unsafe.

The truth is, I love this city and want to see it prosper more than anything! I agree that something needs to be done to our transit infrastructure, but let's have intellectual debate. Those opposed to LRT have valid questions: 1) Is the demand there by current Hamilton public transit numbers? 2) Is the need there based on congestion stats? 3) What is the opportunity cost? I know the province will fund construction, but what about maintenance? 4) What's the clear goal of LRT? If the goal is to bring more people downtown, I would argue that a strained system is more beneficial to downtown growth. I grew up in the east end, if it was easy to get downtown I may have not moved downtown. My money would not be supporting the real estate market and all the small businesses in my new neighbourhood. If people want to experience the benefits of downtown, well they should move here. 5) The designated bus lane pilot project needs more time to be accurately evaluated.

Let's focus on these issues, and don't be afraid to change your mind. I was a staunch supporter of LRT and changed to a firm opponent, and have now returned to undecided. Let's keep discussing the goal of an LRT investment, then let's debate the alternatives to reaching that goal.

ALSO They big issue affecting Hamilton is the closing of US STEEL!!! A significant portion of tax revenue for the city will vanish, not to mention hectares of water front land will be left vacant, with the eye sore of all eye-sores on it!! Let's brainstorm solutions to that problem instead of bashing the opposite camp on the LRT issue.