Raise the Hammer

This part seems to be left out of the discussion.

In a manner of speaking, that's what I'm trying to advocate for in the article; get the LRT closer to Mountain!

$200-$400M isn't even enough to get up the mountain yet! We're just trying advocate to get A-Line as close as possible to getting up the mountain as possible with the incremental funds. Option A-Line is clearly (in my opinion) my preferred option, given the risky Stoney Creek politics, as you can see.

Once the LRT punches up the escarpment (the expensive/difficult part for a fast-efficient LRT rather than a TTC-slow streetcar), it becomes much cheaper. Alas, the escarpment elevation is going to be one hellishly expensive kilometer, unless we carve along the James access instead of a ramp tunnel. Then after that, it is a much simplersimple matter of continuing the A-Line, to all the important destinations.

There is a Metrolinx requirement to reach the West Harbour GO station. So say, we chopped the waterfront; that still doesn't free up enough LRT funds (along with the Brampton budget) to get to the top of the escarpment in an efficiently quick manner (i.e. ramp tunnel). It's my understanding that getting to the top of the escarpment would be the most expensive single kilometer in the entire B.L.A.S.T. Hamilton LRT network.

I totally agree with you that we need to reach mountain destinations. We need an LRT that reaches the major transit points like Limeridge, etc, as you said. But adding just $200-$400M doesn't even get it up there yet;

But we can get as close as possible, to the point, where an extension is a lot more palatable of a future ask. That said, we can work on advocating A-Line extension (St. Joe/Mohawk/Limeridge at the minimum) during the 2018 and 2022 elections or even before if favourable (And we definitely intend to advocate for that, when the time and political climate is right).

Comment edited by mdrejhon on 2015-10-30 21:38:24