LRT to Eastgate: Is it pulling 'rabbits out of hats?' or a realistic gambit to save LRT?
The move is being championed by an unlikely voice on the LRT debate, but has fans on both sides
It's been called pulling a rabbit out of a hat, and it comes at a time when LRT is on the verge of "death by delay."
But Coun. Terry Whitehead of Ward 8 thinks Hamilton can wrangle a light rail transit (LRT) system that goes to Eastgate Square. In less than a week.
And even the mayor isn't ruling it out.
That's like me going into a shoe store and walking out with only one shoe.- Terry Whitehead
Whitehead said he still wants LRT to follow its original plan by going from McMaster University to Eastgate Square — from "destination to destination."
It's not heel dragging to kill the project, Whitehead, often seen as a leading opponent of the project said. He sees Eastgate Square as a real possibility.
That LRT plan was truncated in 2015, when the province announced LRT from McMaster to the Queenston traffic circle. It cut off three kilometres and four stops.
Whitehead still wants the original plan, and wants to see it happen by April 26, when city council will vote on an updated environmental assessment for the $1 billion system.
"Anything is possible," Whitehead said Thursday.
"That's like me going into a shoe store and walking out with only one shoe. It's like having a can without a can opener. Eastgate is material to the success and viability of this investment."
Mayor Fred Eisenberger, oddly, didn't rule out a last-minute Eastgate Square addition either. The city has never stopped talking to the province about it, he said.
It's been raised numerous times whether it's possible, whether it's doable.- Mayor Fred Eisenberger
He wouldn't get into details, "but it's been raised numerous times whether it's possible, whether it's doable."
The province removed Eastgate Square from the first LRT phase to free up money for a "spur" LRT line from King Street East to the waterfront.
In February, the province removed the spur line, saying the ridership didn't justify it. That freed up about $125 million, which the province said it would use for A line bus rapid transit (BRT) from the waterfront to the airport.
That was an obvious attempt to get two or three Mountain councillors to champion LRT, Whitehead said. But Mountain councillors aren't interested in the current plan.
"That was a political play," he said. "In my opinion, they played that card wrong."
I'll help him try to get it to Winona if I have to.- Jason Farr
Now there's $125 million in play, and extending LRT another three kilometres will cost about $225 million. Whitehead thinks the province should pay the difference.
The province is already giving Metrolinx $1 billion to build Hamilton's current LRT plan, which many councillors appear ready to reject.
Jason Farr, Ward 2 councillor, said he's an LRT fan, so the more LRT, the better.
"Godspeed," he said of Whitehead's effort. "Let me know if he needs a hand. I'll help him try to get it to Winona if I have to. Good luck to him in that week's time that he has."
"Once we put in place what we have now, which is 11 kilometres, a lot of citizens are going to be clamouring for more LRT anyway, so let's do it sooner."
Matthew Green, Ward 3 councillor, was less generous after a 13-hour LRT meeting Wednesday, which ended in the issue being deferred.
"There are some people who want to believe there are rabbits to be pulled out of hats," he said.
The Eastgate Square issue brings up a host of questions at a time when councillors opposed to LRT are already being accused of "death by delay."
It's not clear what would be involved in adding Eastgate Square to the plan now, when Metrolinx risks missing its 2019 construction deadline if council delays this any more.
Neither is it clear what it would take to add it to the environment assessment again, when the plan hasn't included it for two years.
If council directs staff to look into it Wednesday, how long it would take to even do that? It was part of the original 2011 environmental assessment so planners would not be starting from scratch.
The city's LRT office wouldn't elaborate Friday.
"We would require council direction," said Kelly Anderson, the city's LRT spokesperson, in an email. "If we are directed by council to analyze the possibility of changing the route, we will report back with more information."
I don't think I can be any more opposed.- Chad Collins
"At this point, we can't speculate on what would be involved."
And ultimately, the question is: Does a vote to expand the line to Eastgate bring more councillors onside to support the project?
Maria Pearson, Ward 10 councillor, said she likes the plan better going to Eastgate, although she still has questions about it.
Chad Collins, Ward 5 councillor, was least enthusiastic. He's been against LRT since 2014, and Eastgate Square is in his ward.
LRT's economic uplift has the least impact Ward 5, he said. When the system stopped at Queenston traffic circle, "my area was fairly blessed."
"I don't think I can be any more opposed" to LRT, he said. "It just doesn't change my position."
B line LRT is the first phase of a planned city-wide rapid transit network called the BLAST network.