Hurontario LRT

Hurontario LRT
Looking north at Hurontario St/Highway 401 interchange
Overview
Type Light rail
Status Approved
Locale Mississauga, Brampton
Termini Brampton Gateway Terminal
Port Credit GO Station
Stations 22
Website www.metrolinx.com
Operation
Planned opening 2022[1]
Owner Metrolinx
Rolling stock Alstom Citadis Spirit
Technical
Line length 20 kilometres (12 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Route map

 Brampton Gateway
Sir Lou
 Ray Lawson
Highway 407
 Highway 407
Hwy 407 Maintenance Yard
Brampton
Mississauga
border
 Derry
 Courtneypark
Highway 401
 Britannia
 Matheson
 Bristol
 Eglinton
Highway 403
Mississauga Transitway
Rathburn
Mississauga City Centre
Square One
 Duke of York
 Robert Speck
 Main
 Matthews Gate
 Central Parkway
Cooksville
Milton line
Dundas
 Queensway
 North Service
QEW
 Mineola
Port Credit
Lakeshore West line

The Hurontario LRT[2] (formerly the Hurontario–Main LRT) is a planned light rail line in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, that extends into Brampton, Ontario. This line will run along Hurontario Street. Due to the involvement of two transit agencies in this project, it is currently unclear which agency will operate the line; however, it is likely that Metrolinx will own the line.[3]

The Cities of Mississauga and Brampton have identified higher-order transit along Hurontario due to the chronic overcrowding situation in Mississauga's (and the suburban Greater Toronto Area's) busiest bus route, 19 Hurontario, which carries more than 25,000 passengers a day, combined with the numerous high-density development proposals along the corridor and the high growth in both cities. They have identified three options: light rail transit for the entire corridor, bus rapid transit for the entire corridor, or a combination of both (light rail south of Mississauga City Centre and bus rapid transit north of it).[4] After three public information sessions, the residents of both cities agreed overwhelmingly in favour of light rail transit along the full length of the corridor.[5]

On October 28, 2015, Brampton City Council voted against allowing the LRT to run along the Main Street portion of the route because of concerns of low ridership projections and the preferences for an LRT along an alternate route. Thus, the LRT will terminate at Steeles Avenue (Brampton Gateway Terminal) instead of Brampton GO Station.[6]

The LRT line will cost $1.4 billion.[7] (Prior to the cancellation of the Brampton portion of the line, the estimated cost was around $1.6 billion.[8]) On April 21, 2015, the Government of Ontario announced that it would completely fund the line, not including local capital costs such as utility relocations, surface upgrades, and landscaping.[1][9][10]

Construction is expected to commence in 2018, and the line is projected to enter service in 2022.[1]

History

Procurement

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx are planning to deliver the Hurontario LRT project according to IO's Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP) model which basically is a public–private partnership arrangement.[11]

On October 18, 2016, IO and Metrolinx started the procurement process by issuing a request for qualifications to design, build, operate and maintain the Hurontario LRT. The request also asks bidders to supply 44 light rail vehicles, which implies that none of the 182 Flexity Freedom vehicles Metrolinx ordered in 2010 would operate on the line.[12]

On June 6, 2017, IO and Metrolinx announced that three teams had been shortlisted:[13]

  • Hurontario Light Rail Connection Partners (HLCP) including equity providers Cintra, Colas and Acciona. In the HLCP team, the constructors are Acciona, Ferrovial, Colas, DPM Energy and LURA Consulting. The designers are Arup, SENER, Dillon Consulting, DTAH and Grimshaw. Operation and maintenance would be provided by RATP Dev, Acciona, and Colas Rail.
  • Mobilinx including equity providers Astaldi, John Laing, Hitachi-Ansaldo STS Transdev and Amico. In the Mobilinx team, the constructors are Astaldi, Hitachi, Amico and Bot. The designers are IBI, Hitachi, Morrison Hershfield, Arcadis and Daoust Lestage. Operation and maintenance would be provided by Transdev, Hitachi-Ansaldo and Astaldi.
  • Trillium Transit Partners including equity providers Kiewit, Meridiam and Keolis. In this team, the constructors are Peter Kiewit Sons, Bird, Mass Electric, Black and MacDonald and Coco Paving. The designers are Stantec Consulting, STV, Perkins + Will, Urban Strategies and Entuitive. Operation and maintenance would be provided by Keolis.

On December 1, 2017, Metrolinx announced that the route would employ 44 Citadis Spirit vehicles, from Alstom.[14] These vehicles are longer and higher capacity than the Flexity Freedom vehicles purchased for earlier Metrolinx routes.

Route

The Hurontario LRT line will run for 19.6 kilometres (12.2 mi) in 40 minutes,[15] estimated to account for 35.2 million trips in 2031.[3][16][17]

The LRT line will begin at the Port Credit GO Station and continue northward, crossing the Queen Elizabeth Way along the current northbound lanes of Hurontario, with the southbound lanes passing beneath the QEW in a new tunnel. At Dundas Street, it will connect to a proposed rapid transit line (either a BRT or an LRT). The LRT will indirectly connect to Cooksville GO Station using the LRT stop at John Street. The line continues northward until it splits into two branches between Burnhamthorpe Road and Rathburn Road:

  • City Centre Loop alignment: from Hurontario Street, the LRT will turn left at Burnhamthorpe Road, turn right at Duke of York Boulevard, then turn right and follow the northern boulevard of Rathburn Road; it will split north from Rathburn at City Centre Drive and meet the mainline at a raised platform above the current eastbound offramp of Highway 403. This branch serves almost all of Mississauga City Centre using a walking distance of 500 metres (1,600 ft), including those who are transferring to the BRT and City Centre Transit Terminal, as well as Square One Shopping Centre.
  • Mainline alignment: the route continues straight along Hurontario Street. This branch serves passengers working in the offices in the eastern part of the City Centre and those who want to bypass Downtown Mississauga and allow faster through travel along Hurontario Street. Beginning at Square One Drive, the LRT will rise above Hurontario before veering west to travel over Highway 403 on a new bridge. It will rejoin Hurontario north of the highway, descending back to street level. This same design is planned over Highway 407, but not at Highway 401 (though a station there will provide connections to a commuter parking lot). At Highway 407, the LRT will connect to GO Transit's proposed Highway 407 Transitway. The line will then end at Steeles Avenue where it will descend into an underground station, connecting with the 511 Züm Steeles BRT line at Brampton Gateway Terminal

Right-of-way

As of the second Public Information Centre, the LRT will have a dedicated right-of-way throughout the entire corridor, except for a few sections at the segment north of Nanwood Drive, where the segregated right-of-way has been removed to allow left-turn or right-turn lanes. As a result, road space along most of the corridor will reallocate two car lanes to the LRT, leaving four lanes for general traffic. Some narrower sections of Hurontario Street will be reduced to one car lane per direction. These sections include:[15][16]

  • Port Credit,
  • Duke of York Boulevard.

The corridor will have their median lanes removed to make space for the LRT, with some exceptions such as:[15][16]

  • Port Street, where two lanes at the south side will be taken away,
  • Duke of York Boulevard, where two lanes at the east side will be taken away,
  • Hurontario Street between Inglewood Drive and Lakeshore Road, where two lanes to the west side will be used for LRT, with a new bridge at Eaglewood Boulevard to compensate for the proposed removal of the intersection at Inglewood Drive.
  • Rathburn Road, which will be widened at the south side, with two lanes taken away at the north side for the LRT.

Alternatives

The LRT line can have a few modifications along the route as it enters the later phases of the study:[3]

  • The LRT line is designed to perform short turns within Mississauga City Centre from both directions in case of accidents, closures or high ridership loads.
  • Within Mississauga City Centre, the LRT may cross Highway 403 in two ways:[15]
    • the mainline branch turns left at Square One Drive, then turns right to City Centre Drive, then meets with the downtown branch at Rathburn Road, then cross Highway 403 using a new bridge.
    • the downtown branch meets with the mainline branch at Hurontario Street north of Rathburn Road, requiring the Hurontario Street bridge to be widened to accommodate the LRT.
  • Mayor Susan Fennell of Brampton proposed to run the 502 Züm Main along the entire LRT route to Port Credit. Mayor Hazel McCallion of Mississauga rejected the alternative proposal, citing gridlock south of Mississauga City Centre as a reason.[18]

Main Street cancellation

On October 28, 2015, Brampton City Council voted 7–4 against allowing the LRT to run along Main Street through its heritage downtown area, as originally planned by the province. Without this agreement, the province has indicate it will move ahead with the project, terminating the LRT at Steeles Avenue (Brampton Gateway Terminal) instead of Brampton GO Station.[6] Opposed council members had also previously cited a lack of projected growth along the northern half of the proposed Brampton route to support an LRT.[19]

Proponents said the Main Street route advocated by the province would have revived the city’s struggling downtown core. However, opponents argued that the Main Street route lacked potential for ridership and future growth.[6] According to City of Brampton's transit ridership data, the current ridership along Main Street has an average of 200 riders per hour per direction on weekdays and Brampton’s downtown has a ridership of about 450 passengers an hour.[20]

Although all councillors were in support of an LRT, they disagreed on the route it should take. Councillors opposing the Main Street route have proposed running the LRT east or west along Steeles Avenue and then north to Queen Street where it would then possibly continue east from Brampton's downtown area to the Bramalea GO Station or possibly all the way to the terminus of the western branch of the Toronto subway's Line 1 Yonge–University at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.[21] In March, 2013, Brampton City Council asked city staff to consider two alternative routes north from Steeles Avenue, either (1) partially north on Main Street, east to Peel Memorial Hospital, north to Queen Street and east to Brampton GO Station, or (2) north on Kennedy Road, west on Queen Street to Brampton GO Station.[22]

Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig said the provincial money allocated to the Main Street route in Brampton would now be available for other transit projects across the province. However, McCuaig also said Metrolinx would be open to evaluate alternate transit proposals from Brampton for provincial funding for the next round of transit initiatives.[6]

On November 3, 2015, Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca announced that the funding for the cancelled Main Street route will be invested in priority transit projects in the Greater Toronto Area which might or might not include Brampton.[23]

Operations

The LRT is planned to run every 5 minutes during rush hours, and every 10 minutes for the rest of the week. Service hours on the LRT corridor is planned to be between 5:00 AM and 1:30 AM Mondays to Saturdays and 7:00 AM to 12:00 AM on Sundays and holidays. Bus service is expected to supplement the remaining hours, making the Hurontario corridor have a 24/7 transit operation. The LRT will take 40 minutes to travel the whole route, compared to 58 minutes using the private automobile.[15]

The LRT is planned to have multiple-unit trains, carrying up to about 600 people. Station will have platforms of at least 90 metres long to accommodate the trains.[15] The line will have between 15 and 21 substations to provide electricity for the LRT, which will be distributed evenly throughout the corridor. The LRT will operate on either 750 or 1500 volts of power.[15] Vehicles will be stored and maintained at a new facility adjacent to a hydro corridor and Highway 407, located next to the proposed Highway 407 Transitway Station.[15]

The line will most likely use Alstom Citadis Spirit trains. Due to issues with the manufacturing of the Flexity Freedom, Metrolinx was concerned that Bombardier would be unable to deliver enough trains on time for the opening of the Line 5 Eglinton (a.k.a. Eglinton Crosstown); thus, Metrolinx ordered trains from Alstom as a contingency. Should the Flexity Freedom trains arrive on time for Line 5, the Citadis Spirits will instead be allocated to the Hurontario LRT.[24]

Preparations

Hurontario Street Corridor Interim Service Plan
Route Terminus Service Span and Average Frequency Connecting Services
AM Rush Midday PM Rush Evening Saturdays Sundays
103
Hurontario Express		 Port Credit GO Station Shoppers World Terminal 10 10 10 20 24 - Brampton Transit
GO Transit
MiWay
Züm
502
Züm Main		 City Centre Transit Terminal Sandalwood Parkway 9 14 9 20 20 20
2
Main		 Highway 407 Park and Ride Heart Lake Terminal 20 20 20 30 30 30
19+
Hurontario		 Port Credit GO Station 19 to Highway 407 Park and Ride 6 12 8 16 6 12 11.5 11.5 8 16 13 13
Trillium Health Centre 19A to Britannia Road 24 32 24 - - -
19B to Cantay Road 24 32 24 - - -
19C to Heartland Town Centre - - - - 16 -

On May 16, 2011, MiWay realigned service along Hurontario to include limited-stop service (Route 202) during Saturdays for passengers wishing to bypass Square One.

In September 6, 2011, Brampton Transit launched its second bus rapid transit line, Route 502 Züm Main, which runs from Sandalwood Parkway to Mississauga City Centre all week long. This route replaced MiWay's 102 Intercity Express. Züm buses run every 10 minutes during rush hours and 20 minutes during off-peak hours and weekends.[25] The frequency of its local counterpart, 2 Main, was reduced to boost ridership in the express service.

At the same date, MiWay replaced 202 Hurontario with a new route, 103 Hurontario Express, which offers additional mid-day and evening services. Its local counterpart, 19 Hurontario, was cut to GO Transit's Highway 407 Park and Ride to fortify the overlapping express services, however its frequency was further increased to address ongoing overcrowding issues between Britannia and Lakeshore Roads, the busiest section of the corridor.[26] 103 Hurontario Express runs every 17.5 minutes during rush hours, 19 minutes during middays and 24 minutes during Saturdays.

On May 5, 2014, MiWay realigned service along Hurontario corridor once again to provide more 10-minute service on daytime along the express route during weekdays, while cutting Routes 19A, 19B, and 19C for the local service south of Trillium Health Centre, leaving only the main branch of Route 19 to serve the entire Mississauga portion of the corridor from Highway 407 to Port Credit.

Stations and connections

There will be 22 stations throughout the corridor with an average spacing of 850 metres and will feature 90-metre platforms.[15] They are expected to have heated shelters, CCTV cameras, real-time information system and bicycle lockers. Most of them will feature secondary entrances, but since most of the corridor is currently suburban in nature, these secondary entrances create mid-block crossings throughout Hurontario and Main Streets, which enhance pedestrian access.[16]

In January 2018, to avoid conflict with existing stations in the area, a consultation process was started to select unique and memorable names for the stops at Steeles, Highway 407, Eglinton, Rathburn at Station Gate, Duke of York, Main at Burnhamthorpe, Central Parkway, and Dundas; the initial suggestions were Brampton Gateway, 407 & Hurontario, Eglinton & Hurontario, Mississauga City Centre, Celebration Square, The Exchange, Fairview, and Dundas & Hurontario, respectively.[27]

Stop Platform Connections Secondary entrance
Steeles Avenue Centre, north side Yes, at Brampton Gateway Terminal's north end
Sir Lou Drive Centre, north side Yes
Ray Lawson Boulevard Centre, north side Yes
Highway 407 Centre, north side of Topflight Drive Yes, at Park and Ride access road
Derry Road Centre, north side Yes, at Kingsway Drive
Courtneypark Drive Centre, south side Yes
Britannia Road Centre, south side Yes, at Sandstone Drive
Matheson Boulevard Centre, north side Yes
Bristol Road Centre, north side Yes
Eglinton Avenue Centre, north side Yes
Robert Speck Parkway Centre, north side Yes
Rathburn Road at
Station Gate Road		 East side Yes, at Hammerson Drive
Duke of York Boulevard Centre Yes, at Prince of Wales and Princess Royal Drives
Burnhamthorpe Road
at Main Street		 Centre, west side Yes, at Kariya Drive
Matthews Gate Centre, north side Yes, at Burnhamthorpe Road
Central Parkway Centre, north side Yes
Cooksville GO Station Centre Yes, at Hillcrest and Kirwin Avenues
Dundas Street Centre, south side Yes
The Queensway Centre, south side Yes
North Service Road Centre, north side Yes
Mineola Road Centre, south side Yes
Port Credit GO Station Centre Yes, at Park Street

Benefits

Mississauga plans to use the Hurontario LRT to spur commercial development and employment opportunities along the line. According to Ed Sajecki, Commissioner of Planning and Building for Mississauga, downtown development had been mostly residential towers as businesses felt it was to too expensive to provide parking for large commercial establishments. Sajecki expects that the LRT will eliminate the need for downtown parking. With the LRT, downtown population is expected to double in less than two decades from its currently estimated 40,000. According to Mayor Bonnie Crombie, Mississauga is planning for mixed-use zoning along Hurontario including accommodation, businesses, commercial, retail and arts-cultural development.[28]

Criticism

  • Brampton Council has argued that the LRT plan was directed by Mississauga with Brampton absent from negotiation.[19]
  • Mississauga residents fear that LRT won't help them with their commutes and will hurt local businesses during the lengthy and expensive construction process.[29]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kalinowski, Tess (21 April 2015). "Liberals promise $1.6 billion for "transformational" Hurontario LRT". The Toronto Star. Toronto. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Hurontario light rail transit (LRT) project
  3. 1 2 3 "Hurontario/Main Street Corridor Master Plan" (PDF). MMM Group. October 2010. p. 578. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  4. ↑ "Connect10" (PDF). Cities of Mississauga and Brampton. October 2008. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-27. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  5. ↑ "Connect10" (PDF). Cities of Mississauga and Brampton. March 2010. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Grewal, San (27 October 2015). "Brampton council rejects downtown LRT". The Toronto Star. Toronto. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  7. ↑ Oliver Moore (14 March 2016). "Toronto's grand transit plan (maybe, hopefully)". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  8. ↑ "Hurontario-Main Light Rail Transit (LRT)" (PDF). Metrolinx. 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  9. ↑ "Ontario Moving Forward with Hurontario-Main Light Rail Transit Project". Government of Ontario News. 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  10. ↑ San Grewal (2015-07-03). "The Brampton LRT Debate: Yes or No?". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  11. ↑ "Finch West, Hurontario LRTs advance". 29 March 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  12. ↑ Ben Spurr (18 October 2016). "Metrolinx not counting on Bombardier for new LRT lines". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
  13. ↑ "Teams Shortlisted For Hurontario LRT". 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  14. ↑ Divyesh Mistry (2017-12-01). "This Is What the LRT Cars Coming to Shoppers World Will Look Like". Bramptonist. Archived from the original on 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 http://lrt-mississauga.brampton.ca/EN/Public-Consultation/Documents/Public_Informattion_Centre_2/HLRT%20Boards_May_14_2013_Final_sm1.pdf
  16. 1 2 3 4 http://lrt-mississauga.brampton.ca/EN/Public-Consultation/Documents/Public_Information_Centre_1/HMLRT_Display_Boards_PIC1_June%2025_26_2012.pdf
  17. ↑ "Hurontario/Main Street Rapid Transit Benefits Case" (PDF). Metrolinx. June 2010. p. 51. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  18. ↑ Criscione, Peter. "Brampton LRT plan gets a no from Hazel". Torstar Network. The Mississauga News. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  19. 1 2 https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/07/08/lrt-route-backers-critics-spar-in-brampton-council-chamber.html
  20. ↑ San Grewal, Urban Affairs Reporter (July 21, 2015). "Brampton mayor's LRT plan woefully short of riders". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  21. ↑ "Brampton council votes to reject provincially approved LRT". Metro News. October 28, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  22. ↑ San Grewal, Urban Affairs Reporter (8 March 2016). "Brampton council kills LRT tunnel proposal". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  23. ↑ "Brampton should not count on LRT funding: Transportation Minister". Metro News. November 3, 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  24. ↑ https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/05/11/metrolinx-to-buy-vehicles-from-bombardier-competitor.html
  25. ↑ http://www.brampton.ca/en/residents/transit/zum/Pages/zum-mainSt-service.aspx
  26. ↑ http://www.miway.ca/hurontario
  27. ↑ "Stop Naming Hurontario LRT". Metrolinx. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  28. ↑ San Grewal (18 July 2016). "LRT will completely transform Mississauga". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
  29. ↑ http://www.insauga.com/the-lrt-is-brampton-hurting-or-helping-mississauga
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