Type Light rail Locale Mississauga, Brampton | Status Approved Opened 2022 (projected) | |
 | ||
Termini Brampton Gateway Terminal
Port Credit GO Station | ||
The Hurontario LRT (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.
Contents
- Construction and implementation
- Route
- Right of Way
- Alternatives
- Main Street Cancellation
- Operations
- Preparations
- Stations and connections
- Benefits
- Criticism
- References
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). 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.
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 because of preferences for an LRT along some alternate route. Thus, the LRT will terminate at Steeles Avenue (Brampton Gateway Terminal) instead of Brampton GO Station.
The LRT line will cost $1.4 billion. (Prior to the cancellation of the Brampton portion of the line, the estimated cost was around $1.6 billion.) 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.
Construction is expected to commence in 2018, and the line is projected to enter service in 2022.
Construction and implementation
On October 18, 2016, Infrastructure Ontario 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.
Route
The Hurontario LRT line will run for 20 kilometres (12 mi) in 40 minutes, estimated to account for 35.2 million trips in 2031.
The LRT line will run from the intersection of Port Street and Elizabeth Street for better access in the waterfront. The line will then turn left at St. Lawrence Drive. North of Lakeshore Road, St. Lawrence Drive becomes Hurontario Street. At Park Street, the LRT will directly connect to a relocated Port Credit GO Station. The line continues northward crossing Queen Elizabeth Way. 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:
From Rathburn Road, the LRT will bridge over Highway 403. 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 connects to Shoppers World Terminal to connect with Züm Steeles BRT line.
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 be reallocated from two car lanes to the LRT, leaving four lanes for automotive traffic. Some narrower sections of Hurontario Street will be reduced to one car lane per direction. These sections include:
The corridor will have their median lanes taken away for the LRT with some exceptions. Those are:
Alternatives
The LRT line can have a few modifications along the route as it enters the later phases of the study:
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. 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.
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. 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.
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 future terminus of the Spadina Subway at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. 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 a new hospital under construction, north to Queen Street and east to Brampton GO Station, or (2) north on Kennedy Road, west on Queen Street to Brampton GO Station.
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.
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.
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.
The LRT vehicle will be 30 metres in length, carrying up to 200 passengers. However, the LRT is planned to have 3-car trains, carrying up to 600 people. This configuration matches the 90-metre platforms to be built for the LRT stations.
The LRT will have between 15 and 21 substations, which will be distributed evenly throughout the corridor. These substations convert electricity from the local power sources to the levels needed by the LRT vehicles. The LRT will operate on either 750 or 1500 volts of power.
The LRT vehicles will be stored and maintained at a new facility at the hydro corridor adjacent to Highway 407, located next to the proposed Highway 407 Transitway Station.
Preparations
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. 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. 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 are 23 proposed stations throughout the corridor, as well as two potential stations. These proposed stations have an average spacing of 850 metres and will feature 90-metre platforms. 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.
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.