The City of Brampton has launched a virtual consultation for Light Rapid Transit (LRT) for Main Street. The official name is the LRT Extension Study. The LRT line proposed for extension is the Hurontario LRT. There are two options between Nanwood and the Brampton GO Station: surface options and a tunnel options.
Please visit here to provide your feedback by July 30, 2020: https://bramptonlrt.com/
Along with many other groups across Canada, Fight Gridlock in Brampton signed the attached letter calling for transit funding. It will also be sent to Brampton’s five MPs.
Please see “Letter” for a copy of the letter.
Thrilled that one of our co-founders was appointed by the Cycling Advisory Committee onto the Transit Committee. This is a Brampton Council citizen advisory committee. Kevin Montgomery will provide thoughtful and detailed active transportation feedback. #brampoli
We received the below Notice and below letter today. PDF version here of the Notice and here of the letter.
1) NOTICE OF STUDY COMMENCEMENT
Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Study for Clark Boulevard Extension and Eastern Avenue Improvements from Rutherford Road to Kennedy Road
The Study
The City of Brampton has initiated a Schedule ‘C’ Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) Study for the following:
In 2015, the City of Brampton completed a Transportation Master Plan that recommended the extension of Clark Boulevard and improvements to Eastern Avenue. The Class EA Study will evaluate the current and future transportation capacity needs, identify possible improvements to accommodate the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, transit and motorists within the project limits, including safety improvements. Impacts to the social, cultural and natural environment and mitigation measures will also be identified.
The Process
This notice signals the commencement of the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Study. The study will define the problem, identify and evaluate alternative solutions, develop a preferred design, assess potential impacts and identify mitigation measures associated with the preferred design for the corridor in consultation with adjacent property owners, regulatory agencies, Indigenous communities, members of the local business community and the public. The study is being carried out in accordance with the planning and design process for Schedule ‘C’ projects as outlined in the Municipal Class Environment Assessment (October 2000, as amended in 2007, 2011 and 2015), which is approved under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act.
A key component of the study will be consultation with interested stakeholders, including the public, agencies and Indigenous Communities. Two Public Information Centres (PICs) will be held to present the project, review the study findings and discuss issues related to the project including alternative solutions, evaluation criteria, alternative design concepts, and environmental impacts and mitigation measures. Details regarding the forthcoming PICs will be advertised as the study progresses. Upon completion of the study, an Environmental Study Report (ESR) will be prepared and made available for public review and comment.
Comments Invited
If you have any questions or comments regarding the study, or wish to be added to the study mailing list, please contact either of the following project members:
[see attached PDF]
Information will be collected in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. With the exception of personal information, all comments will become part of the public record.
This notice was first issued on January 24 2019.
2) Letter
January 21, 2019
Dear Sir / Madam,
The City of Brampton has initiated a Schedule ‘C’ Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) Study to confirm the recommendations from the 2015 Transportation Master Plan, including:
The study is being carried out in accordance with the planning and design process for Schedule ‘C’ projects as outlined in the Municipal Class Environment Assessment (October 2000, as amended in 2007, 2011 and 2015), which is approved under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act. The Notice of Commencement will be published in the Brampton Guardian and a copy is attached for your reference. The Class EA Study will:
The purpose of this letter is to introduce the Study to you and to invite you to participate as part of a Stakeholder Group for the duration of the project.
If you would like to be a member of the Stakeholder Group, or if you have any questions and/or concerns in relation to this Study, please fill in and return the attached response form to the contact shown either by mail or email by February 15, 2018.
If you decide to become a member of the Stakeholder Group, you will be invited to participate in two meetings during the course of the Study; one meeting to review the alternative solutions under consideration for the corridor and one meeting to review the alternative design concepts. Invitations to attend these Stakeholder Group meetings will be emailed/mailed to group members at least two (2) weeks in advance of each meeting. Meetings will be held at the City of Brampton offices. A written summary of discussion and comments from each meeting will be prepared by HDR Meeting minutes will describe highlights of the meeting, areas of agreement, disagreement and recommendations or options. Meeting minutes will be regularly circulated to the study team and made available to other interested parties.
If you have any questions or require additional information, please do not hesitate to call me at 289-695-4653 or via email at Tara.Erwin at hdrinc.com, or Mario Goolsarran, the City’s Project Manager at 905-874-5164 or via email at Mario.Goolsarran at brampton.ca.
Regards,
Our group follows the Kitchener Line closely as members of our group use the line each day for commuting, to attend medical appointments, or to catch sports games in Toronto. Also, there’s a municipal election happening right now in Brampton (and a recent provincial election), and more GO train service has been raised and discussed by candidates and residents.
We also want a Kitchener Line that brings people to Brampton for live-work-play-school. So here are some recent updates on what’s happening for the Kitchener Line. Metrolinx also hosts a dedicated page for the Kitchener Line here.
Metrolinx allows for written deputations for their Board meetings and in the past we’ve submitted feedback on issues that matter to Brampton residents. The Board met today and as we’ve done in the past, we submitted a letter to highlight topics important to Brampton residents. PDF version of our letter is available here. Text version below.
The letter notes a number of staff reports before the Board and you can see a copy of those reports here. The meetings are livestreamed and then available on Metrolinx’s YouTube channel.
Let us know if you have any feedback on the letter. Also, we’re always looking for volunteers to advocate for transit and active transportation so don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
Donald Wright, Chair
Metrolinx
97 Front St W, 4th floor
Toronto, Ontario M5J 1E6
September 13, 2018
Dear Mr. Wright,
We are pleased to have the opportunity to provide feedback on a number of items before the Board at your September 14, 2018 meeting.
First, congratulations on being appointed Chair of the Metrolinx Board. Fight Gridlock in Brampton is a Brampton-based group of residents who volunteer to advocate for more rapid transit investment, transit service improvements, and active transportation for our city.
We’ve reviewed the agenda package for the meeting and provide the following comments:
Item No. 8 RTP/”Making it Happen” Update, page 5
“Strategic passenger & freight rail: A Quality Based Selection (QBS) tender was released in June 2018 to study options for journey time and service frequency improvements on the Kitchener Corridor. Some of these options anticipate the construction of a freight bypass to facilitate the separation of passenger and freight rail traffic on the Halton Subdivision.”
It’s encouraging to hear that progress is being made for more GO train service west of Bramalea Station. We continue to encourage Metrolinx, CN Rail, the Province, the Federal government, and the City of Brampton to work collaboratively on increasing capacity and service.
Item No. 12 Quarterly Reports, 12.4 Capital Projects
Page 2 – it’s always helpful to see Table 1: Program Overview which outlines the budget – including the $2.25B for the Kitchener Bypass – of the Metrolinx Capital projects.
Page 3 – Hurontario LRT – it’s great to hear the RFP is “in-market” and we hope a decision and the awarding of the contract can be done soon.
Page 7 – Highway 401/409 Tunnel – this is an important project for the Kitchener Line and we’re pleased to read that design is nearing 60% completion. Also on this page, there is a reference made to work taking place at the Bramalea GO Station. We sincerely hope that active transportation is being taking into consideration for the Bramalea Station revitalization. Particularly, people walking and cycling from the streets fronting the property should have a safe and dedicated way to get to the station building. Please pass this comment to the design team.
Page 9 – Kitchener Extension – our feedback is that we think this heading should be called the “Freight Bypass for the Kitchener Line” in the future to add clarity.
Also, it’s great to hear that 12-coach trains will finally be added to the Kitchener Line. Our observation is that ridership is increasing on the Kitchener Line and 12-coach trains are very much needed.
Thank you to Metrolinx staff for all their hard work at expanding transit for our region and for Brampton.
– Members of Fight Gridlock in Brampton
cc: Mayor Jeffrey
Brampton’s MPPs
Minister of Transportation
Chris Duyvestyn, P.Eng., Director, Transportation Special Projects, City of Brampton
Darshpreet Bhatti, P.Eng., Director, Hurontario Light Rail, Metrolinx
Two important links for #brampoli to be aware of:
1) Future Ready report (our comment on it is pending): http://bit.ly/BramptonLRTExtension [PDF avail on our website]. 7PM May 7 mtg. Meeting details here: http://bit.ly/FutureReadyMeeting
2) Brampton LRT Extension page on @CityBrampton website: http://bit.ly/BramptonLRTExtension
We’ve asked for an ETA on display boards being available online.
The City of Brampton has added concept images for the new Ryerson University campus at the Brampton GO Station, and for the Centre for Innovation.
*important to note that these are concept images and may not show everything to scale, or all infrastructure details*
Source: http://www.brampton.ca/…/…/News/Pages/Media-Release.aspx/484
Last week there was a federal announcement for transit funding for Ontario. The Province provided matching funding and we assume municipalities have the option to contribute an amount they choose to.
There was some discussion in the #brampoli hashtag on how the funding was calculated for Brampton. First, here’s what was announced:
And here’s the specific Brampton reference:
How was the money for Brampton calculated? We contacted the Minister of Infrastructure office and received the below reply.
“Allocations for public transit for Phase 2 were developed from the Canadian Urban Transit Association’s (CUTA) 2015 Fact Book for conventional ridership, as this is the most recent data available. Specialized transit figures were also included, where applicable. These numbers were complemented with data provided by the provinces for non-CUTA recognized systems.
The calculation for the province [Ontario] was based on 70% ridership and 30% population formula. Within the province, allocations to each system were done on a 100% ridership basis.”
Further, in this news release by the City of Mississauga.
“Today’s investment will see over $800 million in dedicated funds – including matching funds from the province and the City of Mississauga – flow to the City of Mississauga over the next decade. This is good news for our community, our residents, and our future growth as a city. Mississauga is home to almost 800,000 residents from every country, and over 88,000 businesses. We are a city in demand and a place where the world comes to work. High-quality infrastructure allows us to compete on a global stage, attract new business, and most importantly, create jobs for our residents.
The key words in the news release are “including matching funds from the province and the City of Mississauga” (emphasis added)
To be clear, the City of Mississauga did not receive $800 million just from the federal government. The City itself made a contribution to get the number to $800 million. So, we look forward to seeing what the City of Brampton decides to do.
We received this email:
“Good afternoon,
As you may be aware, in 2007, the Ministry of Transportation began the Greater Toronto Area West Corridor Environmental Assessment (GTA West EA) to identify and address transportation needs in this area, with a focus on developing transportation projects.
In December 2015, the Minister of Transportation suspended the GTA West EA, and the ministry committed to a review of the project with the assistance of an advisory panel.
On February 9, 2018, after reviewing the advice of the panel, the Minister of Transportation announced that the province will not proceed with an environmental assessment for a proposed highway in the GTA West corridor. The news release of the announcement can be found at: https://news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2018/02/ontario-not-moving-forward-with-highway-for-gta-west-corridor.html.
However, the Ministry of Transportation and the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), initiated a joint study to identify a smaller corridor that will be protected for future infrastructure needs, such as utilities, transit or other transportation options. The goal of the study is to ensure that lands are protected so that infrastructure required to support future growth and development in the region can be accommodated without more significant impacts to the environment and the Greenbelt.
The study area for the new joint study is approximately one-third of the size of the area covered by the focused analysis area from GTA West EA, and will be protected as the study moves forward over the next 9-12 months. Information on the new study, including a map of the study area can be found at http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/publications/gta-west-report/north-west-gta-corridor.shtml. This study is not conducted as an environmental assessment, and any infrastructure development in the area would require the completion of an applicable environmental assessment.
For more information on the Northwest GTA Corridor Identification Study, please contact the study team by email at NorthwestGTA.corridor@ontario.ca, or by phone at 1-877-663-7167.
Sincerely,
Michael M. Casey
Manager, Provincial Planning Office
Ministry of Transportation
(416) 585-7255″
Fight Gridlock in Brampton 
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