Let's GO for it

History will record that Hamilton came of age yesterday with a transit announcement made in a non-descript Toronto hotel ballroom.

By Terry Cooke, Last Updated Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Published in the Hamilton Spectator on Wednesday, September 24, 2008.

Make no small plans. They have no magic to stir humanity's blood and probably themselves will not be realized.

-- 19th-century architect Daniel Burnham

History will record that Hamilton came of age yesterday with a transit announcement made in a non-descript Toronto hotel ballroom.

The $50-billion "Big Move" unveiled by Metrolinx chair Rob MacIsaac will forever change the form, functioning and economic prospects of our city.

In MacIsaac's words, the plan will "cement Hamilton's place as an integral hub of the GTA transit network and spur significant economic activity throughout the region."

It also threatens to shift our centre of political gravity from Hamilton City Hall to Metrolinx's headquarters in Toronto.

The specific commitments include all-day express electrified GO service between downtown Hamilton and Union Station and a much anticipated light-rapid transit line connecting McMaster University and Eastgate Square.

It also contemplates a future north-south rapid transit connection between downtown and Hamilton's airport.

Even hard-bitten Hamilton cynics will have trouble disliking all of the positive elements of these announcements.

LRT is a modern, efficient and reliable way to move large numbers of people quickly. It will also inevitably attract investment, create jobs and increase property values throughout the city.

It may even succeed in changing a well-earned local political reputation for endless partisan gridlock and the inability to get big things done.

"The Big Move" does leave a number of political and financial challenges still to be resolved. But none of them appear insurmountable.

When I asked MacIsaac directly at the media conference how much of the plan was predicated on federal or municipal capital contributions, he hedged. Later, he confirmed that while the province is committing the lion's share of the capital necessary, there will still be some municipal capital funding required and the issue of operating costs is unresolved.

He also admits the plan badly needs the assistance of the federal government if it is to proceed as aggressively as Metrolinx and the province would prefer.

To date, the federal Liberals and the NDP have made campaign commitments, but the Conservative have been silent.

Meanwhile, our city council needs to gets its head around the planning imperatives that will go hand in glove with all-day GO service and an east-west LRT.

For the cost benefit analysis to make sense for LRT, the city must demonstrate it is committed to significantly higher densities along the route.

Such planning changes will not occur without neighbourhood pushback and city council must demonstrate resolve in committing to maximizing development opportunities and assessment growth adjacent to the LRT as positive byproducts of the new transit infrastructure.

The final and, perhaps, most difficult political challenge associated with the "Big Move" is how the province intends to pay for it.

Congestion pricing (road tolls) on 400 series highways in the GTA and Hamilton are inevitable, in my opinion.

But MacIsaac has taken a tactical decision - almost certainly after discussions with Premier Dalton McGuinty - to delay that battle until the public can see the benefits of the initial five years of improvements to the system.

That promises to be a fascinating fight, but one well worth winning.