Minutes for the June 17, 2008 Meeting

Summary of the discussion and action items from the June 17, 2008 meeting.

By , Last Updated Friday, July 11, 2008

1. Overview of public works committee decision to proceed to phase 2 of rapid transit initiative with a focus on light rail

  • Now going to full council and is expected to pass with ease. Update: the recommendation was passed by council).

  • Nicholas outlined his presentation on behalf of HLR to the committee

    • one question from a councillor after presentation to clarify costs (investment vs. ROI)

  • Public works (PW) staff were in attendence and talked about:

    • Public works was asked by councillors to get more public feedback

    • PW will hold more consultations and have new ideas to get this feedback

    • PW will look at Clairmount Access as an alternative to a tunnel up the mountain, in order to meet a tight September deadline they will not look at the Jolly cut

    • PW tried to get a light rail car to display in Gore park but two major companies said the car(s) they use for such displays were not in North America

    • PW will contact Alstrom as well

    • Whether two ways on Main or on both King and Main is not a current priority so will be left for a latter stage

    • Need to do an environmental assessment

    • Examining possible staging of construction, ie if it is possible to build in sections and if so which ones

    • PW sees HLR's role to continue to promote LRT in the community and with the media, a role PW as part of the city has limited ability to do

2. Nicholas' trip to Bordeaux, France

  • Spoke to head of economic development in Bordeaux:

    • Two year construction period, extremely disruptive, chose to do it all at once

    • Merchant subsidy was created

    • At the same time completely rebuild the streets (one way to two ways, cycling lanes, sidewalks…)

    • Added waterfront park

    • Required all property owners on the lines to renovate building façades at their own expense

    • In retrospect it worked but in the short term was disruptive

    • Created 10-15 km at once including in the centre of the city

    • Should have made longer platforms as was more popular than anticipated and don't have the ability to use longer trains

    • Increased city pride

3. Updates on LRT endorsements

  • New letters of support: Realtors Association, Chamber of Commerce, President of McMaster (Peter George)

  • Other letters: Ward 2 neighbourhood association (need to get a hold of it), homebuilders (expected soon), Downtown BIA (unsure), International BIA (unsure)

4. Glossy one-page handout created by Simon

  • Cost $1.10 each (with colour right to edge)

  • Idea to put handout on the site as a PDF

  • Give to council members who did not get a copy as they are not part of the public works committee

  • Best to hand out individually or personally to small groups into order to attain maximum impact taking into account cost

  • Possibly sent copy to those in support

5. Next outreach steps

  • Mac staff not only profs but all other staff, possibly via union

  • Staff at Mac hospital, Mohawk, airport, malls (ie large employers)

  • Nicholas talked to student union, use connection with current transit pass, highlight access to GO and bus overcrowding issues

  • Link with McMaster Innovation Park

  • Need to create an overall political and media strategy, most notably understanding the views of each councillor

  • Parking issues need to be taken into account, especially at the end of the lines

Next Meeting

The next HLR/TUG meeting will be on Tuesday, July 15, 7:30 PM, at the FRWY Cafe, 333 King Street East (at Wellington St. N.) Hamilton, ON L8N 1C1.