By Amanda Quinn
Centretown residents fear a proposed new light rail system will further snarl downtown traffic and duplicate transit programs already in place, city staff heard last week.
At the third and final public open house before the city presents its final plans for the $675-million project in June, citizens living along the proposed route expressed a range of concerns with staff and engineers.
Andrew Lay, a resident on Slater Street between Bronson Avenue and Bay Street, says the current bus system provides adequate service.
“Let’s spend our tax dollars properly,” he says. “Why run two forms of transit doing the exact same thing through the cramped confines of downtown?”
Lay says he doesn’t buy the city’s argument that the bus system is at capacity. He says he watches empty buses drive by his home every day during rush hour.
“They claim the buses are full, but I’d like to see a study that proves that,” he says.
“I’m open to be sold on the idea, just give me some concrete answers.”
Overall, Lay argues the city will not alleviate traffic congestion downtown by removing a car lane and replacing it with light rail.
“Eliminating one lane of traffic will only worsen the problem they’re trying to fix,” he says. “I’ll be there in June to see if they took any of my suggestions seriously.”
Peter Steacy, a principal engineer of the project, acknowledges the frustrations of some and adds the city is open to all suggestions.
“The whole point is to get feedback from the people,” Steacy says. “These are the early plans and are open to public opinion.”
During the open house, the public was able to review route plans and possible station locations. They were also told why Albert and Slater streets were selected as the downtown corridor.
According to the city, Wellington, Sparks and Queen streets as well as Laurier Avenue were also considered for the downtown route, but Albert and Slater streets were deemed more conducive to light rail.
“We have decided that having two streets that run parallel with one another and are both one-way is safer and less confusing for a train, buses and cars to run on,” says principal engineer Dennis Callan.
Callan adds the city considered having two-way trains on just one of the streets, but Albert and Slater were deemed too “narrow” for that.
Melanie Ransom lives and works downtown and says she came to the open house to find out if bicycle lanes were included in the plans for the Albert and Slater route.
As the president of Citizens for Safe Cycling, she is frustrated that plans don’t include any.
“It’s a grim day for cyclists,” she says.
“An engineer told me they were consulting with bicycling groups in the city, but I haven’t heard from them.”
Ransom says she supported the project for environmental reasons, but is starting to question her position.
“I was supporting the plan because it would hopefully get more people out of their cars,” she says.
“But that changed when I realized they were trying to push cyclists out.”
There is concern among cyclists in the community about the downtown corridor of the train, says Ransom, who is now looking forward to speaking with city engineers.
“There has been a lot of discussion and concerns about this in our community. I expect to hear from the engineers, at least that’s my hope.”
The city will review the comments and suggestions made by those who attended the open house and, according to their plans, “incorporate the comments received” and “revise the plans as required.”
The proposed final plans will be presented at a public open house in June.