By Amrit Toor
Via 4Corners Brampton

1. SO WHAT THE HECK IS THIS LRT THING AND WHY SHOULD I CARE ANYWAY?

LRT stands for Light Rail Transit. Think street cars meet subway. It serves as a modern public transit option (we‘ll get to say “hey Toronto, our rail is sexier“), and it’s quiet.

You should care because the backbone to every city is its transportation infrastructure. Making travel easier by transit will make life easier for all of us. Right now, there is a proposal to link Mississauga’s Hurontario Line to our downtown core.The vote for this is happening on July 8th.

HMLRT corridor mapR7_June2014

The provincial government, is proposing to build a 23 km LRT along Hurontario/Main corridor from Port Credit in Mississauga to Downtown Brampton.

2. OK, WHAT’S THE CATCH?  

City councillors have to say yes. At last check, most of them are saying no.

The province was nice enough to allocate $1.6 billion to build the LRT for us if we allow it to go into downtown Brampton. IF WE LET THEM BUILD IT, THEY’LL BUILD IT FOR FREE. Your municipal taxes will not change.

Call your city councillor and express your views on the LTR going through downtown. 

Ward 1 & 5

Grant Gibson – Wards 1 and 5 (Regional Councillor)
grant.gibson@brampton.ca – 905.874.2605

Elaine Moore – Wards 1 and 5 (Regional Councillor)
elaine.moore@brampton.ca – 905.874.2601

Ward 2 & 3

Martin Medeiros – Wards 3 and 4 (Regional Councillor)
martin.medeiros@brampton.ca – 905.874.2634

Jeff Bowman – Wards 3 and 4
jeff.bowman@brampton.ca – 905.874.2603

Ward 2 & 6

Michael Palleschi – Wards 2 and 6 (Regional Councillor)
michael.palleschi@brampton.ca – 905.874.2661

Doug Whillans – Wards 2 and 6
doug.whillans@brampton.ca – 905.874.2606

Ward 7 & 8

Pat Fortini – Wards 7 and 8
pat.fortini@brampton.ca – 905.874.2611

Gael Miles – Wards 7 and 8 (Regional Councillor)
gael.miles@brampton.ca – – 905.874.26710

Ward 9 & 10

John Sprovieri – Wards 9 and 10 (Regional Councillor)
john.sprovieri@brampton.ca – 905.874.2610

Gurpreet Dhillon – Wards 9 and 10
gurpreet.dhillon@brampton.ca – 905.874.2609

3. BUT WON’T THE LRT RUNNING THROUGH DOWNTOWN RUIN BRAMPTON’S HERITAGE?

Not true: The downtown Brampton houses that line Main Street are heritage buildings, meaning they will be protected at all costs.

If historic European cities with thousands of years of heritage can have LRT, Brampton will do just fine.

Terminal of line 23
Terminal of line 23

4. WHY DO WE WANT TO MAKE IT GO THROUGH DOWNTOWN SO BADLY?

There are two reasons for this :

  1. If we say no to the Main street LRT, all funding will be pulled and we’ll have to tax ourselves to build new infrastructure. We won’t get an alternate route down ANY other street in Brampton.
  2. It will revitalize downtown, and provide easier access to the core of the city. We can finally start enjoying the sexy new TV in garden square, maybe actually go to a show at Rose theatre.

5. BUT THE ROADS ARE SO NARROW IN DOWNTOWN BRAMPTON DOWNTOWN, WON’T IT BE SO CONGESTED?

A recent study has shown that three LRT vehicles coupled together can carry the equivalent of four lanes on the 410. Not to mention cities with similar roads have rails going both ways on their tiny street.

Untitled-2

6. IT HELPS US BE BETTER CANDIDATES FOR A MUCH NEEDED UNIVERSITY!

The city has been looking to get a tier one university for years. We have another chance and we need to submit a proposal to the provincial government to get it approved by the end of 2015. A robust transportation system will make us stand out over Halton region, which is also looking to get a university.

If we are to get a university, we’d need to sustain thousands of new people coming from all over Canada to the city. Downtown Brampton is that primary spot, where we have VIA rail service and GO Transit to allow people to travel from not just the GTA, but across the country. The downtown LRT  will be the system that connects people to the downtown station.

4552836657_162ef97444_b

BOTTOM LINE

We may have to live with the fact that we live in a democratic city who’s councillors voted NO to building the most important infrastructure in the city: Transportation, The one thing that could revitalize downtown Brampton to be the place where people, young and old want to spend time.

So do your future generations a favour: call your councillor and tell them to vote yes for LRT in downtown Brampton.

Also co-Authored by Simran Kamboj & reviewed by various other members of the community such as Kevin Montgomery, & J. Deen Amin.

To find out more about the Brampton LRT here : Fight Gridlock