Regional councillors split on new rapid transit report
Posted Apr 12, 2011 02:26:51 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Regional Councillors seem to be split down the centre rail when it comes to a staff report that says Light Rail Transit is still the best way to go.
The Planning and Works Committee spent almost two hours this morning speaking with staff and a rep from an expert council about a report that says the best thing for the Region is an LRT system from Conestoga Mall to Fairview Mall, which would eventually be expanded to the Ainslie Street transit terminal in Cambridge.
This report comes from a fresh round of public consultations that were held after provincial funding for an LRT system came up a couple hundred million dollars short of what was hoped for.
The Region’s Director of Rapid Transit, Nancy Button, says the consultations had a thousand people come out, and leave behind 705 written comments.
Button says of those comments, 66% were in favour of still going forward with Light Rail Transit, despite the extra costs to the Region’s taxpayers.
But some councillors openly expressed concerns about whether 705 written comments is enough of a basis for a decision in a population of 500,000.
She addressed some of the concerns while speaking to reporters…
Councillors Sean Strickland, Geoff Lorentz, Todd Cowan, and Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran were most vocal about those concerns.
Some Councillors also expressed concerns that the pro-LRT comments from the public consultation meetings in no way matched the overwhelmingly anti-LRT emails and comments they receive on a daily basis.
Councillor Strickland went so far as to say the emails he receives are 9 out of 10 against LRT.
But Kitchener mayor Carl Zehr and Committee Chair, Councillor Jim Wideman, expressed a different outlook, both suggesting the emails they get from the public aren’t nearly so anti-LRT, and those that are don’t appear to be informed of all the details of the plan.
Button agrees, saying the written comments submitted during the consultations are from people who came out to learn all the facts and hear the discussions.
She went on to explain the staff recommendations are also based staff analysis of the options, and input from a five-person expert panel on LRT, plus any emails or comments that came in outside the consultation process.
Button says common misconceptions about the LRT plan include how noisy it will be — she says LRT trains are actually quieter than traffic — and whether a fence will run down the centre of King Street — she says only a curb will separate the trains from the street.
Button adds, getting several hundred written comments is a phenomenal achievement.
There are more public consultations scheduled through to June 1, but the last two meetings are at Regional Council chambers, and may be rescheduled to allow some Councillors to attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities gathering.
At the start of the committee meeting, Regional Chair Ken Seiling, and Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig, both declared a pecuniary interest in the rapid transit issue and withdrew from the discussion.
They each said they have adult children who own property either on the rapid transit route or near a proposed LRT stop.
Councilor Rob Deutschmann also declared a pecuniary interest and withdrew.
