Ontario Construction News staff writer
The City of Hamilton will use $370 million to expand its bus system ahead of an LRT construction project.
The Government of Canada is contributing over $201.8 million and Ontario is providing more than $168.2 million. The City of Hamilton’s share is $148.8 million.
“This funding, along with the federal government’s previously announced support for Hamilton’s LRT project, together represent an historic, generational investment in transit in Hamilton,” said Mayor Fed Eisenberger.
“This will allow us to expand transit like never before, making it faster, more affordable, more reliable and more convenient. This in turn will attract more riders than ever before, which in turn makes roads less congested and is good for the environment.”
Funded projects include:
- Construction of a new 60,000-sq. m. public transit maintenance and storage facility. The facility will include a 30-bus maintenance area, two indoor CNG fueling lanes, two bus wash rack systems, storage for 200 conventional size buses, approximately 4,000 square metres of administration space and a four-level parking structure to accommodate approximately 400 parking spaces for employees
- Replacement of Birch Avenue bridge and associated road Work /construction of Salt management facility, replacement of a rail bridge, completion of associated road work and the construction of a salt management facility.
- Dispatching and AVL hardware and software replacement – Installation of new dispatch and automatic vehicle location systems on buses in the transit fleet to provide automated real-time detour and service interruption information to transit users.
- Expansion of transit fleet – purchase of up to 85 40-ft. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses, which will enable the city of Hamilton to expand its fleet and increase public transit service by an additional 300,000 service hours by 2026.
- Construction of active transportation connections – a 185-m. active transportation bridge, 1.4 km. of new bike paths, 420 m. of upgraded bike paths and up to 500 new bike parking spaces.
- Implementation of priority bus movement on the 16-kilometre A-Line rapid transit route. Work includes construction of five new queue jump lanes, implementation of transit signal priority measures at approximately 26 intersections, improvements to approximately 19 transit stops along the corridor and approximately 17 kilometres of new sidewalk construction.
Projects will contribute to the network of BLAST corridors designed to connect residents from the lower city to the mountain, waterfront and the airport.
“Investing over $200 million in Hamilton’s public transit system, to improve the A-Line Rapid Transit Corridor, purchase new buses, construct new bike paths, and support a new storage and maintenance facility will reduce commute times and help workers, students, seniors and families across Hamilton and beyond get where they need to go faster, cleaner and in affordable ways,” said Catherine McKenna, Canada’s minister of infrastructure and communities.