Hurontario LRT

The Hurontario LRT (formerly the Hurontario–Main LRT) is a light rail line under construction in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, that extends into Brampton, Ontario.[2] This line will run along Hurontario Street. The line will be built and operated by a consortium of private European and Japanese companies.[3] As of 2010, it was likely that Metrolinx would own the line.[4]

Hurontario LRT
Looking north at Hurontario St/Highway 401 interchange
Overview
Type	Light rail
Status	Under Construction[1]
Locale	Mississauga, Brampton
Termini	Brampton Gateway Terminal Port Credit GO Station
Stations	19
Website	www.metrolinx.com
Operation
Planned opening	Fall 2024
Owner	Metrolinx
Operator(s)	Transdev (within Mobilinx consortium)
Rolling stock	Alstom Citadis Spirit
Technical
Line length	18 kilometres (11 mi)[2]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	750 V DC overhead catenary
Operating speed	80 km/h (50 mph)
Route map Brampton Gateway County Court Ray Lawson Highway 407 Hwy 407 Maintenance Yard Brampton Mississauga border Derry Courtneypark Highway 401 Britannia Matheson Bristol Eglinton Highway 403 City Centre Square One Mississauga Transitway Robert Speck Burnhamthorpe Fairview Cooksville Milton line Dundas Queensway North Service QEW Mineola Port Credit Lakeshore West line

The Cities of Mississauga and Brampton have determined that rapid transit along Hurontario is required due to the chronic overcrowding of Mississauga's (and the suburban Greater Toronto Area's) busiest bus route, 19 Hurontario, which carries more than 25,000 passengers a day, combined with the numerous high-density development proposals along the corridor and the high growth in both cities.[5] They have identified three options: light rail transit for the entire corridor, bus rapid transit for the entire corridor, or a combination of both (light rail south of Mississauga City Centre and bus rapid transit north of it).[6] After three public information sessions, the residents of both cities favoured light rail transit along the full length of the corridor.[7]

On October 28, 2015, Brampton City Council voted against allowing the LRT to run along the Main Street portion of the route because of concerns of low ridership projections and the preferences for an LRT along an alternate route. Thus, the LRT will terminate at the Brampton Gateway Terminal on Steeles Avenue instead of Brampton GO Station.[8]

Construction began in 2020 and the line is projected to enter service in fall 2024.[9] [10]

Procurement

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx are planning to deliver the Hurontario LRT project according to IO's Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP) model which basically is a public–private partnership arrangement.[11]

On October 18, 2016, IO and Metrolinx started the procurement process by issuing a request for qualifications to design, build, operate and maintain the Hurontario LRT. The request also asks bidders to supply 44 light rail vehicles, which implies that none of the 182 Flexity Freedom vehicles Metrolinx ordered in 2010 would operate on the line.[12]

On June 6, 2017, IO and Metrolinx announced that three teams had been shortlisted:[13]

• Hurontario Light Rail Connection Partners (HLCP) including equity providers Cintra, Colas and Acciona. In the HLCP team, the constructors are Acciona, Ferrovial, Colas, DPM Energy and LURA Consulting. The designers are Arup, SENER, Dillon Consulting, DTAH and Grimshaw. Operation and maintenance would be provided by RATP Dev, Acciona, and Colas Rail.
• Mobilinx including equity providers Astaldi, John Laing, Hitachi-Ansaldo STS Transdev and Amico. In the Mobilinx team, the constructors are Astaldi, Hitachi, Amico and Bot. The designers are IBI, Hitachi, Morrison Hershfield, Arcadis and Daoust Lestage. Operation and maintenance would be provided by Transdev, Hitachi-Ansaldo and Astaldi.
• Trillium Transit Partners including equity providers Kiewit, Meridiam and Keolis. In this team, the constructors are Peter Kiewit Sons, Bird, Mass Electric, Black and MacDonald and Coco Paving. The designers are Stantec Consulting, STV, Perkins + Will, Urban Strategies and Entuitive. Operation and maintenance would be provided by Keolis.

On December 1, 2017, IO and Metrolinx announced that the route would employ 44 Citadis Spirit vehicles, from Alstom.[14] These vehicles are longer and higher capacity than the Flexity Freedom vehicles purchased for earlier Metrolinx routes.

On March 21, 2019, IO and Metrolinx announced that the project would be scaled down to cut costs. About two kilometres of the City Centre loop were removed, along with two stations. The stop at Highway 407 and the pedestrian bridge at Cooksville GO Station were also removed.[15]

In May 23, 2019, IO and Metrolinx announced that proposal have been submitted by only two of the three shortlisted teams of private companies, namely Mobilinx and Trillium Transit Partners.[16][17] Hurontario Light Rail Connection Partners did not submit a proposal.[16][17]

On October 21, IO and Metrolinx announced that Mobilinx had been awarded the contract to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the Hurontario LRT for a period of 30 years. The total contract value was $4.6 billion and a completion date of Fall 2024 was set in the announcement.[3] John Laing, Astaldi, Transdev, Amico, and Hitachi are part of the consortium.

Costs

In 2016, the LRT line was projected to cost $1.4 billion.[18] (Prior to the cancellation of the Brampton portion of the line, the estimated cost was around $1.6 billion.[19]) On April 21, 2015, the Government of Ontario announced that it would completely fund the line, not including local capital costs such as utility relocations, surface upgrades, and landscaping.[20][21][22]

When Mobilinx was chosen as the winning bidder, the total contract value was $5.6 billion. This included $4.6 billion to design, build and finance plus $1 billion to operate and maintain the line for 30 years. The line was previously costed at $1.2 billion for capital costs only. The City of Mississauga is expected to cover the operating and maintenance costs.[23]

Route

The 18-kilometre (11 mi) LRT line will begin at the Port Credit GO Station and continue northward, crossing the Queen Elizabeth Way along the current northbound lanes of Hurontario, with the southbound lanes passing beneath the QEW in a new tunnel. At Dundas Street, it could connect to a proposed rapid transit line (either a BRT or an LRT). The LRT will indirectly connect to Cooksville GO Station using the LRT stop at John Street. The line continues northward until turning onto a single-stop spur[24] on Rathburn Road which provides a connection to BRT, City Centre Transit Terminal, and Square One Shopping Centre. The LRT then reverses back onto the mainline, crossing over Highway 403 on a new bridge before descending back to street level. The line will then end at Steeles Avenue where it will descend into an underground station, connecting with the 511 Züm Steeles BRT line at Brampton Gateway Terminal.

Right-of-way

As of the second Public Information Centre, the LRT will have a dedicated right-of-way throughout the entire corridor, except for a few sections at the segment north of Nanwood Drive, where the segregated right-of-way has been removed to allow left-turn or right-turn lanes. As a result, road space along most of the corridor will reallocate two car lanes to the LRT, leaving four lanes for general traffic. Some narrower sections of Hurontario Street in Port Credit will be reduced to one car lane per direction.[25][26]

The corridor will have their median lanes removed to make space for the LRT, with some exceptions such as:[25][26]

• Port Street, where two lanes at the south side will be taken away.
• Hurontario Street between Inglewood Drive and Lakeshore Road, where two lanes to the west side will be used for LRT, with a new bridge at Eaglewood Boulevard to compensate for the proposed removal of the intersection at Inglewood Drive.
• Rathburn Road, which will be widened at the south side, with two lanes taken away at the north side for the LRT.

Alternatives

The LRT line can have a few modifications along the route as it enters the later phases of the study:[4]

• The LRT line is designed to perform short turns within Mississauga City Centre from both directions in case of accidents, closures or high ridership loads.
• Within Mississauga City Centre, the LRT may cross Highway 403 in two ways:[25]
  • the mainline branch turns left at Square One Drive, then turns right to City Centre Drive, then meets with the downtown branch at Rathburn Road, then cross Highway 403 using a new bridge.
  • the downtown branch meets with the mainline branch at Hurontario Street north of Rathburn Road, requiring the Hurontario Street bridge to be widened to accommodate the LRT.
• Mayor Susan Fennell of Brampton proposed to run the 502 Züm Main along the entire LRT route to Port Credit. Mayor Hazel McCallion of Mississauga rejected the alternative proposal, citing gridlock south of Mississauga City Centre as a reason.[27]

Main Street cancellation

On October 28, 2015, Brampton City Council voted 7–4 against allowing the LRT to run along Main Street through its heritage downtown area, as originally planned by the province. Without this agreement, the province has indicate it will move ahead with the project, terminating the LRT at Steeles Avenue (Brampton Gateway Terminal) instead of Brampton GO Station.[8] Opposed council members had also previously cited a lack of projected growth along the northern half of the proposed Brampton route to support an LRT.[28]

Proponents said the Main Street route advocated by the province would have revived the city’s struggling downtown core. However, opponents argued that the Main Street route lacked potential for ridership and future growth.[8] According to City of Brampton's transit ridership data, the current ridership along Main Street has an average of 200 riders per hour per direction on weekdays and Brampton’s downtown has a ridership of about 450 passengers an hour.[29]

Although all councillors were in support of an LRT, they disagreed on the route it should take. Councillors opposing the Main Street route have proposed running the LRT east or west along Steeles Avenue and then north to Queen Street where it would then possibly continue east from Brampton's downtown area to the Bramalea GO Station or possibly all the way to the terminus of the western branch of the Toronto subway's Line 1 Yonge–University at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.[30] In March, 2013, Brampton City Council asked city staff to consider two alternative routes north from Steeles Avenue, either (1) partially north on Main Street, east to Peel Memorial Hospital, north to Queen Street and east to Brampton GO Station, or (2) north on Kennedy Road, west on Queen Street to Brampton GO Station.[31]

Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig said the provincial money allocated to the Main Street route in Brampton would now be available for other transit projects across the province. However, McCuaig also said Metrolinx would be open to evaluate alternate transit proposals from Brampton for provincial funding for the next round of transit initiatives.[8]

On November 3, 2015, Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca announced that the funding for the cancelled Main Street route will be invested in priority transit projects in the Greater Toronto Area which might or might not include Brampton.[32]

City Centre loop cancellation

A 2.4-kilometre (1.5 mi) branch-loop was planned around Mississauga City Centre and Square One Shopping Centre. The loop would have served most of the City Centre at a walking distance of 500 metres (1,600 ft), and included stops on Burnhamthorpe Road, Duke of York Boulevard, and Rathburn Road. On March 21, 2019, Metrolinx announced that most of the downtown loop would be cancelled due to financial restrictions, although a short spur and stop on Rathburn would remain.[24] Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie indicated that the rest of the loop could be built at a later phase.[15]

Operations

The LRT is planned to run every 5 minutes during rush hours, and every 10 minutes for the rest of the week. Service hours on the LRT corridor is planned to be between 5:00 AM and 1:30 AM Mondays to Saturdays and 7:00 AM to 12:00 AM on Sundays and holidays. Bus service is expected to supplement the remaining hours, making the Hurontario corridor have a 24/7 transit operation. The LRT will take 40 minutes to travel the whole route, compared to 58 minutes by private automobile.[25]

The LRT is planned to have multiple-unit trains, carrying up to about 600 people. Station will have platforms of at least 90 metres long to accommodate the trains.[25] The line will have between 15 and 21 substations to provide electricity for the LRT, which will be distributed evenly throughout the corridor. The LRT will operate on either 750 or 1500 volts of power.[25] Vehicles will be stored and maintained at a new facility adjacent to a hydro corridor and Highway 407.[25]

The line will use Alstom Citadis Spirit light rail vehicles, which will be manufactured at a new assembly plant in Brampton.[33] Due to issues with the manufacturing of the Flexity Freedom, Metrolinx was concerned that Bombardier would be unable to deliver enough trains on time for the opening of the Line 5 Eglinton; thus, Metrolinx ordered trains from Alstom as a contingency. Should the Flexity Freedom trains arrive on time for Line 5, the Citadis Spirits will instead be allocated to the Hurontario LRT.[34]

Existing bus service

Hurontario Street Corridor Interim Service Plan

Route	Terminus		Service Span and Average Frequency												Connecting Services
			AM Rush		Midday		PM Rush		Evening		Saturdays		Sundays
103 Hurontario Express	Trillium Health Centre	Brampton Gateway Terminal	10		10		10		20		20		22		Brampton Transit GO Transit MiWay Züm
502 Züm Main	City Centre Transit Terminal	Sandalwood Parkway	9		14		9		20		20		20
2 Main	Highway 407 Park and Ride	Heart Lake Terminal	20		20		20		30		30		30
2 Hurontario (South)	Port Credit GO Station	City Centre Transit Terminal	10		10		10		15-20		15-20		15-20
17 Hurontario (North)	City Centre Transit Terminal	Highway 407 Park and Ride	10		10		10		15-20		15-20		15-20

On May 16, 2011, MiWay realigned service along Hurontario to include limited-stop service (Route 202) during Saturdays for passengers wishing to bypass Square One.

In September 6, 2011, Brampton Transit launched its second bus rapid transit line, Route 502 Züm Main, which runs from Sandalwood Parkway to Mississauga City Centre all week long. This route replaced MiWay's 102 Intercity Express. Züm buses run every 10 minutes during rush hours and 20 minutes during off-peak hours and weekends.[35] The frequency of its local counterpart, 2 Main, was reduced to boost ridership in the express service.

At the same date, MiWay replaced 202 Hurontario with a new route, 103 Hurontario Express, which offers additional mid-day and evening services. Its local counterpart, 19 Hurontario, was cut to GO Transit's Highway 407 Park and Ride to fortify the overlapping express services, however its frequency was further increased to address ongoing overcrowding issues between Britannia and Lakeshore Roads, the busiest section of the corridor.[36] 103 Hurontario Express runs every 17.5 minutes during rush hours, 19 minutes during middays and 24 minutes during Saturdays.

On May 5, 2014, MiWay realigned service along Hurontario corridor once again to provide more 10-minute service on daytime along the express route during weekdays, while cutting Routes 19A, 19B, and 19C for the local service south of Trillium Health Centre, leaving only the main branch of Route 19 to serve the entire Mississauga portion of the corridor from Highway 407 to Port Credit.

On April 27, 2020, Miway has split the route 19 Hurontario into two routes: 2 Hurontario (South) operating between City Centre and Port Credit GO Station and 17 Hurontario (North) operating between the Highway 407 Park & Ride and City Centre to improve reliability during the LRT construction; while on August 3, 2020, route 103 Hurontario Express was truncated to end at the Trillium Health Centre discontinuing express service south of Trillium Health Centre to Port Credit GO Station.[37]

Stations and connections

There will be 19 stations throughout the corridor with an average spacing of 850 metres and will feature 90-metre platforms.[25] They are expected to have heated shelters, CCTV cameras, real-time information system and bicycle lockers. Most of them will feature secondary entrances, but since most of the corridor is currently suburban in nature, these secondary entrances create mid-block crossings throughout Hurontario and Main Streets, which enhance pedestrian access.[26]

In January 2018, to avoid conflict with existing transit stations in the Greater Toronto Area, a consultation process was started to select unique and memorable names for the stops at Steeles, Highway 407, Eglinton, Rathburn at Station Gate, Duke of York, Main at Burnhamthorpe, Central Parkway, and Dundas; the initial suggestions were Brampton Gateway, 407 & Hurontario, Eglinton & Hurontario, Mississauga City Centre, Celebration Square, The Exchange, Fairview, and Dundas & Hurontario, respectively.[38]

Stop location	Platform	Connections
Steeles Avenue	Centre, north side	Brampton Gateway Terminal Züm
Sir Lou Drive – County Court	Centre, north side	Brampton Transit bus routes: 2 Main 33 Peter Robertson Züm 502 Züm Main
Ray Lawson Boulevard – County Court	Centre, north side	Brampton Transit bus routes: 54 County Court 200 Turner Fenton SS 206 St. Augustine SS
Derry Road	Centre, north side	MiWay bus routes: 42 Derry 104 Derry Express
Courtneypark Drive	Centre, south side	MiWay bus route: 57 Courtneypark
Britannia Road	Centre, south side	MiWay bus routes: 39 Britannia 70 Keaton
Matheson Boulevard	Centre, north side	MiWay bus route: 25 Traders Loop 43 Matheson-Argentia
Bristol Road	Centre, north side	MiWay bus route: 10 Bristol-Britannia
Eglinton Avenue	Centre, north side	MiWay bus route: 35 Eglinton
City Centre	East side	Mississauga Transitway Square One Bus Terminal[15]
Robert Speck Parkway	Centre, north side	MiWay bus routes: 10 Bristol-Britannia 76 City Centre-Subway
Burnhamthorpe	Centre, south side	MiWay bus route: 26 Burnhamthorpe
Fairview	Centre, north side	MiWay bus routes: 53 Kennedy 304 Father Goetz-Mississauga Valley
Cooksville GO Station	Centre	Cooksville GO Station on Milton line
Dundas Street	Centre, south side	Future Dundas Street BRT Current MiWay routes: 1 Dundas 101 Dundas Express
The Queensway	Centre, south side	Trillium Health Centre bus terminal
North Service Road	Centre, north side
Mineola Road	Centre, south side	MiWay routes: 8 Cawthra 335 Glenforest South
Port Credit GO Station	Centre	Port Credit GO Station on Lakeshore West line

Benefits

Mississauga plans to use the Hurontario LRT to spur commercial development and employment opportunities along the line. According to Ed Sajecki, Commissioner of Planning and Building for Mississauga, downtown development had been mostly residential towers as developers felt it was to too expensive to provide parking for large office towers. Sajecki expects that the LRT will eliminate the need for downtown parking. With the LRT, downtown population is expected to double in less than two decades from its currently estimated 40,000. According to Mayor Bonnie Crombie, Mississauga is planning for mixed-use zoning along Hurontario including accommodation, businesses, commercial, retail and arts-cultural development.[39]

Criticism

• Brampton Council has argued that the LRT plan was directed by Mississauga with Brampton absent from negotiation.[28]
• Mississauga residents fear that LRT won't help them with their commutes and will hurt local businesses during the lengthy and expensive construction process.[40]
• Residents of the Kingsbridge Garden Circle area advocated for a stop in their area.[41] In addition, Kingsbridge Garden residents also advocated for the reallocation of a proposed traction power substation near their neighborhood.[42]

See also

• Mississauga Transitway
• Züm

References

1. https://blog.metrolinx.com/2019/12/09/how-will-the-eglinton-crosstown-lrts-automatic-train-control-work-we-break-down-every-major-element-in-an-infographic/
2. "Hurontario LRT project page". Metrolinx. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
3. "Contract Awarded for Hurontario LRT". www.infrastructureontario.ca. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
4. "Hurontario/Main Street Corridor Master Plan" (PDF). MMM Group. October 2010. p. 578. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
5. "Hurontario/Main Street Rapid Transit Benefits Case" (PDF). Metrolinx. June 2010. p. 51. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
6. "Connect10" (PDF). Cities of Mississauga and Brampton. October 2008. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-27. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
7. "Connect10" (PDF). Cities of Mississauga and Brampton. March 2010. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
8. Grewal, San (27 October 2015). "Brampton council rejects downtown LRT". The Toronto Star. Toronto. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
9. "Transdev Awarded Contract for Hurontario Light Rail Transit Project, Ontario, Canada". Newswire.ca. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
10. https://blog.metrolinx.com/2019/12/09/how-will-the-eglinton-crosstown-lrts-automatic-train-control-work-we-break-down-every-major-element-in-an-infographic/
11. "Finch West, Hurontario LRTs advance". 29 March 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
12. Ben Spurr (18 October 2016). "Metrolinx not counting on Bombardier for new LRT lines". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
13. "Teams Shortlisted For Hurontario LRT". 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
14. Divyesh Mistry (2017-12-01). "This Is What the LRT Cars Coming to Shoppers World Will Look Like". Bramptonist. Archived from the original on 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
15. Spurr, Ben (March 21, 2019). "Metrolinx scraps portion of Hurontario LRT in effort to cut costs". The Star. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
16. "Request for Proposals Closed for Hurontario LRT Project". 2019-05-23. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
17. "Two bids for Hurontario light rail project". 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
18. Oliver Moore (14 March 2016). "Toronto's grand transit plan (maybe, hopefully)". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
19. "Hurontario-Main Light Rail Transit (LRT)" (PDF). Metrolinx. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
20. Kalinowski, Tess (21 April 2015). "Liberals promise $1.6 billion for "transformational" Hurontario LRT". The Toronto Star. Toronto. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
21. "Ontario Moving Forward with Hurontario-Main Light Rail Transit Project". Government of Ontario News. 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
22. San Grewal (2015-07-03). "The Brampton LRT Debate: Yes or No?". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
23. Moore, Oliver (December 17, 2019). "Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath calls on Doug Ford to release third-party transit review of Hamilton LRT". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
24. "Metrolinx lops off the loop from Mississauga LRT". CBC. March 22, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
25. http://www.metrolinx.com/en/docs/pdf/hurontario_epr/Appendix_C4_June_2014_PIC2a.pdf
26. http://www.metrolinx.com/en/docs/pdf/hurontario_epr/Appendix_C4_June_2014_PIC1.pdf
27. Criscione, Peter. "Brampton LRT plan gets a no from Hazel". Torstar Network. The Mississauga News. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
28. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/07/08/lrt-route-backers-critics-spar-in-brampton-council-chamber.html
29. San Grewal, Urban Affairs Reporter (July 21, 2015). "Brampton mayor's LRT plan woefully short of riders". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
30. "Brampton council votes to reject provincially approved LRT". Metro News. October 28, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
31. San Grewal, Urban Affairs Reporter (8 March 2016). "Brampton council kills LRT tunnel proposal". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
32. "Brampton should not count on LRT funding: Transportation Minister". Metro News. November 3, 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
33. Belgrave, Roger (10 April 2018). "Brampton plant will build cars for Hurontario LRT project". BramptonGuardian.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
34. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/05/11/metrolinx-to-buy-vehicles-from-bombardier-competitor.html
35. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-09-25. Retrieved 2011-07-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
36. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-01-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
37. https://web.mississauga.ca/miway-transit/hurontario/
38. "Stop Naming Hurontario LRT". Metrolinx. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
39. San Grewal (18 July 2016). "LRT will completely transform Mississauga". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
40. http://www.insauga.com/the-lrt-is-brampton-hurting-or-helping-mississauga
41. Williams, Rachel (2018-01-04). "'Big problems': Mississauga residents fighting for LRT stop closer to home". Mississauga News. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
42. Cornwell, Steve (2019-11-12). "Mississauga residents rally to change Hurontario LRT plans". Mississauga.com. Retrieved 2019-11-15.

External links

• Official project website
• Metrolinx webpage for the project
• Hurontario Light Rail Transit - Virtual Open House (Spring 2020) on YouTube published by Metrolinx on June 12, 2020