Much more than $1 billion at stake with LRT
LRT is infrastructure. In fact, it’s the best kind of infrastructure — it delivers a long-term return on investment.
Anyone who tells you that Hamilton can spend the billion dollars earmarked for LRT on whatever “we” want is gambling with Hamilton’s future, has no alternative plan and will be held accountable for far more than a billion dollars in lost opportunity.
In fact there’s no billion dollars sitting around for B-Line LRT. Instead, it’s a solid business plan that is being financed over 30 years and paid for by rider fares, plus the development and increased property values it will unlock all along the 14kilometer corridor. If our LRT plan goes away, the business case for this investment in Hamilton evaporates as well. Then we’re back to the drawing board, fighting for the same dwindling scraps that all other Ontario communities are coveting.
If a new council decides to flush down the toilet the $105 million we’ve already spent on LRT, we don’t have a backup plan. It took us 10+ years to plan for LRT; how long will it take 16 parochial politicians, all eager for their own slice of the pie, to come to an agreement on how to spend $1 billion?
The Ford government is rightly very focused on bringing down Ontario’s deficit as our province is on an unsustainable path. But it also means that every expenditure must be carefully scrutinized. No government that is concerned about balancing the budget will provide us with anything more than we’re already entitled to for roads or infrastructure if the investment doesn’t generate revenue. It is important to remember just what is at stake. As I’ve written before, the costs of doing nothing are far more than $1 billion.
Here’s what we stand to lose:
• A $1 billion dollar investment into upgrading infrastructure along an aged, 14-kilometer corridor, including all underground water, electric and sewer utilities, new bridges, pavement, sidewalks and stations (in fact, the train and track is really just a small percentage of the overall spending);
• 10+ years and $60 million spent on planning and engineering;
• $45 million in property expropriated by the province that will be sold at a discount because the promise of those properties being served by LRT has vanished;
• $450 million in direct economic impact attributed to the 3,500 construction jobs that the project will create;
• Hundreds of millions, if not billions, in intensifying development and economic uplift, and the tax revenue that those increases generate in perpetuity;
• A city strategic plan and mission statement that aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on;
• Our reputation among the private sector companies that are needed to invest in Hamilton;
• What little dignity we have left (this will be much more damaging than the stadium saga that made us a laughingstock);
• Our relationships with higher levels of government (who would give us money to do anything “big” again?);
• Years of progress in reshaping our image and regaining our confidence;
• The enthusiasm of the thousands of people that have recently been attracted to Hamilton: The Ambitious City.
Once again, Hamilton’s business, labour, transit, environmental and poverty groups are being required to voice their support for LRT. Our hospitals, educational institutions, boards of education and anchor institutions that employ and serve tens of thousands of Hamiltonians have determined that LRT is important to their operations. Developers and our top companies say LRT is motivating them to further invest in Hamilton. Hundreds of companies, big and small, have added their support to the project. That’s an impressive array of community groups and leaders who understand the value of a bird in hand. Planning is nearly complete and the political games need to end. .