The LRT roller-coaster ride: your questions answered

Here’s what we know so far about the latest government offer to resurrect the controversial project

Hamilton’s decade-long LRT rollercoaster ride is not over yet.

Now that the province has breathed new life into a project it killed just 13 months ago, you may have questions.

Here’s what we know — and don’t know — about the latest effort to resurrect Hamilton’s on-again, off-again light rail transit line.

Is LRT dead or not?

I can’t keep track anymore.

Can’t blame you! The former Liberal government announced funding for Hamilton’s original LRT in 2015, changed the route twice and put a 14kilometre, 17-stop project out to tender in 2018 — shortly before losing the last election.

The new Progressive Conservative government then “paused” the light rail project in summer 2018, restarted work in April of 2019 and controversially cancelled the project in the middle of construction bidding just nine months later.

Somewhere in the middle a mayoral election was fought over LRT, too.

Anyway, the original project is still dead.

But Ontario now says it is willing to pay $1 billion to resurrect a cheaper, shorter version — so long as the federal government (and maybe the private sector?) covers the hefty $1.5-billion funding gap.

The new $2.5-billion total construction estimate assumes the truncated line ends in the east at Gage Avenue, rather than at Eastgate Square on the edge of Stoney Creek.

We don’t know anything yet about who

would build and run the line — although Ontario prefers a private-public partnership — or even whether council will support proposed route and funding changes. So the short answer is LRT 2.0 is still much more theory than reality.

What happens next? And when?

In the short term, the province says it will formally ask the federal government to fund a shorter Hamilton LRT. But it won’t have concrete cost estimates to share until “early spring.”

The federal government says it would welcome a “business case” for a Hamilton project. But the province does not have one of those ready yet, either.

Even if a revamped LRT project is approved and funded quickly, a new Metrolinx study suggests construction could not begin until 2023 at the earliest.

Shouldn’t city council vote on something this important?

The province decided to ask for federal LRT cash without a council vote and it remains unclear exactly how much say the city will have over any future decision to resurrect a project.

City manager Janette Smith said she is waiting for a provincial update on “next steps” for Hamilton.

The cancelled LRT project had council and environmental approvals in place — except an operating cost agreement with the city that was expected to spur debate (and still might.)

LRT supporter Mayor Fred Eisenberger says the “official position” of the city remains support for light rail transit construction on the Main-King corridor so long as it does not require city taxpayer capital funding.

Opponents — and there are several on council — argue a new route and funding formula warrants a new debate.

Why does it make sense to stop at Gage Avenue?

It doesn’t make sense, in an ideal world. But a nine-kilometre line is cheaper than a 14-kilometre line.

The province calls the truncated McMaster University to Gage Avenue proposal the “minimum” length of LRT line worth building. Hamilton’s cancelled project linked two major ridership hubs, the university and Eastgate Square, and that’s still the eventual goal.

The other reason to stop at Gage Avenue is a pesky CP rail spur that crosses King Street a short walk to the east. The original LRT plan called for a complicated underpass beneath the rail spur that would add tens of millions of dollars to the project price tag.

How likely is federal funding?

Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna has said the federal Liberals support LRT and would “welcome” a funding request. But that’s a long way from offering to pay more than half the tab.

The federal Liberals recently offered $1.3 billion to a Montreal metro line extension, so large funding commitments do happen. But it is unclear how much money there is to go around.

On one hand, the federal government announced Wednesday it would spend $15 billion on transit across the country over the next eight years, including nearly $6 billion on transit projects designed to juice the post-pandemic economy. Local LRT boosters argue Hamilton’s “shovel-ready” project is tailor-made for that cash.

On the other hand, the province says Hamilton LRT is one of five “priority projects” submitted for federal transit funding consideration. But Ontario has already asked the federal Liberals to fund 40 per cent of the first four projects — major GTA subway and LRT expansions — that are collectively worth $28.5 billion.

Are there other funding options on the table?

The city is on record saying it cannot afford to pay any capital dollars toward LRT.

But construction union LIUNA, a major fan of a project that could provide both jobs for members and lucrative development opportunities, has proposed offsetting construction costs with private investment.

Vice-president Joe Mancinelli has said LIUNA’s pension arm has offered to invest in the project with an eye toward a longterm return on investment. A study from LIUNA partner Fengate Capital last year suggested an investment trade-off for development opportunities along the LRT line.

Another possible source of federal construction cash could be loans from the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

Why didn’t the province ask for federal funding before cancelling the original LRT?

That’s a good question. The city’s original LRT project agreement with Metrolinx actually specified the partners would ask for federal help in the event of cost overruns.

At the time of cancellation, the province argued the overall project tab would be $5.5 billion, including almost $1 billion in operating and maintenance costs it claimed would be “downloaded” to the city.