Categories
Brampton Infrastructure Politics Transit

Terminal Gateway: how bad decisions will affect the safety thousands of daily transit riders

Last month, Metrolinx held a virtual open house to present information on the progress of the Hurontario LRT project, planned work, and details on some of the stops along the line. For now, roadwork is limited to median removal and utility relocation, but by next year, heavy construction will commence along the 18-kilometre long corridor. […]

Categories
Brampton Development Urban Planning

The death and life of Shoppers World Brampton

Shoppers World Brampton is destined for development as an urban mixed-use hub. The planning details have now been revealed.

Categories
Brampton Cycling Infrastructure Roads Transit

A better Hurontario Street – an LRT update

When the LRT is opened on Hurontario Street, it will be safer and more pleasant for pedestrians and cyclists.

Categories
Brampton Walking

Brampton’s Etobicoke Creek: floods, concrete, and new public spaces

Over at Spacing, I wrote about a recent Jane’s Walk that I led on Downtown Brampton and Etobicoke Creek. Until a concrete diversion channel was built in the 1950s, Downtown Brampton would regularly flood as it was built right on top of the creek. The concrete diversion, fenced off and cut off from both the downtown core […]

Categories
Brampton Transit Urban Planning

GO Transit and the high cost of “free” parking, Part II: Brampton Boogaloo

GO and VIA Trains meet at Brampton Station September 20, 2016 update: Metrolinx has begun the process of demolishing its newly-acquired Downtown Brampton properties. It has applied for a demolition permit for 28A and 28B Nelson Street West, two semi-detached dwellings that were built in 2001. In the  City of Brampton, demolition permits for residential properties must be […]

Categories
Brampton Transit

Digging a hole on Main Street

Most people that know me know that I’m a fan of The Simpsons. There’s a scene at the end of a classic episode, entitled “Homer the Vigilante,” where several characters, including Homer Simpson, Otto Mann, Mayor Quimby, and Police Chief Wiggum are stuck in a hole, looking for a non-existent buried treasure. The final few minutes of […]

Categories
Brampton Transit Urban Planning

The terminus of the Hurontario LRT: an opportunity for something better

Downtown Brampton, the logical terminus of the Hurontario-Main LRT I’ve written several times about the Hurontario-Main light rail transit (LRT) project on this blog. Last summer, I led a walk along Main Street, discussing Downtown Brampton’s wonderful built heritage, the potential for Main Street, and explaining why alternative routes, proposed by councillors and private interests, weren’t feasible. […]

Categories
Brampton Politics Transit

On Brampton’s short-sighted Hurontario-Main LRT decision

LRT mockup at Gage Park, Brampton On late Tuesday night (actually, early Wednesday morning) Brampton City Council made disappointing and harmful decision by voting against the Hurontario-Main LRT, a 23.2 kilometre, $1.6-billion light rail line, whose construction costs would be fully covered by the province. This followed another marathon meeting back in July in which a final decision was […]

Categories
Brampton Politics Transit

Updated: The Toronto Star’s shameful reporting on the Hurontario-Main LRT

As of Tuesday, July 28, the Toronto Star has not published any letter to the editor responding to last Tuesday’s front-page article by San Grewal questioning the ridership of the northern section of the Hurontario-Main LRT, or any corrections. I find myself very much disappointed by this. I know I was not the only reader […]

Categories
Brampton Politics Transit

Why Brampton’s Main Street needs the LRT

For the first twenty-five years of my life, I lived in Brampton. I still have family and friends who live there, and while I was happy to move to a place of my own in Toronto (first in North York, later to the old City of Toronto), I still have a soft spot for my […]