London city councillors are expected to vote Tuesday on whether to look into alternate routes to the city’s proposed $560-million bus rapid transit path or move forward with the current plan.
The decision comes after city staff held meetings with King and Richmond Street businesses who shared concerns regarding the BRT plan’s uncertainty.
With rising tensions across the city, Mayor Matt Brown thinks tonight’s decision will provide clarification on the next phase of the project.
“This is a key point in the process because we’ll be deciding whether we approve the routes as they are or take a little more time and take a second look at some other possibilities that might be available to us,” he said.
For some, the decision may lead to a full stop ahead on the road.
Several downtown businesses have been outspoken in the fight for alternative options to the proposed routes along King and Richmond Street.
Down Shift London, an umbrella group for downtown merchants, was formed following concerns over a reduction in parking and loading zones as well as road and pedestrian traffic. The grassroots organization chose its brand as a play on the name given to the proposed plan, Shift.
The BRT plan would include high-frequency buses running on L- and seven-shaped routes bisecting London, potentially affecting merchants in the downtown core.
Originally staff proposed converting a section of King Street outside of Budweiser Gardens into a single lane of eastbound traffic, with two lanes for BRT. However, concerns over reduced parking and street and pedestrian traffic led to a proposal to put dual bus lanes east of Wellington Road – one running on King and another on Queens.
Richmond Street merchants raised concerns over a proposed $90-million BRT exclusive tunnel running under the downtown street following concerns over bus ridership, parking spots and especially tunnel construction.
An alternate option to avoid Richmond Row would take the tunnel west out of downtown by using Wharncliffe Road as a major route.
Regardless of the decision, Brown ensures that council is budgeting carefully for the next steps following tonight’s meeting.
“It’s a significant expense connected to the overall work. We also have to recognize that this is a $560-million budget entirely,” he said. “So have we budgeted it for surprises that might pop up along the way? Absolutely.”
The civic works committee accepted a recommendation last week from the bus rapid transit implementation working group that initially proposed staff develop two alternate routes. The group also encouraged negotiating strategies with businesses and organizing the city’s second public participating meeting on BRT, set for May.
Proposed routes to the largest project in the city’s history aren’t expect to be finalized until June.
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