The City of London has dramatically shifted its vision for rapid bus transit after staff recommendations to scrap a controversial tunnel and divide lines with a couplet on King Street and Queens Avenue was approved by a committee on Monday night.
Councillors voted nine to five in favour of an at-grade level crossing at the CP train tracks after nearly four hours of discussion at a meeting of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee.
Coun. Michael van Holst, Mo Mohamed Salih, Jesse Helmer, Phil Squire and Stephen Turner voted against the recommendation.
The couplet proved less polarizing; Coun. Squire and Turner were the only two who opposed it in a vote that carried 13-2. Coun. Josh Morgan abstained from both votes over a conflict of interest.
READ MORE: Staff recommending Richmond St. BRT corridor without tunnel, King/Queens couplet
But for some — like Salih — whether or not the new transit plan would be “rapid” hinged on whether or not it featured a tunnel.
“I’m a fan of rapid transit in the real sense,” said Salih. “I’m just not sure how successful it will be with some of the elements not being there at this stage.”
If the committee recommendation is approved by full council during a meeting Tuesday night, rapid transit buses will be delayed when trains cross through the heart of the city.
City staff say there are between nine and 10 trains each day at the Richmond Row crossing, causing an average delay of four to six minutes.
London Transit Commission (LTC) general manager Kelly Paleczny said there are potential workarounds for the delays.
That could include having buses be “short turned,” in which the bus directly behind one stuck at the tracks is asked to turn around and continue in the opposite direction.
“That allows us to stay on schedule — on that five minute schedule — the unfortunate piece of that whole thing from the rider’s perspective is, if I’m on my way heading south, and I’m on a bus that’s going to get short-turned, I’m going to be asked to get off that bus, because that bus is turning around.”
Councillors also approved a recommendation to focus the system’s north corridor along Richmond Street, rather than Wharncliffe Road.
That vote carried 10 to four.
Staff recommended on Friday that Richmond Street be the preferred route for its peak ridership.
Coun. Helmer, Van Holst, Salih, and Squire were opposed. Coun. Morgan, again, abstained.
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Most of Monday night’s debate — which took place in a meeting that started at 2:30 p.m. and ran shortly past 11 p.m. — focused mainly on a proposal for a tunnel that Mayor Matt Brown had championed up until last week.
“There was some new information that came available last week. And I have to say, I went through a range of emotions,” he said.
“I had a few things to say to the city manager and to the city engineer. But today, I say thank you. I thank you for your courage because that couldn’t have been good news to deliver.”
Staff said the projected capital cost for the contentious 900-metre tunnel under Richmond Row had ballooned from $90 million to $170 million.
“It was important for us to understand what significant change had occurred,” said Brown. “Our professionals are coming forward with a recommendation based on their expert advice, and that is to decouple the tunnel.”
Nothing is set in stone yet; the routes are set to be finalized before full council during Tuesday’s meeting.
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