Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson is worried about “another stadium debacle.”
He’s pushing for significant daily financial penalties against the consortium that will be chosen to build Hamilton’s Light Rail Transit (LRT) line, if construction is not completed on schedule.
Ferguson also wants specifics in the contract in terms of a maximum amount of road that can be opened up at one time during construction.
He notes that “in four years time, we’re going to the polls again, and if this whole city is dug up, it’s going to be a difficult campaign.”
Without such guarantees, Ferguson adds, “this sounds eerily similar to the stadium, and we all know how that worked, it was a disaster.”
Kris Jacobson, acting director of the LRT project, worries about tying the builder’s hands, noting that “we’re giving them a five-year construction window and need to provide them with some level of flexibility.”
Construction is to begin next year and to be completed in 2024.
City politicians also heard on Thursday that $73 million has been spent to date on the Hamilton LRT and the staff update lays out several adjustments to the project, which will include 17 stops from McMaster University to Eastgate Square.
The 14-kilometre line will be a combination of side and centre running, primarily along Main Street, and 22 of approximately 90 full property purchases that are necessary along the corridor have been completed.
Project Manager Trevor Horzelenberg adds that negotiations continue with others, for now, on a willing buyer, willing seller basis.
He acknowledges that expropriation “will most likely be required and will begin at some point over the next 12 months,” where voluntary purchases can’t be achieved.
There’s also confirmation now that the Longwood Bridge over Highway 403 will have to be replaced to accommodate an LRT operations and maintenance facility in Hamilton’s west end.
In 2015, Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government committed $1 billion to build Hamilton LRT.
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