Mayor Fred Eisenberger urges Hamilton LRT critics to ‘read the tea leaves’

Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger’s re-election will not end the light rail transit debate.

Eisenberger notes that while the $1-billion, provincially funded project is out to tender, Hamilton City Council will have to finalize an operating agreement with Metrolinx in the months ahead.

More than half of those elected to the new city council on Monday night are either non-committal or campaigned against the LRT project.

The mayor acknowledges he’ll need some who are in the middle to “read the tea leaves,” and ultimately come “onside” based on the election results.

Eisenberger says voters have spoken loud and clear that they “support moving forward on LRT.”

Hamilton Chamber of Commerce President Keanin Loomis agrees that “there’s a lot more politicking to happen,” but he’s pleased that the project, a 14-kilometre light rail transit line from McMaster University to Eastgate Square, lives “to fight another day.”