LRT meeting heats up
Posted Jun 1, 2011 04:35:52 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The first of two Public Input Meetings at Regional Council regarding Light Rail Transit was widely attended.
Seventy delegates had signed up to speak to council, all with an opinion on light rail, some heated, some just wanting their voices heard.
Men, women, young, old, business owners, students, former and current politicians, you name it, they showed up, and they had something to say.
Topics ranged from ripping up King Street, to suspended rapid transit, to the length of time for the project, to the amount of money involved, to whether or not it would look good, and how much standing room would be in a light rail train.
Harald Drewitz believes it’s not right having the most important decision in Waterloo Region’s history potentially being voted on by just 6 out of 16 councillors.
Mike Boos, of Kitchener is trained as both an Engineer and a Researcher. He said the best decisions are the ones supported by evidence and scrutiny by peer review, and this LRT project has both.
CEO of the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo, Tim Jackson believes that the decision made by council will be a defining moment in the Region’s legacy as much as 100 years down the road.
Former Waterloo Councillor Susan Forwell Recchia believes that there is a much better way to spend the tax dollars: Rapid transit from Kitchener to Toronto to eliminate the congestion from city-to-city.
Andrew Dodds pointed out that in the Region’s budget $23-million comes from GRT fairs while only four percent use GRT, and the 85-percent that use vehicles, they only generate $14 million, so every percent you shift over to GRT is another $6-million annually.
Richard Hobson believes that we can find something affordable, easy to manage, flexible and deals with Cambridge, responds to Waterloo and gives Kitchener what it needs, all while not hurting the farmers.
