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8/11/2019 FOI Documents

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Memorandum

Hamilton

Public Works

Date:

To:

From:

Subject:

February 2, 2010

Mayor Fred Eisenberger, Mayor

Jillian Stephen, Director,.Strategic Planning & Rapid Transit

Public Works

Updated Memo - Hamilton Benefits Case Analysis - Discussions with

Metrolinx

Further to the memo I provided last night, please find below some additional information

and clarification for your use at this afternoon's meeting with senior Metrolinx officials

and Board Members.

January 291 2010 - Discussions with Metrolinx Staff

Carla Ippolito (Hamilton staff) did not attend the meeting with John Howe, Michael

Sutherland and Karen Woo regarding the BCA and the Metrolinx Board report

recommendations on January 29, 2010.

The Big 5 Proiects

The Big 5 Projects are included in the list of Priority Projects.

Specifically, the Big 5

are:

O

O

VIVA B us Rap id Transit (BRT );

Shep pard East Light Rail Transit (LRT);

Finch LRT ;

Eglinton Crosstown LRT; and

Scarborough Rapid Transit

An update on the Big 5 was given at the Metrolinx Board meeting on November 16,

2009. The minutes of this meeting are not yet available on-line, however, a copy of the

PowerPoint update is available. From this presentation, we can see that $9.6B has

been committed for these projects, and that there is 100% Provincial funding for eligible

capital costs. The projects will be owned and controlled by Metrolinx. Project scope

agreements are in place for VIVA, Sheppard East and Finch. Interim funding

agreements are in place to achieve 2009 groundbreaking for VIVA and Sheppard East,

and to advance PDE, utility relocation and land acquisition for the Big 5 . A retroactive


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Subject: Hamilton Benefits Case Analysis - Discussions with Metrolinx

Page 2 of 2 February 2, 2010

funding agreement with TTC is in place. Agreement-in-principle regarding roles and

responsibilities of Metrolinx, Infrastructure Ontario, TorontoFFTC and York/VIVA are in

place, as is an agreement between Metrolinx and TTC regarding the Transit City LRV

procurement strategy. One of Metrolinx' immediate work plan priorities is cost

management and phasing to keep within the $9.6B committed for these projects.

Ad ditiona l project de tails include:

Project Name

VIVA BRT

Sheppard LRT

Finch LR T

Scarborough LRT

Eg linton Crosstown L RT

Construction

Start

2 O O 9

2009

2011

2011

2011

In Service

2013

2013-14

2016

2015

2016-20

Total.

Committed

Funding

B )

1,4

1.0

1.2

1.4

4.6

9.6

Length

(km)

37

15.

24

10

31

Note: A media release and memo from John Howe on the Big 5 noted that the

Fed eral Governmen t would fund 1 /3 of the est ima ted 1 bil lion cost of the

She ppa rd East LR T project. The p rovince is the 1 00 % ca pital funding source of

the remaining 4 initial projects. Subtracting 1/3 of the Sheppard LRT costs

(+/- 33 0M) from the above total would br ing the comm itted funding to 9.3B.

Should you require any additional information in advance of the meeting, please do not

hesitate to contact me by email, at 4621 or on my cell (905-973-2306).


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Subject: Hamilton Benefits Case Analysis Discussions with Metrolinx

Page 2 of 6

statements about a Phased LR . February 2, 2010

would run from McMaster to J T system for Ha.milton were ma

preliminary design and en. inames Street and ' "- . de. The phased system

building Work wouH ,, g eenng (PDE) woru in Place In time for Pan Am. The

T__ F,,,=,eu Lt/recommendation the Transit EA and the capacity

announcement hl De Complete in time 'for a 2011/12 Provincial Budget

give us a project that could be designed, built and runnin b

commitment to a second from Metrolinx to their Board Would

.recommendation , .... ,_, . ( lnal) phase as n, .., g,_ y 2015. There wo,,. ,--

between F=h ..... ,,uu aso Incude =,.-.. , '- ' ,-,, [ne Boarri ,-:_. u,u ue a

-,,uary Ig and the Provinca,';.a..use regarding the work t.. ,_ulsln. The

heard in open session at the February 19 Board Meeting, and John's stretch goal was

, unannann ........... uoeCOmpeed

o ','-'u-,.ement. the BCA would be

hat Hamilton and Metrolinx would present together. Based on a phased LRT

recommendation, I advised that you and Chris Murray would likely be the City's

spokesmen at the February 19 meeting

John spoke of a 2 - 3 page cover report that would accompany the Board report for

Hamilton's BCA. The cover report would talk about the City-building initiatives we have

underway in Hamilton, and topics such as land value uplift, Downtown vision, Pan Am,

West Harbour, economic development and diversification, McMaster University and

McMaster Innovation Park were to be included. My understanding

report would lend support to a phased LRT project by demonstrating was that the cover

not just about transit for Hamilton; it is about all the benefits that can come along with a

that rapid transit is

apid transit system and is one COmponent of our .strategy for implementing our

Corporate vision and Strategic Plan

The remainder of our Conversation was around the involvement of Infrastructure Ontario

in project delivery. Before ending the telephone call, I confirmed that John's plan was to

recommend phased LRT, to be in place by 2015, tothe Metrolinx Board on February

19, 2010.

January 29, 2010

a Zinkewich, Carla Ip olit came to meet with Hamilton staff ('me,

datinn .... P o) regarding the BCA and the Metrolinx Board report

-..o ,-,, uanuary 29, 2010.

ueen's Park reference group which consists of the Deputy Minister,

ructure On r,., ,_,_ s from the Premier's O '. .. the Minister's

a .... uu,n aavlsed that ,'-- - fflce and David L"': ....

uu refer ,-.-. ............ ,v lgston trom

n..,, u,uu was not inclined to have a

that that has on everything. He said that Hamilton is in


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We then spoke about funding and John asked about the City's willingness to contribute

financially to a rapid transit project. He noted that the Big 5 projects received 100%

Provincial funding, but that Ottawa (outside of Metrolinx' area of influence, and outside

of the MoveOntario 2020 $11.5B in allocated rapid transit funding) entered into a 1/3 -

1/3 - 1/3 funding agreement (municipal, Provincial, Federal). As noted below, $9.6B

was allocated to the Big 5 ; $1.9B of the $11.5B Provincial share of MoveOntario 2020

money still remains. John was unable to answer why some of the $1.9B could not be

used for Hamilton's project. He did note that Hamilton is furthest along in planning, that

Hamilton is the only one to get PDE funding and that developing the $3M work plan was

significant. I provided John, Michael and Karen with an overview of some of the

financial challenges we face currently, in particular focussing on the State of the

Infrastructure report that had just been presented to Council which indicated that our

infrastructure deficit alone is $140M per year. Hamilton would not be able to contribute

any significant amount of money to rapid transit, and the willingness to contribute

financially would decrease dramatically for a BRT system.

We also discussed the February 19 Metrolinx Board report and the recommendations

Metrolinx staff would be making in that report. John advised that the proposed

recommendation was now to focus on what the BCA tells us and how it informs the

work plan. Rather than recommending phased LRT (or any mode), their plan was to

formulate the report so that both BRT and LRT remained potential options. He hoped

that Hamilton would be there to support the collaborative process and to show that we

agree on the methodology that was used for the BCA.

The other recommendation of the report would be for Hamilton and Metrolinx staff to

work together in a cooperative fashion on the $3M work program. John talked about

how the Contribution Agreement didn't get a lot of profile at Metrolinx, and the February

19 meeting would be an opportunity to validate that we (Hamilton and Metrolinx) are on

the same course. I advised that the Contribution Agreement did receive a lot of profile

in Hamilton, and that the RFP for the $3M was currently out for bids (Note: 26 firms

have picked up the RFP as of February 1, 2010). I also mentioned that we already had

the direction to work together since the Contribution Agreement had been signed by

both parties. In addition, we have taken a report to Council regarding the Contribution

Agreement, and received Council direction to move forward with it. John spoke a few

times about revising the work plan, something that will be difficult to do, at best, given

that the RFP closes before the Metrolinx Board Meeting.

When asked why the report was changing from a phased LRT recommendation to a

recommendation to receive the BCA and direct Metrolinx and City staff to work together

on the $3M work program, John did not have a response. He did add that, perhaps, a

recommendation to set a timeline for a formal modal choice announcement could be

added to the staff report.

The cover report (see summary under January 27) was to be complete in advance of

the February 2, 2010 meeting between Metrolinx and your office, and would be shared

with me on February 1, 2010.


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February1, 2010

Following our meeting this afternoon, I received a message from John Howe asking that

I call him. I did call, and John advised that while the proposed content of the staff report

to the Board remained unchanged, he was no longer able to share the cover report with

me at this time. He advised that tomorrow's meeting would be political, and that the

political-to-political discussion was receiving higher priority than the staff discussions.

He a sked tha t I share this with you an d with Chris Murray.

The current recommendations of the Metrolinx staff report continue to be that the

Metrolinx Board receive the report, and that Hamilton and Metrolinx staff be directed to

work together on the $3M work program. I advised John that these recommendations

were going to be extremely problematic, and that Metrolinx should expect significant

media coverage and commentary from the Hamilton community regarding these

recommendations. I stressed that re-announcing the $3M would be especially difficult

for Metrolinx. John advised that he, and others at Metrolinx, were well aware that not

making a mode decision on February 19 would be problematic, and that the issues

regarding the $3M re-announcement would be left with the political advisors.

Metrolinx is still hoping that February 19 can be an opportunity for us to demonstrate

our commitment to work together. The meeting will be held in open session at 1:00 on

February 19. No location has been posted on the Metrolinx website for this meeting as

of February 1, 2010.

One of John's concluding comments was that the political discussion might change

everything.

Metrolinx Priority Projects

These 15 projects were identified as Priority Projects in The Big Move , and are ones

that were envisioned (in The Big Move ) to be completed within 15 years:

,, Express Rail on the Lakeshore Line connecting Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville,

Mississauga, Toronto, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa

,, Rapid transit in downtown Hamilton from McMaster University to Eastgate Mall

Rapid transit on Dundas Street in Halton and Peel

,, 403 Transitway from Mississauga City Centre to the Renforth Gateway

,, Hurontario rapid transit from Port Credit to downtown Brampton

,, Brampton's Queen Street AcceleRide

,, Rail link between Union Station and Pearson Airport

,, VIVA rapid transit expanded along Highway 7 and Yonge Street through York

Region

Spadina subway extension to Vaughan Corporate Centre in York Region

Yonge Street subway capacity improvements and extension to Richmond Hill

o Eglinton Avenue rapid transit between Pearson Airport, Toronto and

Scarborough Town Centre

,, Finch/Sheppard rapid transit in Toronto from Pearson Airport to Scarborough

Centre and Meadowvale


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O

O

Rapid transit service along Highway 2 in Durham

Improvements to existing GO Rail services and extension of GO Rail service to

Bowmanville

The Big 5 Proiect-

The Big 5 Projects are included in the list of Priority Projects.

are:

Specifically, the Big 5

VIVA Bus Ra pid Transit (BR T);

She ppard East Light Rail Transit (LRT );

Finch LRT;

Eglinton Crosstown LRT; and

Scarborough Rapid Transit

An update on the Big 5 was givenat the Metrolinx Board meeting on November 16,

2009. The minutes of this meeting are not yet available on-line, however, a copy of the

PowerPoint update is available. From this presentation, we can see that $9.6B has

been committed for these projects, and that there is 100% Provincial funding for eligible

capital costs. The projects will be owned and controlled by Metrolinx. Project scope

agreements are in place for VIVA, Sheppard East and Finch. Interim funding

agreements are in place to achieve 2009 groundbreaking for VIVA and Sheppard East,

and to advance PDE, utility relocation and land acquisition for the Big 5 . A retroactive

funding agreement with TTC is in place. Agreement-in-principle regarding roles and

responsibilities of Metrolinx, Infrastructure Ontario, Toronto/TTC and YorkNIVA are in

place, as is an agreement between Metrolinx and TTC regarding the Transit City LRV

procurement strategy. One of Metrolinx' immediate work plan priorities is cost

management and phasing to keep within the $9.6B committed for these projects.

Additional project details include:

Project Name

VIVA BRT

Sheppard LRT

Finch LR T

...... Scarborough LRT

Eglinton Crosstown LRT

Construction

Start

2OO9

2009

2011

2011

2011

In Service

2013

2013-14

2016

2015

2016-20

Committed

Funding

B )

1.4

1.0

1.2

1.4

4.6

Length

(km)

37

15

24

10

31

Tuesday's Meeting with Metrolinx

As discussed today, it is important that the Metrolinx Board make a decision regarding

rapid transit mode for Hamilton at the February 19, 2010 Board Meeting. City Staff,

Council and the public have been expecting that the report on the Benefits Case

Analysis would include a decision on mode, and have been anxiously awaiting the

Board's consideration of the BCA report. The BCA was originally slated to go to the


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Board in May 2009, but has been postponed a number of times before being scheduled

for the February 19, 2010 Board Meeting.

In addition, a decision regarding mode is important because:

We are proceeding on the basis of the October 2008 Council resolution to pursue

LRT on the B-Line in the short term. As noted above, the Benefits Case Analysis

was due in May 2009; we were going to report back to Council at that point and

seek further direction regarding route and two-way traffic. Each time the Benefits

Case Analysis was delayed, the report to Council was also delayed. As a result,

we have been working on rapid transit with a number of parameters that have not

yet been vetted through Council. They have been presented to Council through

Information Reports and Council Workshops, but Council has not yet been asked

to make decisions on things like two-way transit and two-way traffic on King

Street.

We need to know where rapid transit fits in terms of Corporate Priorities. The

priority could change depending on mode. In addition, if rapid transit is a high

priority, we need to assign the right resources, provide the right support, spend

more time on outreach to the community and to our staff, and ensure that it is

incorporated in the work programs of all Departments.

Important questions for Metrolinx include:

,,. Will the Board make a decision/recommendation regarding rapid transit mode for

Hamilton on February 19, 2010? If not, why not?

Why is phased LRT no longer recommended?

When will the funding announcement come?

Can any of the remaining $1.9B from the MoveOntario 2020 funds be used for

Hamilton LRT? If not, why not?

Should you require any additional information in advance of tomorrow's meeting, please

do not hesitate to contact me by email or on my cell (905-973-2306) as I will off-site at

meetings in the morning.