Should Hamilton have 'trial road closures' to prepare it for LRT?

The city is looking at trial road closures shutting down a street even when there's nothing happening on it to prepare Hamilton residents for light-rail transit (LRT) construction.

Metrolinx and city officials are looking at closing down streets just ahead of the 2019 construction to get people used to taking a different route.

The anticipated five years of LRT construction will cause massive disruptions to people's daily lives, said Sam Merulla, the Ward 4 councillor who pitched the idea. So people should get used to it.

After experiencing trial street closures, "they'll understand what's coming," Merulla said.

The change is "going to be disruptive for a very significant period of time."

We're just trying to expose them to what they're going to be faced with.- Coun. Sam Merulla

Trial street closures would give people a chance to understand "what route would best suit their needs," Merullasaid. It'll also give the city an idea of how traffic patterns will flow.

"We're just trying to expose them to what they're going to be faced with," he said.

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If people areannoyed by trial road closures, he said, "they're going to be really annoyed during the construction process."

The city and Metrolinx will report back this year on the possibility of trial road closures ahead of building the $1-billion LRT line. The province has provided the capital funding for LRT, which isdue to open in 2024.

Most people understand when we go through construction projects that there's a reason and a rationale as to why we close a road.- Coun. Chad Collins

Merulla acknowledges that trial street closures are an unusual idea. He says he's never heard of it happening elsewhere.

It didn't occur to traffic planners in Waterloo, which is in the midst of LRT construction. Thomas Schmidt, Waterloo Region's transportation coordinator, paused when presented with the idea.

"I don't know whether it would be worth doing or not," he said.

Road closures have an impact on people, Schmidtsaid. So you'd have to know "what you're trying to measure."

Chad Collins, Ward 5 councillor, opposes LRT in general, a position he describes as being "15-1" on Hamilton city council.Naturally, he doesn't like the idea of trial road closures either.

"Most people understand when we go through construction projects that there's a reason and a rationale as to why we close a road," he said.

"I don't see the merit of using any portion of the city as a guinea pig."

Collins also opposed a two-kilometre trial bus lane that ran along King Street through Hamilton's downtown in 2014. The lane was described as being a trial for LRT, to get people used to having one less lane through the downtown. Collins led a city council vote to abolish the lane after just over a year of use.

"That givesus an indication of what's to come when vehicles will be displaced from a lane," he said. "The resultwascommunity pushback."

samantha.craggs@cbc.ca | @SamCraggsCBC