Having lived in Brampton since 1998, there has been much turmoil when it came to developing better transportation options around the city. Brampton Zum was launched in 2010 as a way to plan express buses throughout the city. However, the Main Street Zum line has always suffered from traffic bottlenecks heading to and from downtown Brampton despite less stops. This was mostly due to the planning of the downtown core, on street parking, and intersections that move significant volume throughout the day (Main/Queen, Main/George, etc).

The extension of the Hazel McCallion LRT into downtown Brampton VIA tunnelled section will not only allow better movement of people taking public transit through the downtown core, it will also help reallocate Zum resources to other affected lines that need more fleet due to the ever rising ridership count. The HMLRT will also move significantly more people in much less time through the downtown core.

I remain cautiously optimistic about the future, despite how long this will take. 5-10 years, but lets work on getting shovels in the ground.
 
ericmacm said:
Brampton needs this badly, I’m glad to see that they are pushing ahead, even with the more expensive tunnelled option. It is probably much easier to justify now given the rapid population growth. Brampton’s most recent 2024 population estimates put it at 791,486, now larger than Mississauga’s estimate of 780,747, with their combined populations being a whopping 1,572,233 (would be Canada’s third largest municipality if they were combined) so it’s high time they are finally doing something.

It’s been a very frustrating and long process, hopefully this can finally get moving and the province can move on to planning new lines.
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Honestly, if they are extending it underground to Brampton GO, part of me thinks they should extend it underneath the GO tracks and link it to the Orangeville railway right of way. You could extend it aboveground all the way to the northern edge of Brampton. It wouldn't be right on Hurontario itself, but it would be close.
 
Sorry, I know this information is in this thread but I'm having trouble finding it - where would the Brampton tunnel begin? And what would the stops be?
 
JMSRead said:
Sorry, I know this information is in this thread but I'm having trouble finding it - where would the Brampton tunnel begin? And what would the stops be?
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Light Rail Transit (LRT) Extension Study Update - Report - Light Rail Transit (LRT) Extension Study Update .pdf

If you scroll down to page 9, it details the preferred underground option. This information may be outdated, but it appears to start just before you hit the Main/Elgin intersection if you're travelling North into downtown. The stops appear to be Charolais, Nanwood, and Downtown Brampton.

As I said, I believe this document is outdated, and I expect another document to be drafted once everything is finalized, if it hasn't already been finalized.
 
W. K. Lis said:
What name will the Hurontario LRT line be called now? Hazel McCallion Line was named after the former Mayor of Mississauga. Would have been fine, since it was entirely within Mississauga.
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It's a stupid name anyways for a line that follows a single street. This is not following a convoluted route like the Ontario line.
 
PL1 said:
Naming lines for people is not a great idea unless that person's legacy is unambiguously positive (think Terry Fox). McCallion is not that, at least to me
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Yeah, her job as mayor of a well-located suburban city that didn't have to deal with big-city problems was as easy as falling off a log, yet most people think Mississauga's success was a result of her being mayor.
 
Transportfan said:
Yeah, her job as mayor of a well-located suburban city that didn't have to deal with big-city problems was as easy as falling off a log, yet most people think Mississauga's success was a result of her being mayor.
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Mississauga was successful because it grew continuously. Once it more-or-less couldn't be expanded further, they had to increase taxes to provide services. That's largely all on McCallion
 
PL1 said:
Naming lines for people is not a great idea unless that person's legacy is unambiguously positive (think Terry Fox). McCallion is not that, at least to me
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Even if their legacy is unproblematic, naming lines for people is useless from a wayfinding perspective.

Transit lines are not the area where one should get creative with names.
 
Transportfan said:
Yeah, her job as mayor of a well-located suburban city that didn't have to deal with big-city problems was as easy as falling off a log, yet most people think Mississauga's success was a result of her being mayor.
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She rubberstamped endless suburban sprawl and folks naively think that being completely subservient to the whims of developers and cashing their development fees is some sign of her excellent leadership qualities. Mississauga should have been developed proactively, but now it needs to catch up retroactively with half-baked measures using the remaining cheap corridors available (ex a transitway connecting empty parking lots).
 
ownthesky said:
She rubberstamped endless suburban sprawl and folks naively think that being completely subservient to the whims of developers and cashing their development fees is some sign of her excellent leadership qualities. Mississauga should have been developed proactively, but now it needs to catch up retroactively with half-baked measures using the remaining cheap corridors available (ex a transitway connecting empty parking lots).
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Can you provide one example in Canada or even the US that Mississauga could’ve been like? What happened in Mississauga is the natural growth of a suburban town.
 
khaldoon said:
Can you provide one example in Canada or even the US that Mississauga could’ve been like? What happened in Mississauga is the natural growth of a suburban town.
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I’m also confused. Do toronontians not think that all of this condo building is to build a tax base. It is. We’re both guilty.

The fact is out of the suburbs Mississauga is the only one up until recently (VMC) with even remotely a fake downtown. And Mississauga did not need a subway to make it. Where’s Brampton’s downtown? Markham’s? Pickering? Whitby? Ajax?They are ghost towns or don’t exist. That’s not the case in Mississauga.

That said I am not a hazel fan and I hope something comes out about her that we can rename everything. My gripe is that Mississauga makes everything about Hazel. Bonnie where again is Biancas street? There are other people from here than Hazel.
 
khaldoon said:
Can you provide one example in Canada or even the US that Mississauga could’ve been like? What happened in Mississauga is the natural growth of a suburban town.
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I would argue that Calgary, which is far from perfect, has done a much better job managing suburban growth radially compared to Mississauga.

1) Kept freeways out of their downtown instead of planning a downtown abutting a freeway
2) Established rail lines were built before sprawl and can now extend into the neighborhoods
3) Established BRT routes
4) Good ring road network diverts remote commuters around the core instead of through it

Mississauga now desperately needs to play catch-up. You're right, Mississauga is the "natural" growth of a suburban town if you do literally nothing to plan differently!
 
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ownthesky said:
I would argue that Calgary, which is far from perfect, has done a much better job managing suburban growth radially compared to Mississauga.

1) Kept freeways out of their downtown instead of planning a downtown abutting a freeway
2) Established rail lines were built before sprawl and can now extend into the neighborhoods
3) Established BRT routes
4) Good ring road network diverts remote commuters around the core instead of through it

Mississauga now desperately needs to play catch-up. You're right, Mississauga is the "natural" growth of a suburban town if you do literally nothing to plan differently!
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Calgary being its own independent city had different things going for it. I would consider the road just north of the river to be considered a highway. Their version and our versions of highways are radically different. And our versions are partially based off of being next to Toronto which hosts the busiest highway in the world. Also I’m pretty sure both the Gardiner and the Queen elizabeth way are considered highways and they go right through Toronto. Toronto had a chance to make it an avenue. Guess what it’s still a highway. As for Calgary their downtown is a ghost town after 6pm. Because everyone lives in the suburbs. And that means the stores downtown don’t do well on the weekends. Admittedly I haven’t been there in a decade but not that much could have changed.
 
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