[drum118]

I was looking at distances and trying to understand why the distance between the TPSS that exists varies so much. For instance, there's one at Hurontario / Watergarden, and one on Hurontario / Dundas. If there's one for MCCC, I don't see it mentioned anywhere, because that's otherwise a 4KM distance between those two substations.

Then you look at the distance between Hurontario/Skyway and Hurontario/Brittania and we're at approximately 2.5KM. If that's the case, The extension could realistically have one TPSS in the downtown Brampton station, and one in the Brampton Mall lot. Chances are they won't want to use that mall lot, and could potentially create an easement near the tunnel opening on Elgin.

Anyway. I'm just hoping to see guideways and rail go down sometime this year/next while the rest of the line gets fixed up so we can finally see the LRV's do some testing. It sucks that it has taken this long. I would rather the crews were out working 24/7 to get things done, but that's not my call to make.

The TPSS are at Topflight. Ambassador, Britannia, Matheson, Eglinton, 403 northside, Central Parkway, Dundas, South Service Rd and Port Credit Station at this time in Mississauga. Some have a huge gap between them like you noted. Looks like one going in at John St. In some cases there is no place one in those huge gaps. There needs to be one or two for MCC with one in the elevated area as there is land for it as well at Square One Station,

As for testing the LRV's, I still am looking at a pull test to Eglinton by the summer since this is the test bed and hard to say when power testing will start as nothing up other than support poles at this time from the OMSF. It will be this year with more pull testing as more tracks become ready to check them and follow by power testing and training. Because of the lack of crossovers you can only do two cars at a time unless having other cars go south to the Waltline and north to crossover south of Topflight.. There are no north to south track crossovers. and only can do that from Topflight intersection as a back up move.

 

[Allandale25]

Two references in yesterday's 2026 budget (emphsis added):

PDF page 38:

Building and expanding Light Rail Transit (LRT): opening the Finch West LRT and Eglinton Crosstown LRT, as well as advancing the Hamilton LRT and Hazel McCallion Line into downtown Brampton and Mississauga, with plans to tunnel the Brampton portion of the line, which will provide more people with fast, affordable and reliable transit;

PDF page 116:

Hazel McCallion Line LRT: The 18-kilometre Hazel McCallion Line LRT will provide key connections with GO stations at Port Credit and Cooksville, the Mississauga Transitway, Square One GO Bus Terminal, Brampton Gateway Terminal and key Brampton Transit, Züm and MiWay routes. In 2025, the construction of the Hazel McCallion Line LRT progressed further with the installation of girders over the Highway 403 interchange, completion of flood-proofing for Mary Fix Creek and advances in station construction. Ontario is also moving forward with work to extend the Hazel McCallion Line LRT by building the Mississauga loop and tunnelling the line into downtown Brampton. The next steps for the extensions will involve detailed planning and design, public consultation and environmental approvals.

For clarity, I'm sure they mean tunnelling from the portion just south of Nanwood to the terminal station in downtown Brampton, under Main St, just south of the CN/GO Halton Sub, and not tunneling all the way from Steeles.

 

[JJTheJetPln]

For clarity, I'm sure they mean tunnelling from the portion just south of Nanwood to the terminal station in downtown Brampton, under Main St, just south of the CN/GO Halton Sub, and not tunneling all the way from Steeles.

Yeah that's exactly it. The plan that they seem to agree on was to start the tunnel portion N/S of Elgin, and terminate N/S of Main/Nelson where they could use part of the downtown terminal building to build a lower level terminus for it.

Also, I know I posted a video just recently, but I feel like I jumped the gun with it because as I was driving home the other day, I realized they had already graded a significant amount of the Brampton Portion towards Steeles for the guideway.. I'll post some photos if I get the chance to on Saturday/Sunday.

 

[drum118]

Two references in yesterday's 2026 budget (emphsis added):

PDF page 38:



PDF page 116:



For clarity, I'm sure they mean tunnelling from the portion just south of Nanwood to the terminal station in downtown Brampton, under Main St, just south of the CN/GO Halton Sub, and not tunneling all the way from Steeles.

Ford said in January of 2024 and 2025 both extension were green light to move ahead on them. I guess Ford forgot to put then in those year budgets based on the 2026 budget..

Word out of City Hall saying they don't expect construction will start on the loop until at least 2029 either before the election, after it or get kick down the road as the Province is short funds for transit. We have already seen this with Metrolinx pushing projects down the road.

The talk for Brampton will be in the 30's or after the current mayor is gone so the line can be built on the surface as plan from day one, not the extra $2 plus Billions for the subway section.

 

[urbanclient]

The talk for Brampton will be in the 30's or after the current mayor is gone so the line can be built on the surface as plan from day one, not the extra $2 plus Billions for the subway section.

As much as I would've loved more grade separation, it doesn't make sense for the less dense Brampton downtown to be tunnelled, while the denser Mississauga section is surface running.

 

[ShonTron]

The talk for Brampton will be in the 30's or after the current mayor is gone so the line can be built on the surface as plan from day one, not the extra $2 plus Billions for the subway section.

Source? I seriously doubt any of that, given that Patrick Brown is hardly the main reason for that tunnel.

 

[drum118]

Source? I seriously doubt any of that, given that Patrick Brown is hardly the main reason for that tunnel.

Cannot nor will give you and others the source other than city hall for a number of reason. This is the view of Mississauga for the tunnel.

The tunnel is a waste considering Brampton objected to having an single lane traffic on day one, yet the current plan for Main is one lane. Look at how much of the existing downtown is to be torn down and how long will it take to develop the new downtown.

The city doesn't want an TBM extraction hole in Main St and only 3 options for the subway. There are no other extraction place a hole can be built to remove the TMB.
1: Run the TBM north of the CN bridge to bury it or block off to allow the TBM to continue north at some future date since there is no other place to place it..
2: Remove the TBM sideway while removing the old creek foundation.
3: Drill the tunnel that will take longer than an TBM

 

[JJTheJetPln]

As much as I would've loved more grade separation, it doesn't make sense for the less dense Brampton downtown to be tunnelled, while the denser Mississauga section is surface running.

The downtown core of Brampton has 4 lanes. The guideway separation requires 2-3 lanes at minimum. You either have single lane traffic both ways which would back up traffic to Main/English Street or Main/Williams SB, and Main/Nanwood to Main/Elgin NB. The cross roads / intersections are also affected. If you don't have a dedicated guideway and we go the route that TTC does where the streetcars share the road, the LRV's are going to be stuck in the same traffic they're supposed to help get past during peak hours.

Tunnelling the line allows the lanes to stay the same and allows the core to move traffic more effectively.

Cannot nor will give you and others the source other than city hall for a number of reason. This is the view of Mississauga for the tunnel.

Well then why even mention it? It seems that every time someone says something about Brampton in regards to this project, it comes from Mississauga City Hall not knowing or understanding. Mississauga thinks Brampton's is always doing something terrible when they ignore the amount of issues the light rail construction has brought to Mississauga itself. We don't need to bring up the number of lawsuits that have occurred, or the number of businesses that were shuttered or are struggling because of the above ground construction that the LRT has brought to Mississauga. We even have Mayor Parrish from Mississauga City Hall bringing up in a meeting that she doesn't believe people in Brampton will stop and shop at the "boutique shops" in Port Credit because we can't afford it. It's why every time I hear someone from Mississauga bring up how useless this project is to tunnel in Brampton, I have to wonder if they've lived here long enough if at all to understand what rush hour traffic through the downtown core of Brampton is like.

We can suggest that the crews that were part of the consortium didn't know what they were doing, but when City Hall or residents from Mississauga look north and balk at Brampton for doing a tunnelled portion of the LRT instead of doing something above ground, you need to stop and think about why that is. It's not just because of the businesses. It's because you're removing three lanes of traffic starting from the Brampton Mall on Main Street and heading north. The further you go north, the less lanes you have. Residents are opposed to losing their ROW the same way residents in Mineola were opposed to losing access to their ROW and even launching lawsuits because they thought they owned that section of the road as well. The same issue is going to happen in Brampton. There are also a lot of mature trees in the downtown core as well that would need to be removed, and that makes up the identity of the downtown core as well.

The tunnel is a waste considering Brampton objected to having an single lane traffic on day one, yet the current plan for Main is one lane. Look at how much of the existing downtown is to be torn down and how long will it take to develop the new downtown.

The tunnel can only be considered a waste if you're okay with single lane traffic through the downtown core of Brampton during rush hour, because that's effectively what everyone is asking for when they're asking for a guideway to be constructed above ground. They're also asking for the LRV's to potentially share the road during the same rush hour traffic similar to how TTC shares the road with vehicles on some streets if there is no dedicated guideway. Go to Google maps, or better yet, travel to the downtown core during rush hour and see just how much traffic exists, and just how much more traffic you'd get if a dedicated guideway were built above ground and take up 2-3 lanes in the middle of the road.

The city doesn't want an TBM extraction hole in Main St and only 3 options for the subway. There are no other extraction place a hole can be built to remove the TMB.
1: Run the TBM north of the CN bridge to bury it or block off to allow the TBM to continue north at some future date since there is no other place to place it..
2: Remove the TBM sideway while removing the old creek foundation.
3: Drill the tunnel that will take longer than an TBM

It's not TBM. It's going to be partial cut/cover and then sequential mining. I haven't found any sources that suggest that a TBM would be used.

 

[TransportEnthusiast]

The tunnel can only be considered a waste if you're okay with single lane traffic through the downtown core of Brampton during rush hour, because that's effectively what everyone is asking for when they're asking for a guideway to be constructed above ground. They're also asking for the LRV's to potentially share the road during the same rush hour traffic similar to how TTC shares the road with vehicles on some streets if there is no dedicated guideway. Go to Google maps, or better yet, travel to the downtown core during rush hour and see just how much traffic exists, and just how much more traffic you'd get if a dedicated guideway were built above ground and take up 2-3 lanes in the middle of the road.

There is a 10 lane highway a few KM east, and 6 lane roads to the west that could be used for people that want to travel north of downtown Brampton. It would be great for downtown Brampton to be more pedestrian and transit centric.

 

[JJTheJetPln]

There is a 10 lane highway a few KM east, and 6 lane roads to the west that could be used for people that want to travel north of downtown Brampton. It would be great for downtown Brampton to be more pedestrian and transit centric.

October 28, 2015 - Council voted against the main street portion through downtown Brampton - Stopping the line at Steeles instead of continuing downtown

Feb 2017 - Council directed staff to study alternative routes into downtown Brampton - This is when McLaughlin Road and Kennedy road were made suggestions

May 22, 2019 - Council approved the EA to reconsider the extension - This update brought Main/George and tunneling back onto the table, while aslking staff to take a look at Kennedy road and McLaughlin road as well.

June 23, 2021 - Council received the preferred alignment report and directed both preferred options forward to 30% design - Council moved forward with the main street surface and tunnel options, shelving the Kennedy road and the McLaughlin Road alignments

May 10, 2023 - Council received the 30% design updated and directed more talks with ML and the province - The project remained focused on the Main Street Alignment and tunnel/surface choices.

Sources:
1. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/brampton-transit-vote-lrt-1.3291894
2. https://pub-brampton.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=27563
3. https://pub-brampton.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=81975
4. https://www.brampton.ca/EN/resident...ents/HMLRT-Brampton-Alignment-Peer-Review.pdf

The old guard that lived in downtown Brampton wanted to preserve the downtown area and was not willing to accept an at grade LRT because of the historic core. They wanted a tunnel, or an alignment on McLaughlin road or Kennedy road as alternatives. These were people who do not take transit at all. They thought seeing a LRT on the road would hurt their property values.
Another bloc wanted to prioritize locking in a fully provincially funded ready-to-build main street alignment, and feared they were going to lose the money and regional network benefits (they lost both).

Sources:
1. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/brampton-transit-vote-lrt-1.3291894
2. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/brampton-lrt-plan-tunnel-1.4943343
3. https://spacing.ca/toronto/2015/10/30/bramptons-short-sighted-hurontario-main-lrt-decision/

When people make suggestions about extending the line East/West, you need to understand that this has already been studied. The costs of these studies and not settling on the Main Street alignment meant that the funding that would have gone to it as the approved-by-the-province funding was no longer there.

We lost a decade over these alignments. I'm not about to suggest we lose another decade extending it and having the costs balloon significantly more for alignments that do not have any transit hubs.

Downtown Brampton being transit centric means the inclusion of the LRT in the corridor to move just as many people as the 502/501/561 and other Brampton Transit buses / GO buses / Trains do. Brampton does not have the space as of late to do both. The downtown core moves a significant amount of vehicle traffic, as well as transit users. Theatre Lane / Nelson / George are single lane / two lane roads at points that are not equipped to move traffic to create a pedestrian centric downtown core as of yet.

 

[drum118]

March 27
More up on my site

The week of March 30 will see the final section of the southbound track from the north end of the Cooksville Station to south of the emergency pad that was poured in 2025. All of the northbound was done by the end of the day

All the areas on both side of the track work will be pour starting March 30 as mesh framing material is in place from were 2025 work stop to Fairview,

No idea when the topcoat will be pour for the station like a number of other stations waiting for the topcoat as well.

A substation is being built on John St to the west.

Crew started to work on the tracks between John St and Hillcrest to get them pour in place.

Did not see anyone working on Fairview Station and forgot to have a look at it.

 

[afransen]

Tunnelling the line allows the lanes to stay the same and allows the core to move traffic more effectively.

$2B for two lanes through "downtown" Brampton is ludicrous.

 

[Allandale25]

$2B for two lanes through "downtown" Brampton is ludicrous.

The project is longer than just the Wellington to Nelson portion.

 

[drum118]

The project is longer than just the Wellington to Nelson portion.

The last figure in 2025 was $2.9 Billion From Steeles to Wellington with Wellington to Nelson being over $2 Billion. What it will be after it is tender as well when will be higher since the bidders will be dealing with ML how has a poor track recorder and hard to deal with on P3 contracts. Mobilinx will not be part of either tender considering both were part of the original tender and removed from the contract at the time of signing. How the tender will work for the 30 year contract with ML current contract will be interesting but the operation will be done by Mobilinx as an extra to the their contract.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

MSF from the sky