Printed from the Review
Frustrated councillors push for GO Transit once more
MATTHEW VAN DONGEN
Wednesday, July 18, 2007 – 07:00
Local News – By bus or by train, GO Service to Niagara will require a big cash commitment.
New stations and parking lots.
A fair bit of tricky negotiation, too.
But what Niagara needs most to bring GO service from Toronto is a provincial go-ahead, regional staff said Tuesday.
“Frankly, staff has done as much as it can to push this forward,” said Joe Cousins, manager of transportation for Niagara Region. “It’s time now for some creative political lobbying.”
Cousins was reporting on GO Transit progress – or the lack of it – at the Region’s transportation strategy steering committee.
The province has repeatedly told Niagara it’s on “a shortlist” of communities outside the GTA waiting for a GO link, Cousins said.
After plans were announced last year to extend a bus link to Stoney Creek, Regional Chairman Peter Partington said he was hopeful Niagara could see GO bus service extended by mid-2007.
Since then, however, regional politicians have had to push to get service by 2008.
With several communities competing for service, “we’re trying to convince the province we’re the priority,” Cousins said.
To that end, transportation committee members voted to dust off a council resolution from last year, stating the Region is ready and waiting for a GO link.
The committee invited the managing director of GO Transit, Gary McNeil, to the meeting but he declined. McNeil did send a letter, however, promising GO service “is not a question of ‘if’ … it is a question of ‘when.’”
But McNeil’s letter also said GO needs to finalize studies on operating and capital costs before it can sit down with the Region to discuss a “partnership arrangement.”
That didn’t sit well with some committee members.
Grimsby Regional Coun. Debbie Zimmerman said the province has no reason to wait, noting several studies on cost, demographics and ridership have been completed.
“All that work has been done,” she said. “We should remind them.”
St. Catharines Regional Coun. Bruce Timms added the Region has aligned itself with provincial strategies on Smart Growth and protecting the Greenbelt.
“Now it’s time for the province to follow up on policy with some real, tangible efforts. We shouldn’t have to wait much longer.”
ID- 615931
© 2007 , Osprey Media. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Niagara Falls Review acticles reprinted with permission by the authority of Joe Wallace, City Editor of the Niagara Falls Review.
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