LRT project leader not being transparent with community: Mississauga councillor 

Frustrated residents and businesses in a large Mississauga community impacted by traffic and other issues related to construction of the $4.6-billion Hazel McCallion Line are accusing the provincial agency overseeing the massive light-rail transit project of not making itself available to address their concerns.

Mississauga Ward 7 Coun. Dipika Damerla, who represents residents and business owners along the Hurontario Street corridor between Dundas Street and the QEW, said after four years of “active construction in the ward, Metrolinx has not held one town hall to engage residents” on matters related to the LRT line.

Additionally, the councillor charged in a news release issued on Tuesday, “Metrolinx has also refused to participate in (the) Cooksville BIA’s annual general meeting (on Feb. 19) to share updates regarding the LRT Hazel McCallion Line project.”

The release goes on to note that residents “have been seeking a public forum for a long time to obtain answers from Metrolinx about construction timelines, disruptions and mitigation efforts.

“Despite repeated requests, Metrolinx has informed (me) that it will not participate, citing the need to prepare for an upcoming (Mississauga city) council presentation in spring.”

Mississauga Ward 7 Coun. Dipika Damerla wants more engagement with the public and transparency from Metrolinx, the provincial agency in charge of the Hazel McCallion LRT project.

Damerla said she’s not buying that response, and she’s calling on the agency to reconsider and work with her to schedule a town hall in the near future.

“The reason provided, the need to prepare for their upcoming council presentation, is difficult to reconcile given that the town hall would focus on the same issues and information that the Metrolinx team regularly addresses,” Damerla stated in her news release.

A Metrolinx spokesperson told INsauga.com that after its project update to be presented to city council at a yet-to-be-determined session this spring, the agency will host an open house/town hall “to share project progress updates and would be pleased to attend future community meetings” after that.

Additionally, the spokesperson said in an email, Metrolinx’s community engagement team “welcomes property and business owners to visit our community office” at 3024 Hurontario St. at any time.

There, the agency said, it offers “one-on-one interactions to address questions and concerns.”

Beyond that, members of the community can reach out to Metrolinx regarding the Hazel McCallion Line project anytime via email at [email protected], the spokesperson said. 

Damerla said she’s calling on Metrolinx to provide “greater transparency and direct engagement with residents and local businesses.”

Anna Mikus, executive director of the Cooksville BIA, echoed concerns expressed by the city councillor, saying in the news release the local business organization “is very disappointed that Metrolinx is unwilling to provide an update of the … Hazel McCallion Line project and the impacts in 2026 on the Cooksville community or even come present to the membership at our AGM.”

Adding to concerns of residents and businesses the past several years related to the Hurontario Street LRT project are worries, looking ahead, to the “unprecedented” side-by-side construction of two major provincial projects — the Hazel McCallion Line and major construction that began last summer at Mississauga Hospital.

The LRT work regularly shuts down Hurontario Street lanes to traffic while work on what will eventually be the biggest hospital in Canada will bring hundreds of trucks — delivery, work and construction vehicles — each day to The Queensway/Hurontario Street site (southwest corner) during the “peak construction period.”

In addition to traffic concerns, area residents who participated in a virtual town hall meeting in late November also want to know if construction of the new hospital in combination with the LRT work will negatively impact air quality and create unwelcome noise levels.

While residents have had several years to get used to the ongoing LRT work, construction on the hospital site — overseen by Infrastructure Ontario — has only recently begun and is expected to ramp up significantly in the months and years to come.

When completed, the Hazel McCallion Line will travel 22 kilometres along Hurontario Street from Port Credit in south Mississauga north into downtown Brampton.

Initially supposed to open to passengers in late 2024, the LRT line has encountered delays and a completion date is not known at this point.