LRT tunnel expansion would support over 42,000 residential units in Brampton

Brampton | Caledon | Latest News |

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Published January 25, 2024 at 12:55 pm

Site of what the Hazel McCallion Line's Port Credit station, where concrete was poured to move that component of the LRT along. (Photo: Metrolinx)

News that the province is reviving plans to extend light rail service into downtown Brampton isn’t just a good sign for transit riders but would also help bring more than 42,000 residential units to the city, according to the mayor.

Last week, Brampton MP and Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria wrote a letter to Metrolinx, asking the transit agency to submit a business case for two additions to the Hazel McCallion LRT line – a previously cancelled downtown loop in Mississauga, and an extension into downtown Brampton.

And while the extension would cut down on travel time for transit users it would also unlock more development potential in Brampton, with Mayor Patrick Brown saying the project would allow for the construction of some 42,700 units to be built by 2031.

“We hear from the provincial and federal governments that they want to see housing connected to transit – this is that project,” Brown said in a video statement shared on social media. “This is the project that enables transit-oriented housing, not in a small way but in an enormous way.”

Brown says the city is in a housing crisis and the project would help meet provincial housing and growth targets “in a concrete manner.”

Most of the housing growth would be within 800 metres or a 10-minute walk from Major Transit Station Areas and urban growth centres

If given the green light, the city wants to see a hybrid surface-and-tunnel route for the expansion into Brampton, which would include four stops and a 2 km tunnel from Nanwood Drive to south of the recently-renamed Brampton Innovation District GO station.

The tunnel option comes in at an estimated $2.8 billion, which is more than twice the cost of the surface-only route but will be more efficient and lead to fewer delays, according to a city report.

A tunnel route would also lead to an  expected 5 per cent increase in peak ridership compared to the surface-only option.

And with Brampton Transit’s ridership seeing a spike of 160 per cent more riders between 2009 and 2019, Brown is also calling on more funding from Ottawa and the province for transportation projects in the city as ridership in other comparable municipalities has dropped since 2019

Transit in Brampton has also seen a 30 per cent rider recovery since the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report.

“This surge is not just a number, it’s a testament to our community’s commitment to sustainable transit,” Brown said, calling on other orders of government to commit funding of Peel project “on an equitable basis to other major urban areas in Canada that have received the same support.”

Brown pointed to similar underground sections of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT ($4.7 billion), the Ontario Line ($10.9 billion) and the Port Credit LRT station as examples.

Metrolinx has until early February to complete an initial business case the proposed additions.

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