The majority of opponents to light rait transit (LRT) use cost as the main argument against implementation. Here is a great article in today's Record that discusses the overwhelming road maintenance costs (which doesn't even address new road building) facing this region's city's. As noted in the articl, the cost to widen Weber Street from College to Guelph is estimated at $56 million - there was no referendum on that.
Would cost $590M to fix backlog of maintenance across Waterloo Region — and more needed work is added every year
Pot holes A pothole on Otto Street remains unrepaired. Our municipal governments cannot keep up with the cost of maintaining the roads. Bringing all roads up to current standards in the three cities would cost about $455 million.
Record staff
WATERLOO REGION — The network of local streets and major roads is expanded every year even though the municipal governments cannot afford to maintain what already exists.
It would cost more than $490 million to clear the backlog of road maintenance now on the books in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. In addition to that, the outstanding road maintenance in the three townships would cost more than $100 million.
In today’s dollars it will cost about $467,000 per kilometre to resurface an existing two-lane road in a rural area. That increases to $506,000 per kilometre in urban areas.
If a road is not resurfaced every 15 to 17 years, its base becomes damaged by water that freezes and expands and the repair costs increase dramatically to about $1.6 million per kilometre.
Big figures such as these are the driving force behind new policies that aim to reduce the need for more roads. There is increasing recognition the current approach is not good for either municipal finances or the environment.
“That’s why we took the approach in our new transportation master plan of minimizing future road expansion,” said Chris Hodgson, a transportation engineer and project manager in Waterloo.
In Waterloo, the backlog of road repairs is about $170 million.
But the policies that aim to reduce the need for new roads are not always popular with elected councillors. Spending on sidewalks, cycling lanes and multi-use trails are regularly dropped at budget time. Plans for rapid transit in this region sparked a loud and passionate debate.
“Staff can only make recommendations and the rest is down to the decision-makers about where they want the money to be spent,” Hodgson said.
In Kitchener, the local streets need $85 million in work.
City councillors in Kitchener recently cut the $200,000 for implementing a cycling master plan. The new cycling plan was adopted only last year. The old plan sat on a shelf for more than 10 years because it was never supported by councillors.
Kitchener councillors also killed the recommendation to hire someone to head up transportation-demand management. For years city staff tried to get such a person hired to get more people walking, cycling and riding transit.
During the budget talks earlier this year, Jeff Willmer, Kitchener’s head of planning and development, explained why city staff want to move in that direction.
“This responds to many public-policy objectives for personal health, community health, environmental health and investment,” Willmer said.
Reducing the number of vehicles coming into the downtown, Willmer said, reduces the need for more parking and frees up land for development, both residential and employment.
The Region of Waterloo is responsible for the major roads in the area and they need about $265 million in work.
“It’s not for new infrastructure, it’s for maintaining what we already have,” said Robert Gallivan, the region’s manager of transportation development.
He said if the federal government wrote a cheque to clear that backlog of work, the very next year about $35 million would still be needed just to maintain the rest of the network.
“It’s not something that ends, it is something you have to do forever,” Gallivan said.
But regional councillors also gutted funding recommendations for the construction of bicycle lanes and trails in recent years. At the same time, the region’s plans for a higher order of transit sparked a heated debate.
City councillors in Cambridge are facing a $25-million price tag to bring all local streets up to current standards.
The cost of maintaining the local and regional network exceeds by far the estimated cost to local taxpayers for the region’s proposed rapid-transit system, which is $265 million.
Cambridge city council voted to oppose the region’s plans for a system of light-rail trains in Kitchener and Waterloo with fast buses into Cambridge. And Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran wants a referendum on the region’s $818-million plans for light-rail and rapid buses.
Jeff Casello, a University of Waterloo professor who studies urban transportation, said it is easier for politicians to support spending on roads rather than sustainable options.
“It is a chicken-and-egg problem,” Casello said.
“If you look at what the volume of traffic is now by cycling, walking or transit, relative to car travel, the numbers are pretty small,” Casello said. “So when you are going through the budgeting process and you are thinking: ‘What can I cut here?’ — the impacts of cutting a cycling program are smaller in the short term.”
But once a cycling network is expanded to the point where meaningful numbers of people use it every day then politicians will find it harder to cut funds for it.
“The motivation has always been to cut new ribbons, to build new projects, because you can stand next to them, but the maintenance and operation costs get overlooked and that’s really true with roads,” Casello said.
“The money generated in gas revenues certainly does not cover the costs of operating the roadways,” he said.
The widening of Weber Street between College and Guelph streets, will cost an estimated $52 million.
“There is no call for a referendum on that,” Casello said.
It would cost more than $490 million to clear the backlog of road maintenance now on the books in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. In addition to that, the outstanding road maintenance in the three townships would cost more than $100 million.
In today’s dollars it will cost about $467,000 per kilometre to resurface an existing two-lane road in a rural area. That increases to $506,000 per kilometre in urban areas.
If a road is not resurfaced every 15 to 17 years, its base becomes damaged by water that freezes and expands and the repair costs increase dramatically to about $1.6 million per kilometre.
Big figures such as these are the driving force behind new policies that aim to reduce the need for more roads. There is increasing recognition the current approach is not good for either municipal finances or the environment.
“That’s why we took the approach in our new transportation master plan of minimizing future road expansion,” said Chris Hodgson, a transportation engineer and project manager in Waterloo.
In Waterloo, the backlog of road repairs is about $170 million.
But the policies that aim to reduce the need for new roads are not always popular with elected councillors. Spending on sidewalks, cycling lanes and multi-use trails are regularly dropped at budget time. Plans for rapid transit in this region sparked a loud and passionate debate.
“Staff can only make recommendations and the rest is down to the decision-makers about where they want the money to be spent,” Hodgson said.
In Kitchener, the local streets need $85 million in work.
City councillors in Kitchener recently cut the $200,000 for implementing a cycling master plan. The new cycling plan was adopted only last year. The old plan sat on a shelf for more than 10 years because it was never supported by councillors.
Kitchener councillors also killed the recommendation to hire someone to head up transportation-demand management. For years city staff tried to get such a person hired to get more people walking, cycling and riding transit.
During the budget talks earlier this year, Jeff Willmer, Kitchener’s head of planning and development, explained why city staff want to move in that direction.
“This responds to many public-policy objectives for personal health, community health, environmental health and investment,” Willmer said.
Reducing the number of vehicles coming into the downtown, Willmer said, reduces the need for more parking and frees up land for development, both residential and employment.
The Region of Waterloo is responsible for the major roads in the area and they need about $265 million in work.
“It’s not for new infrastructure, it’s for maintaining what we already have,” said Robert Gallivan, the region’s manager of transportation development.
He said if the federal government wrote a cheque to clear that backlog of work, the very next year about $35 million would still be needed just to maintain the rest of the network.
“It’s not something that ends, it is something you have to do forever,” Gallivan said.
But regional councillors also gutted funding recommendations for the construction of bicycle lanes and trails in recent years. At the same time, the region’s plans for a higher order of transit sparked a heated debate.
City councillors in Cambridge are facing a $25-million price tag to bring all local streets up to current standards.
The cost of maintaining the local and regional network exceeds by far the estimated cost to local taxpayers for the region’s proposed rapid-transit system, which is $265 million.
Cambridge city council voted to oppose the region’s plans for a system of light-rail trains in Kitchener and Waterloo with fast buses into Cambridge. And Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran wants a referendum on the region’s $818-million plans for light-rail and rapid buses.
Jeff Casello, a University of Waterloo professor who studies urban transportation, said it is easier for politicians to support spending on roads rather than sustainable options.
“It is a chicken-and-egg problem,” Casello said.
“If you look at what the volume of traffic is now by cycling, walking or transit, relative to car travel, the numbers are pretty small,” Casello said. “So when you are going through the budgeting process and you are thinking: ‘What can I cut here?’ — the impacts of cutting a cycling program are smaller in the short term.”
But once a cycling network is expanded to the point where meaningful numbers of people use it every day then politicians will find it harder to cut funds for it.
“The motivation has always been to cut new ribbons, to build new projects, because you can stand next to them, but the maintenance and operation costs get overlooked and that’s really true with roads,” Casello said.
“The money generated in gas revenues certainly does not cover the costs of operating the roadways,” he said.
The widening of Weber Street between College and Guelph streets, will cost an estimated $52 million.
“There is no call for a referendum on that,” Casello said.
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