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The latest Metrolinx presentation on the Hamilton LRT project highlighted the recent unveiling of four shortlisted construction teams vying for work and outlined progress on the project’s extensive utilities relocation program but offered few new insights into such fundamentals as construction timetable, launch of service and anticipated cost.

The LRT will feature 17 stops along 14 kilometres of above-ground rail through Hamilton’s downtown core, connecting the Eastgate hub to McMaster University along Main Street, King Street and Queenston Road. 

The provincial transit agency hosted a virtual open house last week with five staffers providing a status update. Lead spokesperson Danielle Bury, vice-president for Hamilton LRT at Metrolinx, said the build presents unique challenges including the volume and complexity of the work. Some sections of the corridor are as narrow as 17 metres from facade to facade, she said, and there’s a multitude of utilities to deal with, all of which are being relocated.

Given those restrictions and for other reasons, Metrolinx is splitting the work into two contracts – package one, civil works and utilities, currently in the RFP stage, and package two, stops, rails and systems.

That’s in addition to the advance enabling works package, for which a contract has been awarded with several phases of the work completed.

“Old” city corridor

“The City of Hamilton is an old city. The corridor is an old corridor,” said Bury, adding later, “The utility component and the characteristics of the Hamilton corridor, it’s very narrow. It’s very old infrastructure that provides a lot of complexity and risk.”

Package one includes civil structures (bridges, grade separations and guideway), roads, relocation and renewal of utilities, and urban realm such as streetscape, pedestrian safety, cycling and HSR integration.

Adam Morrin, senior manager of utilities at Metrolinx, explained utilities are being relocated because the constructors “need to create a clear and safe space to construct” the guideway.

The future Parkdale Avenue stop on the Hamilton LRT will be an at-grade, open-air stop located near Pat Quinn Arena.
GOVERNMENT OF ONTARIO — The future Parkdale Avenue stop on the Hamilton LRT will be an at-grade, open-air stop located near Pat Quinn Arena.

“It not only helps during construction of the guideway, but also keeps the LRT running smoothly if a utility company in the future needs to fix or maintain their infrastructure.”

Besides working with familiar utilities such as Alectra, Bell and Enbridge, Metrolinx is also relocating such infrastructure as the Trans-Northern Oil Pipeline at Queenston Circle and the City of Hamilton’s 1,200-millimetre transmission watermain.

Among other early works was a species-at-risk survey that determined chimney swifts inhabited a chimney on the route – forcing Metrolinx to construction a new habitat, called a Chimney Swift Compensation Habitat, at King Street East and Stirton Street.

The shortlisted firms for package one were announced May 21. They are Hamilton Synergy Alliance, applicant lead AtkinRealis Major Projects; Steel City Alliance, applicant lead Dufferin Construction; Kenaidan Murphy Joint Venture, applicant lead Murphy Infrastructure; and Hamilton Transit Alliance, applicant lead Aecon Infrastructure Management.

Each team has significant Canadian participation, Bury noted.

 

Alliance means collaboration

The contract award is expected to be announced in early 2026, initiating the Alliance model development phase, Bury explained.

The Alliance model “means that Metrolinx, the City of Hamilton, our other asset owners, whether they’re utilities or MTO, we all have a seat at the table, and we are collectively and collaboratively making decisions to progress the project,” she said.

The development phase is expected to take 18 months to two years, to be followed by the start of construction on the first package no earlier than the second half of 2027.

A Metrolinx spokesperson explained in a statement, “Timelines will be determined in collaboration with the successful proponent of our procurement process, including the commencement of construction.”

Metrolinx has confirmed procurement for package two will be undertaken separately, leading to selection of a new proponent. The job was a new addition to the Infrastructure Ontario Market Update issued this spring. A Metrolinx spokesperson stated, “Timing for package two procurement is still being determined.”

The original proposed price tag for the build, estimated circa 2019, was $1 billion. That year the Doug Ford government cancelled the job but it was resurrected in 2021 with $3.4 billion in funding to be contributed in equal shares by the provincial and federal governments.

That figure is still cited today, including at the open house. Asked via email what the current in-house working budget is, the Metrolinx spokesperson replied, “Final costs for the project can only be determined once proponents are selected and procurement is finalized.”

Asked when service will commence, Bury said a date will be determined and announced once project partners are on board.