The province says a task force to study transportation options for Hamilton after cancelling the city's long-planned LRT project will examine transit and highway initiatives alike.

The Ontario government will select four community members from Hamilton to sit on the body charged with reporting back to Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney two months from now.

A spokesperson from her office wouldn't say Tuesday who the four members will be but noted they won't be elected officials. "We are moving quickly to establish the task force and will be sharing more details in the weeks to come," Caitlin Clark wrote in an email.

The province has invited the city to include a sole representative on the task force, which is to be supported by "transportation and transit expertise" in the ministry and Metrolinx.

It will establish a "preliminary list of transportation projects" at the end of February to invest the $1 billion the province has offered Hamilton. The task force will consider "both transit and highway projects."

Coun. Maureen Wilson, who has criticized the province for axing the Metrolinx-led LRT project, questioned why the task force would look at highways, arguing the approach ran counter to Hamilton's goals.

"Expanding the scope to include highways (which are a provincial responsibility) is contrary to Hamilton's declared priorities and previous studies: to enrich our anemic tax base, to move more people more efficiently, to invest in green infrastructure and to practice smarter planning," the west-end councillor said.

Likewise, Coun. John-Paul Danko argued new highway projects, including a bypass in Waterdown, represent "zero benefit" to most residents "and will simply leave Hamilton with an even bigger and growing operational deficit."

"At its core," the west Mountain councillor said, "LRT is an economic development investment designed to reduce residential property taxes city-wide through new high-density urban and commercial development along the LRT corridor."

Coun. Jason Farr, who represents downtown, called the task force "both insulting and embarrassing" while questioning how highways could "make the cut."

Two weeks ago, Mulroney committed to the task force upon announcing the province was cancelling the light rail project due to escalating costs.

She said cost estimates for the 14-kilometre line — from McMaster University to Eastgate Square — are $5.5 billion for construction, operation and maintenance over 30 years.

That's a far cry from its oft-cited roughly $1-billion capital expense — a discrepancy that has project supporters criticizing how the province has presented costs.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger, who has called the cancellation a "betrayal" to Hamilton, said the city has studied transportation options for more than a decade and determined LRT to be the best option.

"The procurement was months away from getting actual numbers, the design virtually completed, infrastructure assessment essentially done. Are we to start all over again?"

LRT, however, has been a divisive issue in Hamilton, where city officials have also studied the merits of bus rapid transit (BRT).

While the end of LRT was met with jeers, there were also cheers from those who argue its lower-city focus left other parts of Hamilton out while local taxpayers could end up paying.

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Coun. Judi Partridge, who represents Flamborough East, which includes Waterdown, for one, contended in a recent news release that LRT "would have increased your taxes, which directly affects affordability and everyone's ability to stay in their homes and in the communities they love."

tmoro@thespec.com

905-526-3264 | @TeviahMoro

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