Public meetings set for proposed Simcoe Street Rapid Transit Line in Oshawa
Published October 19, 2023 at 9:01 am
Durham Region is hosting two Public Information Centres on the Simcoe Street Rapid Transit, a project that will bring passengers from the future Central Oshawa GO Station on First Avenue to Ontario Tech University/Durham College in the city’s north end.
A rapid transit service strategy will be presented, along with the business case that will support future funding applications. These meetings – Monday, October 30 at the Jubilee Pavilion and Wednesday, November 1 at the Oshawa Golf and Curling Club – will allow the Region to gather feedback from the public on the preferred concept plan. The same information will be presented at both events for members of the public to drop in and learn more on the project.
The Simcoe Street Rapid Transit Line will be the second rapid transit line to serve Oshawa this decade, with preliminary work on the BRT, a 36-kilometre, 49-stop project that will run in a dedicated bus lane from the Scarborough Town Centre to the new Oshawa Central GO Station, already underway.
That project, which is expected to cost in excess of $500 million, is expected to serve more than 40,000 passengers per day.
Work on the Simcoe Street line is in its early days but an environmental assessment will get underway in early 2024 and should be complete by early 2025.
Bus rapid transit is not a given for this corridor and prior to the upcoming public meetings the Region is still exploring BRT, LRT, aerial gondola and monorail options.
The public meetings will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at both locations. If residents are unable to attend either of the meetings the study material will be available to review from October 30 to November 15 at SimcoeStreetRapidTransit.ca. Feedback can be submitted using the online forms.
