Future of LRT still unclear as councillors set to vote

Less than a week before Regional Council is set to vote on light rail transit (LRT), some councillors are still undecided, while many of those who have decided aren't sharing their plans.

The $818-million project could be Waterloo Region's most expensive project ever, if it gets the green light from council.

Four councillors will not be voting, after declaring a conflict of interest, the rest have very little time left if they haven't yet made up their minds.

Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr has been in the ‘yes' camp from the start. He says after 131 meetings with public input, enough is enough.

"We need to be brave, we need to be courageous, we need to move forward at this point in time…This may not be the perfect solution, but if we wait until we want a perfect solution we will never get it done."

Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran sits in the ‘no' camp, but says she's not against rapid transit, just the expensive plan that's currently on the table.

"People were very concerned about the shortfall and that hasn't changed and my position hasn't changed."

She also doesn't feel the current plan will sufficiently service everyone who needs to get around.

"What about all our industries and businesses who have many, many employees on the outskirts of suburbs and how are they going to benefit from a system when there's nothing coming out to them."

Councillor Claudette Millar joins the ‘no' side, while Jean Haalboom is expected to vote ‘yes.' Councillor Jim Wideman will vote ‘yes' as long as his amendment is also passed.

The other seven councillors are not revealing their choices, or even if they have decided.

If LRT is approved by regional council, taxpayers in Kitchener, Waterloo or Cambridge can expect to see their property tax bills increase in 2012, but the trains themselves will take much longer to implement.

Waterloo Region Transportation Commissioner Thomas Schmidt says "We're suggesting late 2014 is our earliest target date. There's still a lot of work to be done."

That work includes an environmental assessment that could take six months, and a discussion about who will be selected to build the project.

Schmidt says "We will be back to the public again probably October, November…with essentially the same information that we went out with this time, which I know is going to be confusing for people."

The process may be confusing, but it faces the biggest hurdle on June 15.