Source: The Standard
With Ontario’s voters headed to the polls next month, the Doug Ford government has announced the long-awaited Casablanca GO station in Grimsby is moving ahead.
“This contract will be awarded in the spring and will bring us one step closer to getting shovels in the ground,” said Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria, who made the announcement at Grimsby town hall Tuesday morning.
“Grimsby GO will be a game-changer for communities in the region. It will help ease gridlock and connect more people to good jobs and homes and new opportunities in one of Ontario’s fastest growing regions.”
Asked when construction might begin, Sarkaria did not offer any timelines.
“We’re going to move as quickly as we can to get shovels in the ground because we know how important it is to this region,” he said.
Asked if the announcement was linked to the expected election call, Sarkaria dodged the question.
“What I can tell you is this government, like no other, has put money into public transit,” Sakaria said.
He said the Grimsby GO station is part of the province’s $70-billion plan to expand transit across Ontario.
Kinga Surma, Ontario’s minister of infrastructure, was also there for the announcement.
“(The request for proposals announced today) now allows my ministry to truly have a mandate to negotiate with landowners within the area so we can bring a transit-oriented community here at Grimsby,” said Surma.
He said expanded GO train service could result in as many as 250,000 new homes along the GO rail system.
“We are embarking on the largest transit expansion in Ontario’s history,” said Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff. “It’s the largest transit expansion in North America.”
Niagara Region Chair Jim Bradley said it is welcome news for commuters.
“People rely on a robust transit system that services not only all of Niagara, but Niagara and beyond,” Bradley said.
Grimsby Mayor Jeff Jordan said the town has worked hard on the GO file, and it’s good to see movement on the part of the province.
“It’s really exciting and (we’ll) see if we can move forward with a station in the very near future,” he said.
Frank Miele, Grimsby’s economic development officer, said a GO train station in town would result in a massive boost to the local economy in terms of new commercial and residential development.
“Four billion dollars of development over the next five to 10 years,” Miele said. “We calculated the amount of development that would take place as a result of the GO transit stop.”
For his part, Dave Augustyn, the NDP candidate in Niagara West, said the announcement is not as impressive as it might seem.
“This is a reannouncement of a reannouncement of a promise,” Augustyn said. “There’s nothing concrete here.”
The Niagara Region’s website said the province announced in 2016 the extension of Lakeshore West GO trains to Niagara with stops in Grimsby, St. Catharines, and Niagara Falls.
More recently, Beamsville in the Town of Lincoln has been added to that list.
“The Town of Lincoln continues to work with a local landowner and development partners following the Metrolinx approval of the Lincoln (Ontario Street) business case back in 2021,” said Lincoln’s chief administrative officer Mike Kirkopoulos.