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Hamilton taxpayers are being asked to subsidize bus service to the new Walmart that opened on Centennial Parkway. The controversial site of the new Walmart replaces the one at Eastgate Square. The controversy was initially sparked by the rezoning of the land that it is built on, initially zoned as industrial.

Two local groups, Environment Hamilton and Hamiltonians for Progressive Development secured a promise from Walmart to build a sidewalk up to the bridge, and contribute $50,000.00 per year for four years, for transit service.

But a staff report estimates that the service will cost five times that amount per year, while only being expected to bring in a return of $50,000.00 a year from fare revenues. That equation results in $150,000 per year that the city must subsidize, even after considering the Walmart yearly contribution.

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The full story, as reported by the good people at C.A.T.C.H., is pasted below.

Taxpayers are being asked to subsidize a new bus service to get customers and staff to a controversial new Walmart on Centennial Parkway that replaces one at Eastgate Square. A railway embankment and bridge – now confirmed to not require replacement – blocks pedestrian access to the big box store adjacent to the QEW.
The location of the supersized store on lands previously zoned for industrial uses was controversial. Provincial planning officials advised the city against approving the rezoning, and two community groups appealed the decision to the Ontario Municipal Board.
However, the province did not join the appeal, leading the groups – Environment Hamilton and Hamiltonians for Progressive Development – to agree to a pre-hearing settlement that extracted a promise from Walmart to build a sidewalk up to the bridge, and contribute $50,000 a year for four years to transit service.
A staff report going to councillors tomorrow says that service will cost five times that amount and likely only generate fare revenues of $50,000 a year. So even with the Walmart contribution, the city will need to find at least $150,000 a year.
At present, HSR runs a summer-only weekend and holiday service along Centennial to Confederation Park, 700 metres north of the new Walmart store. The proposal going to the general issues committee tomorrow calls for a pilot program that would make that year round starting in late March, but subject to a review after the first year of operation.
“Increasing the service days of this route, while maintaining the present 45-minute service frequency, combined with a minor re-routing at the shopping centre parking lot will result in a daily transit service that coincides with the busiest portion of Walmart store hours, 1030 am until 630 pm,” says the staff report. This route enhancement will also provide Confederation Park visitors with year round access to the various attractions situated within the park.”
Objections from the citizen groups and others to permitting the new store pointed to the lack of transit service and the narrow railway underpass that makes pedestrian access extremely dangerous. There was also concern that the closure of the Eastgate Walmart could threaten that mall’s viability and impose hardships on the large numbers of low-income residents without vehicles who currently rely on the fac ility.
The new outlet is more than a kilometre north of the apartment towers housing many of those residents, and 900 metres away from the nearest bus stop on Barton Street. Wage levels at big box outlets mean many of their employees can’t afford to operate a vehicle.
It appeared that the railway bridge might require imminent replacement, and thus an opportunity to install sidewalks, but CN railway officials recently poured cold water on that view. In a letter to council earlier this month, CN responded to city concerns “about the functionality and life span” of the bridge.
“Under current loading applied to the bridge and at current train operation speed, the Centennial Parkway bridge is structurally sound for the foreseeable future,” wrote CN’s bridges and structures engineer. “CN has no plans to replace the bridge.”
More than a year ago, however, city council endorsed a staff recommendation to spend $11 million to replace the bridge in response to an inspection that concluded “the existing bridge structure has become structurally deficient and is in need of replacement to ensure public safety and continuity of the road network.”
The issue hit the media in early November with the revelation that the city – not CN – is financially responsible for the railway bridge over Centennial, something that the local councillor, Chad Collins, described as a surprise. However, he said replacement would help traffic flow and increase pedestrian access and development opportunitie s, and in response to the recent CN letter Collins is maintaining his support for reconstruction.
Collins also authored the December walk-on resolution asking staff “to address the introduction of transit services to the new regional shopping complex on Centennial Parkway”.