Tag Archives: 56 Centennial
10 B-LINE EXPRESS gets extended; Saturday service starting September 1st
There are some pretty solid service changes coming in September to the HSR in Hamilton. The most notable of a change is to route 10 B-LINE EXPRESS, the East-West express bus that operates between the Eastgate Transit Terminal and University Plaza in Dundas. The route has added service on Saturdays and service on weekdays has been extended by three hours, ending at 10:00pm instead of 7:00pm.
Route 44 RYMAL will get extended north to the Walmart Plaza just south of the QEW every day of the week while 56 CENTENNIAL will return to operating on weekends only in the area. 18 WATERDOWN will also see a short extension to Plains Road in Burlinton to make up for the removal of Burlington Transit’s 1 PLAINS bus from the Aldershot GO Station.
Here is a summary of the changes coming in September.
44 RYMAL extended north to Walmart in September
Beginning Fall 2019, route 44 RYMAL will be extended to service Walmart on Centennial Parkway just south of the QEW. Customers along the corridor between Eastgate Square and Walmart will benefit from 30 minute frequencies in non-peak mid-day service periods, 20 minute frequencies in am and pm peak service periods, and 1 hour frequencies in the night-time service period.
Customers along the corridor will also benefit from expanded hours to match the current route 44 RYMAL span of approximately 5:30 am to 12:30 am Monday through Saturday and 6 am to 12 midnight on Sundays.
The extension greatly exceeds the current service span and frequency of 56 CENTENNIAL.
Upcoming Spring 2019 HSR changes
Effective April 28 2019, HSR will be implementing changes affecting several routes.
Re-routing of Route 7 LOCKE due to construction will begin on April 28th and remain in effect for the duration of the project. Buses during this time will not service Locke Street directly. Buses will travel southbound on Queen Street South and northbound on Dundurn Street South. Re-routing buses will require customers to walk into the Locke St shopping district, but will allow buses to maintain schedule integrity.
Permanent re-routing of Route 34 UPPER PARADISE Will also begin on April 28th. This route has been impacted by a number of speed calming initiatives over recent years and buses are no longer able to remain on schedule. Upcoming changes to the route should make route 34 service more reliable for customers.
- The route is being shortened and will now end at Main at MacNab rather than King at James.
- Buses returning to the mountain will travel southbound on James Street South and then westbound on Hunter Street West to Queen Street South.
Permanent change to bus stops on King between James and MacNab Will also take place. The stop platform is being expanded to allow for greater accessibility for the six different route variations that operate at this location. The stops have been consolidated and re-aligned so that the buses running along Main St W (5-2 DELAWARE, 10 B-LINE EXPRESS) will operate from the stop closest to MacNab, while the buses running through McMaster University (1A KING, 5C DELAWARE, 51 UNIVERSITY) will operate from the stop closest to James.
Also starting April 28th is a trial stop re-location for the bus stop for Routes 2 BARTON and 3 CANNON from James at King back to James at King William. The trial will take place from April 28 until September 2019. The aim is to alleviate congestion created by multiple buses attempting to service a singular platform while at the same location 1 KING buses are attempting to turn onto James.
Finally the 56 CENTENNIAL Riverdale Pilot, has been extended until June 22nd, 2019.
56 CENTENNIAL to get Riverdale service pilot this fall
In the fall bus service on route 56 CENTENNIAL will be modified, adding new service area coverage as well as shortening the route length on weekdays.
The Riverdale HSR service pilot will run between September 2018 and the end of April 2019. Ridership will be assessed each month for both the route as a whole and specific to the stops in the Riverdale neighbourhood.
If successful (measured by ridership) the program will continue through summer 2019 with permanent implementation as part of the 10 year transit strategy. If deemed unsuccessful (lack of interest, no or low usage, reduction of ridership, status quo) the program will be assessed to determine if any portion should be retained (frequency or span or Riverdale routing) or if the route should return to the way it was before the pilot.
This change is very similar to one formally proposed to the City of Hamilton by me back in 2014.
Extended 56 CENTENNIAL service this summer
Additional HSR service is coming to Hamilton Airport and Van Wagner’s Beach areas this summer
Beginning with the summer schedules, the HSR will begin providing additional service to the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport and the Van Wagner’s Beach area. This additional service starts June 24th, 2018.
Customers traveling to the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport will not see any additional service to express bus route 20 A-LINE EXPRESS but will instead see service hours of the Glanbrook TransCab extended. The service, which costs an additional 50 cents on top of the standard fare, operates from the Mountain Transit Centre to Mount Hope. The hours will be extended during Monday to Saturday, and now on Sundays with newly added weekend hours.
Glanbrook TransCab will now run Monday to Saturday between 6:00am and 2:00am and on Sundays between 6:00am and 1:00am.
Another summer of inadequate service coming for 56 CENTENNIAL
On Sunday, June 25th the Hamilton Street Railway will switch to summer schedules. As per every year that means that many routes will adopt summer schedules which sees a reduction in frequencies. One such route is the north-south route on the edge of Stoney Creek, the 56 CENTENNIAL. However this reduction does at best a disservice since the route was changed in 2012.
Prior to 2012 route 56 was known as 56 CONFEDERATION PARK. The route was a summer only service which only ran during the summer months and only on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. The routing for this old route is the same as the current incarnation 56 CENTENNIAL except for two differences. The route did not service the Walmart Supercentre plaza as it did not exist previously and the route had far better service times.
Here’s a little bit of history.
As previously mentioned route 56 CONFEDERATION PARK only operated in the summer months on weekends. During this time the route ran on a 45 minute frequency between Eastgate Terminal and the Lakeland Pool loop, stopping at Wild Waterworks in both directions. The first bus departed Eastgate at 9:15 AM and the last bus headed towards the beach at 8:30 PM. The final departure headed back towards Eastgate from the Wild Waterworks waterpark in Confederation Park was 9:00 PM, a full hour after the waterpark closes in the summer.
Road 2 Hope Marathon Detours Multiple Routes on November 6th [ UPDATED ]
The Road2Hope marathon takes place on Sunday, November 6th, 2016. The marathon consists of a full and a partial marathon, each resulting in separate road and lane closures.
The full marathon (42 km) starts at Dofasco Park (1st Road East, south of Green Mountain Road) in upper Stoney Creek at 8:00 AM. The runners proceed north on Third Road East, east on Green Mountain Road, north on Tapleytown Road, east on Ridge Road, south on Fifth Road East, west on Highland Road, north on Albion Road, north on the Red Hill Valley Parkway exiting at Barton Street. The runners will continue west on Barton Street and enter the Red Hill rail trail just west of the southbound off ramp. The runners will remain on the rail trail, take the new bridge over the QEW and exit at Van Wagners Beach Blvd. Runners will cross the street near Confederation Park and proceed to the Beach Trail (Burlington bound). Runners will exit onto Beach Blvd. near Van Wagners and continue northwest (Burlington bound) on the lake side of Beach Blvd. The runners will then enter the Beach trail near Eastport Drive and return via the Beach trail to Confederation Park.
The half marathon (21 km) starts at Dofasco Park at 8:15 AM.
The following road and lane closures that will affect HSR will be in effect while the race is in progress:
- Red Hill Valley Parkway (downbound lanes only) from Mud Street to Barton Street, approximate times 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM
- Beach Boulevard (one Burlington bound lane) from Woodward Avenue to Eastport Drive from approximately 8:45 AM to 1:00 PM.
Delays can be expected, perhaps severe, at the following locations:
- Barton Street – Race participants will exit the RHVP, cross to the furthest north westbound lane and enter the Red Hill trail just west of the southbound off ramp. Police will assist participants in crossing from the south side to the north side of Barton Street from approximately 8:30 to 11:15 am.
- Upper Centennial Parkway – Race participants will cross at Highland Road from approximately 8 to 9:45 am.
- Stone Church Road – Race participants will cross at the Upper Red Hill Valley Parkway (Stone Church on ramp to RHVP northbound) from approximately 8 to 9:45 am.
As a result, routes 11 PARKDALE and 43 STONE CHURCH buses will be detoured.
Centennial Closure Detours 56 CENTENNIAL July 17-20
Starting at 9:00 pm on July 17, Centennial Parkway will be closed to through traffic in both directions between the Arrowsmith Drive and Goderich Road intersections until 5:00 am on July 20. The road closure is to accommodate work involving the removal of the CN Rail tracks that currently span Centennial Parkway south of the Goderich Road intersection.
During the road closure, buses operating on the 56 CENTENNIAL route will be required to divert. Local traffic will be maintained at all times.
Route 56 CENTENNIAL buses will be detoured as follows:
Service Resumes to Wild Waterworks on June 28th
Seasonal service to the Wild Waterworks water park resumes on Sunday, June 28th as the park begins daily summer operations. Route 56 CENTENNIAL, which operates year-round passed the park on Van Wagners Beach Road, will enter the park while it is open.
Wild Waterworks opened for the season on Saturday June 6th and will be open daily until Monday September 7th.
During the spring 56 CENTENNIAL operates on a 45 minute frequency between Eastgate Square and Lakeland Loop however the schedule is revised to operate on a 60 minute frequency during the summer with the addition of service into Wild Waterworks.
56 CENTENNIAL Route Frequency Change Proposal
The below is a copy of what I sent in over the weekend to all members of council as well as Don Hull, the transit division as a response to the information report being presented to GIC this Thursday. Below I outline my thoughts and suggestions on how the route could be make more efficient and useful, while not increasing any funding to the route.
It was brought forward in the latest information report that there are no plans to increase service frequency or service levels for route 56 CENTENNIAL during the 2014 budget year. This makes sense in that with reduced demand there is no justification for any increase in service, however not withstanding employment growth and anticipated demand for the area of Confederation Plaza (Walmart), there is a relatively simple way to increase service frequency without resulting in a budget increase for 2014.
