Last October, 2011, Public Works staff presented an update to the General Issues Committee [PDF] on the status of the LRT planning, design and engineering process.

The report noted that Hamilton is "at least two years ahead of other projects, in terms of implementation readiness, including the Hurontario LRT project in Mississauga/Brampton."

It further affirmed Metrolinx's position that Hamilton is "not required to prioritize between LRT and GO service extension, as LRT is a local transit service whereas GO serves an inter-regional function."

Council approved a 2012 work plan that includes the following items:

• A plan to locate a Maintenance Storage Facility (MSF) for the LRT vehicles;
• An environmental assessment on the MSF (this needs to be separate from the environmental assessment on the LRT line itself);
• A phasing study to determine the most effective construction plan (all at once or in phases);
• Determine firm capital costs and a recommendation to ask Metrolinx for capital and net change in operating costs; and
• Add the cost of not building LRT to the project cost-benefit analysis (and seek Metrolinx funding for any additional cost to do this).

You can read the full article here.