You turned the LRT debate into ART at Supercrawl

Thousands of people had their say on LRT in downtown Hamilton during Supercrawl, and participated in the "Turning LRT into ART" collaborative art project.

It was curated by CoBalt Connects, and ran on Friday and Saturday during the festival.

Participants who visited the CBC Hamilton offices were asked a simple question: "How do you feel about LRT in Hamilton?"

Using their answers, participants then coloured in a square on one of 10 canvases housed in our lobby, which channeled the work of Sol Le Witt.

Here's what the colours on the finished pieces mean:

• Orange: Bring it on! Modern cities need modern transit to stay competitive.
• Yellow: We don't need it. Let's focus on improving our aging road infrastructure and existing transit system.
• Green: I'm on the fence. I would consider LRT but don't think the route is right yet.
• Blue: I honestly can't follow the debate and don't know enough detail to have a serious opinion.

All told, about 2,300 people participated, said Jeremy Freiburger, cultural strategist for Cobalt Connects.

"There was absolutely no hesitation from people once we got rolling," Freiburger said. "There were a lot of people walking in and saying, 'That's a great way to get my opinion.'"

Only four of the canvases have been counted so far, Freiburger said. Of those, about 55 per cent voted with the orange "bring it on" option.

The other three options were split fairly evenly down the middle for the other 45 per cent, he said.

But, Freiburger was quick to caution that this is an art project, and not an official poll. "It's definitely not scientific," he said.

Yet through art, a lot of interesting debates were fostered. In some cases, couples came in and each voted differently.

One woman was caught painting in four yellow squares for the "no" side at once. "She runs a business in the international village and she thought LRT would ruin her life," Freiburger said.

At one point, two university students were standing side-by-side and voting for the opposite options.

When the person voting yes asked the man standing next to him why he was voting no, he said he was a transportation engineering student at McMaster University, and he didn't think LRT was a good fit for the city.

The two then spent about 45 minutes in the corner, having a respectful debate about the issue.

"There were some great moments like that," Freiburger said.

Last May, the province announced it would spend $1 billion to build LRT in Hamilton. Metrolinx is building the system with input from the city.

B-line LRT will go from McMaster University to the Queenston traffic circle. A-line LRT will run down James Street North from King Street East to the West Harbour GO station — or the waterfront, budget permitting.

Work has started on the project, and construction would start in 2019.