Wednesday’s headlines

10 comments

1. Re The Eglinton Subway question

   A simple solution to making this decision might be asking the shareholders to vote on it.

   Let the taxpayers aka shareholders of TTC and Toronto vote on which direction they believe Eglinton should take.

   Then we could put a shovel in the ground before the next century.

2. I vote for bread and circuses!

3. Is anyone getting tired of agencies of “senior-level” governments interfering with Toronto ?

   You have the TPA regularly messing with the waterfront, going off and doing whatever it likes.

   Now we have Metrolinx stepping in on plans that the Province and the City have already agreed upon.

   Citizens of this city should hold federal and provincial politicians accountable for the actions of their respective agencies.

   It seems that Ottawa’s and Queen’s Park’s response is usually one of silence, acting as if they did not belonged to them.

4. hey larry, in this case they, Metrolinx, may see something miller wants to ignore… common sense.

5. Well, there’s the definitive answer to your last poll… bike theft is down.

   The question now is, will there be a rise in burglaries in downtown TO now that the major bike fence is out of the picture? The people stealing bikes were stealing them because they needed quick cash (for drugs, likely), what will they turn to now to get it?

6. Regardling Eglinton Subway: I agree with Larry the upper levels of goverment must stop interupting progress by changing funding and policies faster then the weather changes. But I really beleive the LRT under Eglinton is a mistake. The route is 31 km long and could easly get longer. LRT is TOO slow for this length ( look at the design speeds for the new sheppard lrt – 22km/hr (this includes stop/dwell times at stations and traffic lights). The current bloor subway operation speed is 30 km/hr (including station stop/dwell times). Has anyone taken a ride on bloor subway from kippling to St. George (takes a while). Something as long as Eglinton Line Needs a express line perhaps with a opperation speed of 50km/hr – (faster then bloor subway). The proximity for Eglinton to extend into Durham,Peel Regions, and tie in with Spadina, and Yonge Subway Lines, along with Future Jane and Don Mills LRT lines, and Pearson Airport make it ideal to be the backbone of GTA rapid transit. With this being said it should not only be a basic subway but should feature Express Subway Service such as the MTA has in New York. This means a 4 track subway under Eglinton. 2 local tracks that stop at every station, and 2 express tracks that skip 2-3 stations at a time. Why? because of its long distance length, central location, and ability to tie in all other transit infrastructure in the GTA, and most of all SPEED. If its not fast people will not take it. The Eglinton line should not only fuction as a subway but also a GO train service that opperates all day in a central location, not just a mass parking lot rush hour one way service. Sheppard was build in the middle of low density housing. This corridor ten years later is experiencing a high density housing boom due to the excellent transit provided by the Sheppard Subway. The same will also probobly happen along the the Eglinton Corridor in about ten years. Is the Eglinton LRT a good idea?? I would say yes. Is Eglinton LRT a narrow minded short sighted idea??? YES. Eglinton Corridor has a opportunity now to tie in all our transit infrastructure and provide Rapid Speedy Service around the GTA ( must like the 401 does for the car). The way Eglinton should be build is not only to service the local adjacent business and residence but also long distance commuters comming in from future durham and peel LRT and bus lines that need to tie in with other LRT and subways in Toronto, and Pearson Airport. As for the adjacent Eglinton Ave. density intensification, Jane Jacobs said it takes 20 years for a neighbourhood to Develop. With that said just because you build Eglinton Today does not mean it will Intensify over night. It takes time for the community and developers to realize the subway exists,thus eventaully changing the way people commute. This can now be seen 10 years after Sheppard Subway has opened. As for the rest of Transit City I think Sheppard and Finch should be subways, but Jane, Done Mills and the other lines of the Transit City are excellent Candidates for LRT. Remember the Eglinton Subway should be planned as a GO Train Service that opperates all day convenient for pedestrians coming from other transit lines. Not just in Morning and After Noon Rush serving massive suburban parking lots.

7. As a continuation to my comment, the local subway service(typical subway station spacing)can be built and run between Scarb. Town Centre and Perahaps York Centre. The Express Line That skipps every 2-3 stations can run far out into Peel and Durham since these are long distance commutes, and dont even have density to support close station spacing. So the 4 track (local/express) configuration can run thru central toronto, and the express tracks (2 tracks) can run farther into durham and peel regions. The setup can somewhat resemble the 401 express/collector configuration. The transit fair zone fees can also charge suburban commuters more. The government is currently spending money on electrifying the GO lakeshore line. Once again not a bad idea but the money could be much better spent on the Super Eglinton Line. People dont just work in Downtown Toronto anymore but are dispursed throughout the GTA ( North York, Vaughn, Younge/Eglinton, Mississauga, Scarbourough, region. The Super Eglinton Line ties in all transit lines with access to all of the above locations in, based on pedestrain mode of transporation, with frequent rapid service. Not the automotive based/pedestrain awkward service offered by GO. This is what the GTA needs now, stop wasting money on all other petty projects like GO electrification and a Pedestrain Based Public Transit Freeway.

8. Quadtracking would be horrifically expensive. Better to lengthen stops on the Eglinton underground to about 1-1.5km, not the half-kilometer you’ll find on the Danforth line or the Sheppard East LRT. Journey speed isn’t governed by vehicle speed but by stops, because transit vehicles can’t accelerate beyond the point where standing passengers fall over.

   Local service between stops could be provided by surface buses serving Eglinton like 61 Avenue Road and 54 Lawrence East.

   West of Yonge that would mean stops at Avenue Road, Bathurst, Eglinton West, Dufferin, West Side Mall-Bradford Line GO Station, Keele – six stops compared to 11 on the Bloor Line between Yonge and Keele.

9. Mark the spacing between stops on Bloor/Danforth is (800m avg). Im not sure how far appart the express service should be spaced to achieve a higher operating speed. Should the express service be a seated service only? to acheve at speed of 50-60km/hr. I think my Idea is extremely expensive YES, but it lays the foundation to transform Transit not just in Toronto but the GTA. If I work in Mississauga and have a meeeting in North York, LRT (even worse bus) would be horribly slow. It would make the journey impossible. The car even with moderate heavy traffic is still much faster. We talk about eliminating the use of car in our society but still build transit for the dinosours. Yes much of this is due to sprawl, but its too late now, and have to deal with what we have. The location of Eglinton Avenue is perfect because it ties in all major centres, and does not run through areas that are spwrawlled to the point there is no hope for mass transit or density intensification. Eglinton Super Subway is a very expensive, long term investment not for Toronto but the GTA. It took 30 years to build the 401 across the province, why should we expect anything less for this. If we can only build 2 stations a year for this massive project and determine the exact future route, it gives developers, municipalities, and transit authorities time to plan their developments and other transit corridors (such as lrt/brt) around this long fast subway. Toronto is not ready for such as massive peice of infrastructure right now. But if we get serious and fund a 2 station a year construction goal, with the exact future routing determined, the adjacent transit lines and population density will exist when the the Eglinton Super Subway starts to opperate in that area. The 905 has been doing this type of plannning for years. They plan out land use, build 5000 homes and save space for a freeway and 6 lane arterial roads. The roads and freeways are built as the land is graudually developed. This planning is done 30 years in advance. Why cant we do this with public transit? The sprawl of the old boroughs of Toronto, and inter 905 exist, its not going to go away, and we have to deal with it. These areas need redevelopment to densify. Its not going to happen over night so why build a overnight transit system? Lets build a 30 year system that can be extended into the 905 and still work and be extended 100 years from now such as those in London, New York, Berlin. A planned route that grows 2 stations a year sends a strong messege to developers. They are Serious, Consistent, Realistic, and ITS COMING.

10. “Mark the spacing between stops on Bloor/Danforth is (800m avg)”

    Maybe if you count the outer stops. In the inner sections it’s a lot less – as I pointed out, 11 stops from Yonge to Keele, a distance of 6.1km.

    The other problem is that your Super Subway just funnels traffic onto the Yonge-University line, when what we need is alternative N-S routings like the Don Mills LRT/Downtown Relief Line.