Mississauga Mississauga Transitway | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | IBI Group

[Markster]

I took a drive down Eglinton last week to see the progress on the transitway, and (since I'm not local) get an idea for the environment it runs through.
It really is a very nice piece of infrastructure, and, despite being in a suburban business park, I can actually see it being used, as many offices are rather conveniently close to the transitway.

What I think needs to happen though, is that Mississauga needs to begin to allow residential development, and open up the zoning in general, for properties fronting Eglinton. (i.e. the block south of Skymark Ave) It is an impressive piece of infrastructure, but they really need to encourage multiple uses to make sure it's being used for more than just rush hour commuters at 9am and 5pm.

 

[zenmeister]

This line has the flexibility that an LRT wouldn't including being able to get rid of much of the dreaded 'last mile' which greatly hurts rapid transit in more suburban areas.

Sure it's a step up. But it'll only be the case until ridership exceeds capacity, at that point it will probably be upgraded to a LRT line anyways. I don't think the main strength of a BRT system is the last mile problem, after all upgrading to a LRT can free up buses that could provide that service. Maybe that's an even better answer to the last mile problem. The primary strength of a BRT is that it provides inexpensive rapid transit service.

What I think needs to happen though, is that Mississauga needs to begin to allow residential development, and open up the zoning in general, for properties fronting Eglinton. (i.e. the block south of Skymark Ave) It is an impressive piece of infrastructure, but they really need to encourage multiple uses to make sure it's being used for more than just rush hour commuters at 9am and 5pm.

I agree that there needs to be residential development along the line. But Skymark would be the wrong place for it, that area is an extremely important business area for Mississauga, perhaps more so than SQ1 right now. That entire area should be turned into an urban mid-rise office area. It's close to the airport, and in Europe it's not uncommon for office areas to be outside the city centre, I think the same principle can apply here. That doesn't exclude the possibility of having bars, restaurants and nightlife there that run late. In the long run the green strip along the 403 should to be developed and that's where the residential development should go.

 

[W. K. Lis]

... In the long run the green strip along the 403 should to be developed and that's where the residential development should go.

If they are building condos and office buildings next to the Gardiner Expressway, they can build next to the 403, as well.

Just make sure the windows are triple-glazed.

The buildings will also buffer the traffic noise.

 

[drum118]

No they can't do that for the 403. The north side has pipelines and transmission lines and not going to go away any time soon.

The south side can work in only a few places, as you have roads in the way for the rest of it.

Going south on the 403 to the QEW is class as employment lands.

Big different between the 403 and the Gardiner is the point that the 403 see more traffic 7/24 as well a true hwy.

Mississauga talks a great talk in having tall buildings, but when it comes time to build them, arm twisting takes place to reduce the height. Until Absolute came along, 37s was the tallest in the city. Today, we have a couple in the low 40's with a few more to be built, as well 4 50's. With the province now calling for more density on transit routes, will be interesting to see if the city will allow taller buildings on them..

 

[zenmeister]

No they can't do that for the 403. The north side has pipelines and transmission lines and not going to go away any time soon.

Of course no one is suggesting it's going to happen tomorrow, eventually they will bury the utilities, as for when that it is, who knows. But it's wouldn't surprise me if an upgrade to the LRT happened before that. I know you don't believe that it's a good place for a LRT, but suburban style LRTs are successful in Calgary and Edmonton, and in European cities where LRTs are the backbone for rapid transit there are example of LRTs that are more suburban nature in outside of city centres. I'm not suggesting this is going to happen tomorrow either.

 

[drum118]

Of course no one is suggesting it's going to happen tomorrow, eventually they will bury the utilities, as for when that it is, who knows. But it's wouldn't surprise me if an upgrade to the LRT happened before that. I know you don't believe that it's a good place for a LRT, but suburban style LRTs are successful in Calgary and Edmonton, and in European cities where LRTs are the backbone for rapid transit there are example of LRTs that are more suburban nature in outside of city centres. I'm not suggesting this is going to happen tomorrow either.

You will never see an LRT on this Transitway in your life as this is a GO thing that branches out to low ridership routes. The word LRT is not in GO vocabulary.

This section is a small piece of the big network that still has to be built and not going to happen anytime soon since there is no money for it. Even this section is missing section as there was no money to build it in the first place and the current section is way over budget even with all the gutting that has taken place.

LRT has to be the backbone along with EMU's if you want to move people over the next 50 years in place of cars.

Based on 2004 numbers at the time, LRT was the way to go then, but the numbers turn out to be skew after the EA was done in 2004. I called for an LRT then as well saying the cost to build this Transitway was going to cost 50% plus more than what was being call for. The EA only saw 8,500 riders at peak time west of Renforth by 2030. Math said you need about 135 buses per hour to move those riders back in 2004. Going west of Sq One was around 4,000 going from memory.

 

[drum118]

Found an hour & half today to walk the new extension being built as well shoot it.

I said last year that Spectrum Station could be open by June 2016 and connect to Eglinton east of that. Was told not going to happen until 2017 and a miss opportunity. I would like to see Explore open that time as well, but no access to Eglinton. It only takes 10 minutes to/from Sq One to Etobicoke Creek Station now, a fraction of what it used to before.

If they fast track the stations now, they would be open by year end to the point Explore could see service as well since there is an on/off ramp being built on both sides of Commerce Blvd. Those ramps are new as I don't recall seeing them on any plans to date unless I totally over look it.

The Renforth Station is just east of Commerce Blvd with a long tunnel under it.

The first section of Renforth Rd bridge is being built with the off Eglinton Ramp Bridge built.

Photos to follow once I find time to fix them as well the ones in front of them.

 

[ssiguy2]

BRT has VERY high capacity in a system like this. The systems in Curitba, Guangzhow, and Bogota carry more passengers everyday that the TTC subway. Upgrades to articulated or double articulated buses alone would double capacity overnight.
This not just a bus going down the middle of the street {a la York Region} but a true grade separated rapid transit corridor ensuring reliability, speed, and extremely high frequency...........higher than any subway or LRT line particularly because they had the forethought of putting in passing lanes at the station.

Toronto is the last place that should be telling Mississauga how to build rapid transit because this is far superior to any rapid transit initiative Toronto has built in a generation. This is the technology they should have used and they have executed it beautifully.

 

[drum118]

June 3: All 159 photos are now on line from Renforth to Etobicoke Creek Station.

Very narrow stairs to the upper level at Etobicoke Creek Station for one person only at a time.

It looks like buses will enter/loop/leave by using the 2 ramps at Commerces Blvd/Renforth Station, as well going east/west to/from 427.

 

[Dan416]

that does seem to be quite narrow a staircase...

 

[doady]

BRT has VERY high capacity in a system like this. The systems in Curitba, Guangzhow, and Bogota carry more passengers everyday that the TTC subway. Upgrades to articulated or double articulated buses alone would double capacity overnight.
This not just a bus going down the middle of the street {a la York Region} but a true grade separated rapid transit corridor ensuring reliability, speed, and extremely high frequency...........higher than any subway or LRT line particularly because they had the forethought of putting in passing lanes at the station.

Toronto is the last place that should be telling Mississauga how to build rapid transit because this is far superior to any rapid transit initiative Toronto has built in a generation. This is the technology they should have used and they have executed it beautifully.

Again I think comparing Mississauga and Toronto is absurd. You're not going build Mississauga or Curitba style BRT through downtown Toronto. I don't think you going to have any below grade transit corridor with passing lanes anywhere in the old city. There is no space. Subway or on-street is mandatory. Mississauga has lots of space for that style of BRT, and only because the city set aside the land beforehand. It is pointless to compare.

Plus, Toronto built BRT before Mississauga (the York U busway??).

I think the real change for Mississauga will come from the Hurontario LRT, which is on-street. Mississauga Transitway is flexible, buses can go beyond the transit, but it is still just a piece of the puzzle. There is still no 407 Transitway. There is still no plan for Eglinton Crosstown connection (Toronto foolishly is focusing on Scarborough first).

As for articulated buses, they don't work so well when it snowing, as OC Transpo learned the hard way. In the Brazil artics are okay, but despite global warming this is still Canada. As a transit user in Mississauga, I have seen articulated buses getting stuck in the snow first-hand. I was annoyed that the TTC bought articulated buses recently, I think that was a big mistake but what do I know.

 

[LNahid2000]

Again I think comparing Mississauga and Toronto is absurd. You're not going build Mississauga or Curitba style BRT through downtown Toronto. I don't think you going to have any below grade transit corridor with passing lanes anywhere in the old city. There is no space. Subway or on-street is mandatory. Mississauga has lots of space for that style of BRT, and only because the city set aside the land beforehand. It is pointless to compare.

He never said Downtown Toronto. There are many places in Toronto with tons of space where this type of BRT could be used.

 

[DonValleyRainbow]

that does seem to be quite narrow a staircase...

Agreed. Way to future-proof guys!

 

[interchange42]

So that narrow staircase, plus an elevator, is all the connects the station to the Bell office campus? It's really quite elegant in its foolishness.

I suppose they justified it as it's only accessing one office complex and is not the main public entrance, but still… that's a very odd decision.

42

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Well, we shall see just how much usage it gets - I would be happier to see it jammed up to the T over the more likely possibility/fear of very low usage.

AoD