Toronto Ontario Line 3 | ?m | ?s

[WislaHD]

Less irrational than tax increment financing.

You jest, but tax increment financing could probably actually fund the municipal portion of the Relief Line.

It is a much more realistic funding option for the RL than it is for SmartTrack.

 

[pstogios]

You jest

Salsa doesn't jest when he reads anything even tangentially related to Mayor John Tory. He pounces. His hatred seethes.

 

[salsa]

Salsa doesn't jest when he reads anything even tangentially related to Mayor John Tory. He pounces. His hatred seethes.

I reject that exaggeration.

 

[Cobra]

Montréal automated light metro proposal unveiled

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/...-automated-light-metro-proposal-unveiled.html

After seeing this ambitious Montreal project of $5.5B for a 67km automated light rail service over 67Km being built and pitched all at once, my expectation out of both City council and the Ontario Government just grew that much higher.

Looking at the graph below, they haven't even started all the studies yet and they are already making clear that they want the project built all at once for 2021. The Feds already said this project is eligible to the Infrastructure program which "La Caisse" would invest $3B leaving the Feds with the balance.

So...

I expect nothing less from our government to do the same for our Relief Line. They should picth this from the very get go and get it build all at once.

Relief Long (Pink from Dundas West to Sheppard-Don Mills via Downtown)

I already wrote to my MPP to remind him of the Liberals' promise to get this build and to my city councillor that they should pitch Relief Long all at once due to this once in a generation Federal involvement in Public transit and Infrastructure.

Time to be bold and show some audacity Toronto and Ontario because if they picth it by phase, I think I will officially lose it...

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Im hoping in the next election we get a candidate willing to push this visionary plan forward and be a city builder. Tory twiddles his thumbs too much

 

[cplchanb]

wow.....67km in 4 years.....either they are on crack or they actually have competent construction team who can work on a tighter deadline....especially since this is going to be automated. Or they really dont expect nimby's or armchair transit fanatics to be much trouble....
it took us 10 freaking years to go from sheppard to hwy 7..... shame....

still can't beat beijing though....1200km in 3 years....

 

[Juan_Lennon416]

Im hoping in the next election we get a candidate willing to push this visionary plan forward and be a city builder. Tory twiddles his thumbs too much

To sell a visionary plan like that, a major project should be at the top of the list.

 

[WislaHD]

Montreal putting us to shame.

Meanwhile, the Relief Line has little opposition from the public, as recent polls show.

 

[Markster]

A large chunk (30km) of the Montreal plan already exists in the form of the Deux-Montagnes Line. The plan is more comparable to Smart Track/RER than a subway extension.

 

[WislaHD]

Just created a thread in SkyRiseCities for the Montreal Réseau Électrique Métropolitain (REM) proposal

So we can talk about the feasibility and details of that proposal over there.

 

[gweed123]

To be fair, a lot of that plan is either using existing infrastructure (Mount Royal tunnel and electrified tracks), or is using infrastructure that is under construction via another project (Champlain Bridge replacement). That simplifies things a lot. But yes, it is still a pretty big project.

 

[Hopkins123]

What does this mean for the Blue Line extension to Anjou? Is that cancelled now?

 

[Cobra]

What does this mean for the Blue Line extension to Anjou? Is that cancelled now?

The blue line will still happen, all level of government committed to it. For once since Drapeau, they have a mayor making it clear that nothing short than what he has on his transit list will be deemed unacceptable to Montreal, (REM and the blue Line extension to Anjou)

Just like Toronto, Montreal Island is a huge reason why both Ottawa and Quebec Liberals are in power with a comfortable majority and Denis Coderre is excessively good at hammering that point. He was one of the reason the Conservatives didn`t stood a chance in the Montreal Metro area.

We need that in Toronto and unfortunately, Tory and council are far from being IT

 

[Cobra]

To be fair, a lot of that plan is either using existing infrastructure (Mount Royal tunnel and electrified tracks), or is using infrastructure that is under construction via another project (Champlain Bridge replacement). That simplifies things a lot. But yes, it is still a pretty big project.

Early Metrolinx studies said Relief Long is around $7.8b excluding Osgood to Dundas West.

The point I`m making is that they should pitch the whole line now, as we have a federal government that's willing to fund up to HALF the price tag, almost regardless of the cost. Even if the price soared to $14B for Dundas West to Sheppard, the feds would take up to $7B of the price leaving Ontario and the City come up with the rest. If it`s not done this way ASAP, we`ll never see this complete line in our lifetime as this is a once a generation massive infrastructure investment coming from all level of governments.

The time is now, I encourage all to remind city council that this is their moments to redefine Toronto by doing this right. Reject Smarttrack and submit the full line (Dundas West to Sheppard) all at once to both the Federal and Ontario governments. Remind Wynne that this city remember what she promised during the last election.

Submitting only City Hall to Pape for funding and putting a footnote (Phase 2 and Phase 3 for later) is unacceptable especially in this political climate.

 

[ponyboy]

The time is now, I encourage all to remind city council that this is their moments to redefine Toronto by doing this right.

I agree that now is an important time to invest in the best transit projects, and to make bold investments worthy of the great city we are. I'd advocate committing to building the eastern part of the relief line to Lawrence now (not stopping at Danforth). Someone should emphasize to Trudeau, Wynn, and Tory the opportunity to solve major transportation and environmental issues, and also leave a legacy by reconnecting the city with the Don River in creating an unprecedented park that connects many Torontonians.

In the thread "re-routing rail away from the Don..", I discuss how rail can potentially be removed from the flood prone Don river, enhancing public access, while the rail traffic can be re-directed in an interlined relief subway line. Others have suggested this scheme, and I did some rough visuals posted below based on my interpretation. A commitment to build to Don Mills and Lawrence with appropriate tunnel infrastructure and junctions would allow for the Don River Valley "superpark" to take shape. To get it done, it would take high-level leadership and coordination among these politicians, and probably not that much more money than is already on the table. There are few opportunities for politicians to enhance their capital on multiple fronts with one bold project, but this may be one in my opinion.

About the DRL/GO interline scheme depicted below -- GO Richmond Hill would still depart from Union, but would begin to interline with the DRL around Gerrard Square (a junction would be built into the station). The interlining would continue via tunnel (three tracks) all the way up to Don Mills, just north of Lawrence, where the GO train would emerge from the tunnel onto the existing tracks to Richmond Hill. The RL could also continue north on the above-ground rail up to Sheppard (if DRL uses RER rolling stock, not TTC subway trains, as gweed123 suggests below). The suggested routing would make it unnecessary to re-activate the Leaside Spur. The train tunnel would cross the Don Valley via a new bridge built alongside the Millwood Rd bridge. The station at Eglinton/Don Mills would include direct transfer to the Eglinton Crosstown line.

Anyway, these are just intended to be discussion starters, and I know there are other good alternatives.