Honestly I'm not totally opposed to the tunnel option. It results in higher LRT speeds, and solves the NIMBY problem plaguing the project. Plus it gives more room for pedestrian improvements in Downtown, which are badly needed.
Your post speaks to a lot of pressing transit issues. Either we can live in a dream of how it should be built (and it remain a never-ending theory) or we can get pragmatic and see it built within a decade. And it should only take half that time, but now I'm getting depressed from the necessity of justified cynicism...A tunnel is perfectly fine if you don't want to ride it until 2050; 20 years to find someone willing to fund it, then 10 years for design/tender/construction.
Somehow after eliminating a $50M loop (which is good for service too IMO) as a cost savings measure the tunnel seems like a big ask at the moment; unless Brampton kicks in a non-trivial amount (enough to get the feds on board) I don't think the provincial level will be at all interested in it for quite a while.
Honestly I'm not totally opposed to the tunnel option. It results in higher LRT speeds, and solves the NIMBY problem plaguing the project. Plus it gives more room for pedestrian improvements in Downtown, which are badly needed.
actually not a bad thing - kinda like a grade separated/elevated rail vs. at grade/level streetcar.
By my estimate from Google Maps, approximately 1.4-3.4km.Isn't it a pretty short tunnel? I haven't seen detail on the latest proposal. There's tunnels on parts of the Finch and Eglinton lines - and now a massive amount of concrete necessary for elevated intersection on Mississauga at Rathburn.
How long is this tunnel?
1.4 km doesn't sound terrible ... but even that surprises me. Is there any reason for a tunnel much south of Wellington and Gage Park? There's certainly tons of width south of their, and nothing but houses!By my estimate from Google Maps, approximately 1.4-3.4km.
How do we know the amount, but not the length?The tunnel isn't huge but it's still an estimated $380M (2015 $'s) addition.