|
|
|
Or, use the Midtown Corridor.
This traffic is coming downtown whether you like it or not. Not just people in their cars from the burbs, but deliveries, construction vehicles etc etc. Not everyone can use transit. I am as big a transit booster as anyone, but we need other modes of transportation. And if you go back to my original premise I said "If we are going to build a tunnel anywhere" not that we should necessarily build this one.
I agree with you that it may generate "some" more trips, but still hold to the premise that we need multiple transportation options. The GTA has almost tripled in size since I moved here 40 years ago and there has been very little new infrastructure built, highway or transit.
We have "other modes of transportation" than transit. Car transportation is highly prioritized, which is why we find ourselves in the mess we are in as the city grows. What we actually need is "other modes of transportation" than cars.
www.ctvnews.ca
www.ctvnews.ca
globalnews.ca
Yet, it is the busiest highway on the continent. I prefer to view it through the lens of capacity rather than congestion. There will always be congestion, and adding lanes will never not make that a factor, however 6 lanes moving at 20km/h vs 8 lanes moving at 20km/h are still moving more people and goods at the end of the day. Now, you can argue the efficiency of such a wide highway with cars having to change lanes, which is a real effect, and is IMO why the collector/express system can work so well when properly designed.
Doesn’t the same argument apply to transit? After a few years, use picks up on the transit line and it becomes more crowded. So we shouldn’t expand transit lines?
The case that you refer to in transit is true, but unlike driving, it supports climate goals, compact and livable cities, and more vibrancy in urban spaces. Transit induces positive externalities, whereas driving induces negative externalities. So the same argument cannot be applied to both scenarios unilaterally.
A new route very much is a trip generator in and of itself. New highways generate new traffic and new congestion at all the streets that access it. Urban highways are very ineffective at moving large numbers of people. We should be reducing the number of cars going downtown, not increasing it.
Yes the same principle applies to transit. The difference is that cars and the infrastructure needed to accommodate them take up much more space than any other mode of transportation, including mass transit, cycling, and walking. This means wider streets, bigger parking lots, more spread out land uses, and more infrastructure serving fewer people. Transit benefits the city's finances while cars are a net negative. Or to put it another way, the more we rely on driving the higher our taxes need to be.
The rough cost is about $50 billion. For that same cost, what other transportation things could be done that may have more meaningful effect?
Ford announces $75M for Northlander train revival
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney announced in Timmins on Sunday the government will spend $75 million to restore passenger rail service connecting the northern and southern regions.
For a measly $75M you can have a long distance train that would take some cars out of the mix.
A ‘game changer’: Trudeau gives update on high-speed rail project
A new, high-speed rail network between Toronto and Quebec City will be a 'game changer' for Canadian commuters, cutting travel times from Ontario’s largest city to Montreal to three hours, the prime minister says.
The whole ALTO project is estimated at over $80 B, for 1000km. So, for under $50 B Windsor -Toronto could be built
Instead of the Tunnel, I bet Metrolinx could come up with multiple projects that would move more people better.
What would the cost for 2WAD GO?
GO Expansion - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
That is estimated at $14 B
What if we decided to buy back the 407?
Ford says he would ‘never rule out’ Highway 407 buyback | Globalnews.ca
On Wednesday, at an unrelated event, Ford was asked if he was still considering buying out the toll highway, which Ontario sold to a private operator in the 1990s.
"tens of billions"
Something needs to be done, but the answer is not always more lanes on the 401. It is one of the widest highways in the world,and it is not in one of the largest cities in the world. If adding lanes was the solution, the problem would have long been fixed.
Yikes on the Gardiner. The rest isn't so bad.
