It could be a high speed LRT, if the TTC can get past the automobile lobby saboteurs.
Hear me out, I'd be okay with Eglinton East being at-grade, assuming fast speeds through intersections, strong signal priority/preemption,
and 1+ km stop spacing. The 1 km or greater stop spacing is key.
If parallel buses will run, then the stop spacing should be wide to facilitate
rapid transit. It makes no sense that the smaller, more sparsely populated Line 5 area from Don Valley to Kennedy has more stops than the larger Line 2 area from Pape to Kennedy. 11 vs. 9 stops inclusive.
The fact that a large contingent of transit enthusiasts here are ravenous about (what I consider to be) narrow stop spacing does not bode well for what the uninformed masses and politicians think. Narrow stop spacing even in the relative suburbs. As a general rule, the stop spacing should be wider the farther away from downtown, excepting secondary CBDs.
Just look how Line 5 is hamstrung, even with a theoretical top speed of 80 km/h. From Mount Pleasant to Leaside, it hits 80, then has to decelerate within 3 seconds. Despite there being 970 metres (1060-90) between station platforms. Similar case for Leaside to Laird. In total, there are only 3 segments out of 14 where it reaches 80 km/h.
A total time of less than 20 seconds at 80 km/h, around 0.4 out of 18.6 km.