Hipster Duck
Senior Member
^that would be one heck of an expensive transit project for admittedly very little gain. Sandwiched as it is between the Yonge and Spadina lines, a Bathurst LRT would make very little sense.
|
|
|
Bathurst Streetcar
- Thread starter unimaginative2
- Start date
Rainforest
Senior Member
South of Wilson, Bathurst street is too narrow for a transit ROW. Streetcars in mixed traffic would be too slow, whereas tunnelling them would be prohibitively expensive.
However, Bathurst LRT can be considered for the northern section: starting at Wilson or Sheppard (dependent on the connection to subway), and up to Centre Street / Promenade Mall in Thornhill. The street there is wide enough for LRT ROW plus two lanes of traffic each way (a short stretch just north of Wilson might be tight, but can be tunnelled if necessary). And, the northern section of Bathurst actually has much more density than the Bloor - Wilson section. The Bathurst / Steeles area, and the western side of Bathurst almost all the way to Finch, host a lot of highrises.
DSC
Superstar
Member Bio
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2008
- Messages
- 19,140
- Reaction score
- 26,775
- Location
- St Lawrence Market Area
Of course it is, that's how streetcars get to St Clair as it's the only link between St Clair and the rest of the network. The tracks were actually all replaced last year and go past the big TTC shops at Bathurst/Dupont. That said, I cannot see any real reason why streetcar service could not be offered on this stretch of the street, if the demand is heavy enough and the TTC has enough streetcars. About 2 years ago I was waiting at King and Bathurst and a St Clair streetcar came along, en route to start the shift. The driver gladly took me and one other person to St Clair station.
kettal
Banned
golodhendil
Active Member
Such as?
W. K. Lis
Superstar
SlickFranky
Active Member
Doesn't Bathurst run ALRV's?
kettal
Banned
Drivers will only be able to access their business coming from one direction, for starters. If these streets were slums, then change might be advantageous. But they're the some of the most vibrant parts of the whole city. Throwing this away would accomplish what, exactly? A DRL subway brings all the benefits without re-arranging successful neighbourhood.
Rainforest
Senior Member
No, it runs CLRV's.
golodhendil
Active Member
A) Why should building the DRL and optimizing surface transit downtown preclude each other?
B) Why would changing the traffic direction "throw away" said vibrancy?
kettal
Banned
a) they don't, unless optimizing means converting the streetcars into express streetcars. Which is how I interpreted his proposal.
b) it might, and it might not. Every business survives or dies due to environmental factors. If the area is highly successful, then changing these environmental factors should be approached with a lot of caution. On the other side of the coin, Lower Hamilton has exactly the opposite problem.
andomano
Active Member
Bathurst does run ALRV's, but only during the CNE.
golodhendil
Active Member
Without advocating removing stops, I don't see how his plan suggests changing the streetcars to express. Allowing the streetcars to not get stuck behind traffic and minimizing bunching, does not an express make.
Fair enough, though I still consider the chances that a traffic-direction change will deal permanent damage to a neighbourhood's vibrancy to be slim.
sixrings
Senior Member
Id agree that a typical one way street wouldnt be good for the neighbourhood. however a one way street with transit ROW and larger sidewalks and bike friendly would maybe help the neighbourhoods. or at least be nutral but with better transit.
golodhendil
Active Member
And why would that be?