Midtown Urbanist
Superstar
I am hoping that any delay in Eglinton can be productively used to get Eglinton Connects initiatives underway while construction along the corridor is still occurring.
The premier will blame any Crosstown problems on the previous government.
And in this particular case, he won't be necessarily wrong. At least, it would require a detailed analysis to determine when the relevant mistakes were made, during the Wynne's watch, or under the current government.
I am hoping that any delay in Eglinton can be productively used to get Eglinton Connects initiatives underway while construction along the corridor is still occurring.
Honestly, I am not super worried whether the Crosstown comes into service in 2021 or in 2023. Either way, it is a dramatic, game-changing improvement for this corridor. A delay of a year or two is nothing, compared to the situations in many other major corridors that are waiting for their lines for decades, without any luck.
I dunno...I am getting impatient to begin zipping across Eglinton. I have avoided the street for about five years and it has even affected how much I visit close friends, since it's so painful to get around on Eglinton and in the neighbourhoods close to. When you think about it, construction of this magnitude has demolished a generation of businesses.
^I would be good with the project taking however long it takes, provided there were transparency and candour about progress. Not many megaprojects come off on their original timetable.
This approach of whistling a happy tune and periodically rewriting history is what’s unfortunate.
- Paul
I wonder whether the lesson learned from Crosstown (and TYSSE, frankly) is whether deep bore tunnelling is all it was said to be. There may be locations where it was unavoidable - but could we have done parts of the job cut and cover, and how bad would that have been compared to the current hell on Eglinton?
The businesses on Eglinton would probably agree in hindsight that two years of excavation would have done them less harm than five years of blocked sidewalks etc. We may be more willing to bite the bullet on cut and cover on future lines (Ontario Line, take note) where is was a non starter when these last projects were planned.
My longer term fear for those businesses is, what happens when the line opens and development intensifies? I expect rents will rise and many leases will be terminated so that new construction can happen. That kind of transition is part and parcel of creating a higher order transit line... it may come to Finch also.
- Paul
Any change on Finch (especially Jane-Finch) is welcome. It cannot get any worse.I wonder whether the lesson learned from Crosstown (and TYSSE, frankly) is whether deep bore tunnelling is all it was said to be. There may be locations where it was unavoidable - but could we have done parts of the job cut and cover, and how bad would that have been compared to the current hell on Eglinton?
The businesses on Eglinton would probably agree in hindsight that two years of excavation would have done them less harm than five years of blocked sidewalks etc. We may be more willing to bite the bullet on cut and cover on future lines (Ontario Line, take note) where is was a non starter when these last projects were planned.
My longer term fear for those businesses is, what happens when the line opens and development intensifies? I expect rents will rise and many leases will be terminated so that new construction can happen. That kind of transition is part and parcel of creating a higher order transit line... it may come to Finch also.
- Paul
That's my thoughts on Eglinton westAny change on Finch (especially Jane-Finch) is welcome. It cannot get any worse.