So just to clarify, all of you want politicians to be the ones literally designing a transit line. Politicians.
And instead of asking the rabid subway supporters to find a way make their subway work, it's councillor Matlow who's supposed to do that for them? Is that what you're implying, Cobra? That's exactly what he tried to do when he passed a motion a few months ago to study the feasibility of a surface subway.
“This motion is not a debate between LRTs and subways — this is a question, if we are able to build a subway to the town centre is it possible to do that and save hundreds and millions of dollars?” Why did this effort have to come from Matlow, of all people? Where were all the so called 'fiscal conservatives' when you need them?
Meanwhile, thus far the subway councillors make it clear that they refuse to have the SRT shutdown for an extended amount of time. They went apeshit over the possible expropriation of a shitty strip mall and a couple of houses. Their sacred woodlot shall not be touched under any circumstances. If that's too much for them, then there is no way they will agree to have an entire road torn up by cut-and-cover construction, or impose an elevated structure next to peoples' homes. So how is one supposed to "compromise" with these people? The best effort to date was the one-stop subway + Eglinton LRT package, but that deal has quickly fallen apart because of the cost. Now guess which side is not keeping their end of the bargain? For starters:
- The provincial Liberals refuse to provide more funding for Eglinton
- Glen De Baeremaeker, who claims to support Eglinton, tried unsuccessfully to get all of Ainslie's motions ruled out of order and prevent the project from advancing
- Eleven councillors (all of which support the subway) voted against one or both of Ainslie's motions
I agree that the LRT advocates can do better. But how about you say a few words about the subway or nothing idiots who have proven to be the real obstructionists to transit in this city. Who don't care what happens to other transit lines as long as Scarborough gets a subway and that's all that matters. No matter what cost, shape or form it comes in. And even when it's built, those councillors will never be satisfied until they get the Sheppard subway too.
