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Danforth Line 2 Scarborough Subway Extension

What makes you think that improved speed and reliability is "waste"?
What being used to do this is a waste of money.

Skytrain is a dead horse with only 7 world wide. Why do you think there is talk that Bombardier is looking at discontinue it after the last section is built in Vancouver? They were pushing for this for the Eglinton Line as it would help them to show case it to the world. Wait wasn't the SRT supposed to do that?

An LRT is all that is needed and will better service the east end of Toronto as well the 905 than a subway going a short distance that will cost more to do than an LRT.
 
I think it will be a cathartic experience for Toronto as a city to see both an LRT on Eglinton and a reliable commuter rail (Smarttrack or GO RER) in action. We just have to wait a few years more, and not approve any more Sheppard-subway like boondoggles in the mean time. Maybe then we can have rational transit planning?
 
So what is this talk about converting the SRT into Toronto's High Line?

Don Peat @reporterdonpeat · 5h 5 hours ago

TTC CEO Andy Byford says they've been told to leave Scarborough RT up to convert it into a park like New York's High Line #TOpoli

Don Peat @reporterdonpeat · 5h 5 hours ago

"Where did that come from?" Cllr Gord Perks on TTC being ordered by commission to convert Scarborough RT into a park #TOpoli

Don Peat @reporterdonpeat · 4h 4 hours ago

Cllr Glenn DeBaeremaeker got #TTC commission to approve converting Scarborough RT into a park #TOpoli

Don Peat @reporterdonpeat · 3h 3 hours ago

"Andy, we're not building a park" @JoshColle shouts as TTC CEO Andy Byford talks to press about Scarborough RT/High Line park #TOpoli


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While I would like to see alternative uses proposed for the SRT corridor in the case we tunnel, trying to imitate New York's High Line in the suburbs is not going to deliver a desirable result.
 
Glenn DeBaeremaeker has got to be the worst disappointment of all times. And yeah, coverting it into a park, for what? Wildlife with a taste for post-industrial landscapes?

AoD
 
So what is this talk about converting the SRT into Toronto's High Line?

Don Peat @reporterdonpeat · 5h 5 hours ago

TTC CEO Andy Byford says they've been told to leave Scarborough RT up to convert it into a park like New York's High Line #TOpoli

Don Peat @reporterdonpeat · 5h 5 hours ago

"Where did that come from?" Cllr Gord Perks on TTC being ordered by commission to convert Scarborough RT into a park #TOpoli

Don Peat @reporterdonpeat · 4h 4 hours ago

Cllr Glenn DeBaeremaeker got #TTC commission to approve converting Scarborough RT into a park #TOpoli

Don Peat @reporterdonpeat · 3h 3 hours ago

"Andy, we're not building a park" @JoshColle shouts as TTC CEO Andy Byford talks to press about Scarborough RT/High Line park #TOpoli


--

While I would like to see alternative uses proposed for the SRT corridor in the case we tunnel, trying to imitate New York's High Line in the suburbs is not going to deliver a desirable result.

If this were downtown this idea would have merit. But nobody is going to travel to Scarborough to stare at an industrial park and a sparsely used "city centre".
 
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http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2013.CC39.5
Council meeting of Oct 8 2013 voted 33-11 to:
Direct the City Manager to report to the Executive Committee on the feasibility of maintaining the abandoned S.R.T. line and converting it to a public park similar to Manhattan's High Line, once the S.R.T. is decommissioned.
It's rich to see Perks who was lambasting Pasternak on twitter for not knowing about voting to throw out the sunk costs during the meeting when it when it seems he himself voted against the motion during the meeting and has seemed to forget all about it.
 
If this were downtown this idea would have merit. But nobody is going to travel to Scarborough to stare at an industrial park and a sparsely used "city centre".

Who cares if people further west turn their noses up. Build it for the people who already live there. The more novel ideas built in the 'burbs, the less the 'burbs feels like the 'burbs.
 
Hey, I've got an even better idea. What if we took the money to convert it into a park (couple hundred million in demolition costs, track removal, landscaping, safety upgrades, etc.) - and put that into buying new trains?

Oh, that's right, because let's just throw away the family car and buy a new one, instead of changing the oil in the one we already have.
 
Who cares if people further west turn their noses up. Build it for the people who already live there. The more novel ideas built in the 'burbs, the less the 'burbs feels like the 'burbs.

Who already lives there? It goes through an industrial park.

I'd be all in favour of retaining the right-of-way as a ground level linear park, but keeping the SRT structure will result is some significant costs (not the least of which is insurance) and safety issues. It would be CPTED disaster. The Highline Park in Manhattan only works because there are thousands of people who live close enough to it to use it constantly and to keep their eye on it; and the high frequency of use makes the costs justifiable. A SRT park might see ten people a day some days.

One of the most frustrating things about armchair planners, particularly if they are politicians, is they see something work in one community and think it will automatically work just the same in their own community. Every community is different. They have different priorities, different economic conditions, different social conditions, different geography. Looking at what other places are doing is good, but you have to do some research into why something works in one location and how that location is different from your location, before you can assess whether it is a feasible idea for your community or not.
 
Who already lives there?

One of the most frustrating things about armchair planners, particularly if they are politicians, is they see something work in one community and think it will automatically work just the same in their own community. Every community is different. They have different priorities, different economic conditions, different social conditions, different geography. Looking at what other places are doing is good, but you have to do some research into why something works in one location and how that location is different from your location, before you can assess whether it is a feasible idea for your community or not.

Last time I looked there were quite a few condos right around STC, immediately south and east.

I wouldn't presume anyone had made a decision to keep, maintain and insure against liability the entire elevated structure forever more. It is possible, even in this city, that city planners may investigate whether parts of the structure could be converted into some sort of park or recreational activity feature. It's even possible that "some research" was conducted. When was the last junket to Manhattan? I think it's unfortunate having to borrow the "high line" name, makes everyone stigmatize this as a me too project.

The city is growing around the Gardiner and learning how to integrate the structure into city life. I don't see the SRT elevation, as it exists or decommissioned, as being much different. It might be cheaper to maintain and repurpose parts than to demolish them.
 
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Hey, I've got an even better idea. What if we took the money to convert it into a park (couple hundred million in demolition costs, track removal, landscaping, safety upgrades, etc.) - and put that into buying new trains?

Oh, that's right, because let's just throw away the family car and buy a new one, instead of changing the oil in the one we already have.

For better or worse the option of preserving the SRT as is, even with newer train sets, seems to have been dismissed years ago. I can personally attest to its unreliability, discomfort and noisiness compared with either streetcars, LRT or subway. I won't be sad to see it go but think it would be folly to not look at how to use the structure, especially if doing so is cheaper than demolition.
 

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