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Eglinton-Crosstown Corridor Debate
- Thread starter Dan416
- Start date
nfitz
Superstar
If my memory serves correctly, it's the west portal near Keele that's been scheduled to start digging next year.
Tuscani01
Senior Member
I didn't realize they were entirely eliminating left turns at intersections where the LRT is on the surface. That would definitely speed up travel since left turn signals on our current ROWS create the most delays for LRT vehicles. Anyone wishing to make a left would have to drive through the intersection, make a u turn at a signalized u turn lane, and then make a right onto the cross-street.
Eug
Senior Member
Yeah, I've noticed electronic signs for soil samples on and off somewhere around Eglinton and Leslie. The last time I saw one was actually this past week.
I truly hope that Ford leaves the Eglinton Xtown LRT alone, or even improves it.
jje1000
Senior Member
Well, from what Karen Stintz has to say, it looks like the underground portion of the Eglinton LRT will likely not need to be reviewed. Whether or not Ford sacrifices it for his Sheppard extravaganza is another question.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ncerns-of-new-ttc-chair/article1836559/page2/
Eug
Senior Member
Yeah, IIRC, they kinda hinted at that earlier, shortly after the election. Glad to see confirmation of that.
The TTC and Metrolinx and the province are working very closely to see if subways do make sense, or underground LRT does make sense. In fact, the Eglinton line is already an underground LRT, so there’s no need to review that piece of it. Obviously [we] need to look at costs, timelines, trade-offs, impact.
I suspect what that means though is that they're still considering axing the above ground parts of it, which could mean they will get nothing, express buses, or BRT, which won't get updated to anything else for a very long time.
EnviroTO
Senior Member
The whole point of building LRT is to have it run at the surface for a portion because that is where the real savings are. There is no point creating a network of underground LRTs... you might as well run shortened subway trains. If the most expensive part of the Eglinton line is not cancelled, and money is lost for cancelling the Sheppard East contract, where is the money for the two subways to SCC going to come from?
Eug
Senior Member
Yes but the reason I said that is because I figure he'd "compromise" there for LRT because money has already been spent, and it's still like a subway. This would leave it open for further surface LRT expansion in the future, or else future underground extensions later. He gets his "subway", but doesn't kill the LRT project completely.
The future. Or so he might say.
Amy Rose
Active Member
You also have to remember that most of the money is provincial funding
Darwinkgo
Active Member
All of the money for Eglinton is provincial.
Dan416
Senior Member
Seeing as all the TC money is provincial, there's no reason the City can't use the money they were originally going to use to fund TC all on their own to add to the provincial portion and upgrade certain extensions to subway (Sheppard and the SRT).
nfitz
Superstar
City Hall diary: Eglinton line something we can all agree on
Article in Toronto Star noting that Transit City isn't streetcars, and that the underground section of the Eglinton line is something that Queen’s Park, Metrolinx, and Mayor Ford all support.
Matlow looks as though he will be interesting. And seems very sensible and pragmatic. As much of the underground section of the Eglinton line is built in, and along his ward - not to mention much of the St. Clair streetcar line - his voice will be important in the upcoming debate.
Article in Toronto Star noting that Transit City isn't streetcars, and that the underground section of the Eglinton line is something that Queen’s Park, Metrolinx, and Mayor Ford all support.
Matlow looks as though he will be interesting. And seems very sensible and pragmatic. As much of the underground section of the Eglinton line is built in, and along his ward - not to mention much of the St. Clair streetcar line - his voice will be important in the upcoming debate.
EnviroTO
Senior Member
Why do I have to remember that? I have to pay income tax to the federal government, the provincial government, and then property tax to the city. Waste is waste. Lack of funding is lack of funding.
EnviroTO
Senior Member
With increases in operating budgets due to contract settlements now expected to be higher for the TTC, the cancellation of the car tax, a freeze on property tax, TC contract cancellation costs, etc... where is this new money for subways going to come from? The money the city was going to use on TC got spent on the city streetcar purchase which they had thought the federal government would help with. There isn't any more money and that is why no money to keep TC on schedule was presented when the province pulled back their timelines to save money. The city is maxed out and the province is maxed out. The only hope for more funding is a change in the federal government's national transportation policy to one where the federal government feels they have a role to play in funding transit.
Northern Magus
Active Member
Ford is free to "upgrade" whatever portion of TC he likes. But since he can't simply will money from other levels of government into existence, he'll have to fund it by raising taxes: property taxes, vehicle registration taxes, parking taxes, road tolls, and all those other things that he's against.
Contrary to your assertion, there's no magical pot of City money just waiting to fuel people's fantasy lines. Cancelling parts of TC will have significant money-wasting consequences. It really is TC or nothing, at least within the next 10 years. And unfortunately, Ford seems to be making it quite clear that he prefers nothing.
Also: People on these threads keep asking why the TTC is so underdeveloped. The answer should be obvious: lack of funding and excessive political interference. This will be the second time in the last 15 years that a conservative politician has killed a multi-billion dollar transit expansion in Toronto. The fact is that the windows of opportunity when governments (a) have sufficient funds to invest, and (b) are comprised of transit-friendly political leanings, are probably both short and rare.
Faux Tea Partiers like Ford and Hudak are certainly not going to be funding multibillion dollar downtown subway expansions, since any money that could be used for them will inevitably be eaten up by tax cuts.