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Eglinton East LRT | Metrolinx

I am thinking of a modified version of the latest LRT design:

View attachment 407617

The Eglinton and Kingston Road sections retain the close stop spacing, as the city wants. So, it can support multiple highrise / midrise buildings, and doesn't require parallel local bus service. The travel along this segment won't be fast.

If someone wants to get from the Kennedy Stn all the way to UTSC, they will take the subway to Scarborough Centre, and then the Ellesmere BRT. While the LRT will mostly serve shorter trips: commuting residents to Kennedy subway, same residents to a GO station, or students to UTSC.

But the Sheppard section has all mid-block stops removed, and isn't redesigned as an "avenue". It stops at the major intersections only: Markham Rd, Progress, Neilson, Morningside&Sheppard. The mid-block stops will have a local bus. That bus is needed anyway, to serve the part of Sheppard east of Morningside. (Even if the Zoo LRT branch is added, there will be a section of Sheppard east of Meadowvale that needs a bus.)

Thus, the Sheppard LRT section will provide a reasonably fast connection from Malvern to both Subway Line 2 and the Sheppard Line, and from the Sheppard Line to UTSC.

I personally would rather see the Sheppard subway extended along Sheppard and up to MTC, and have the Eglinton East LRT terminate at Sheppard and Morningside.
 
It probably IS worth looking at shifting the break in line over to Don Mills. There ought to be lots of room for a surface terminal in the bus area once the OL opens, it absolutely is one of the cleaner ways of handling the system being what it is, and conceptually there shouldn’t be a lot of additional cost beyond needing another terminal for the Eastern line.

For that matter, I wonder if a single platform might actually be alright for for the main crosstown…. Cross platform would be nice if it way.
I know that is the solution I sort of hinted, but honestly I think that is going to cause more issues than it will solve. Maybe if the central section REALLY needs the capacity, this is something we can do, but doing an awkward linear transfer, even if it's cross-platform, is a subpar solution I don't think we should be pushing through unless we absolutely need to.
 
"Metrolinx provided a different account, however, with agency spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins saying in a statement to the Star that the province hasn’t changed the alignment of the subway since 2020, and “protections are in place” in its design to allow for an extension of the Crosstown into Scarborough.

“As plans advance for the proposed Eglinton East LRT, we will continue to work with our partners at the City of Toronto to implement the best possible transit solution,” she said."

Either the city is telling the truth, or Metrolinx is telling the truth. It can't be both ways.

From this morning at Council, via Graphic Matt:

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There’s a couple of things the TTC could do better, like installing better track switches so that streetcars do not crawl at track junctions.

I’d also remove some of the left turn lanes, which take up valuable signal phase time. There’s no need for anyone to turn left from Spadina to Queen, for example.
 
There’s a couple of things the TTC could do better, like installing better track switches so that streetcars do not crawl at track junctions.

I’d also remove some of the left turn lanes, which take up valuable signal phase time. There’s no need for anyone to turn left from Spadina to Queen, for example.
Hey! I use that left turn! :)
 
There’s a couple of things the TTC could do better, like installing better track switches so that streetcars do not crawl at track junctions.

The switches aren't the problem, it's their control system.

And the LRTs will use totally different systems in any case, so they won't be subject to this.

I’d also remove some of the left turn lanes, which take up valuable signal phase time. There’s no need for anyone to turn left from Spadina to Queen, for example.

I suspect that you're right, but then you'd be intruding into Toronto Traffic Service's fiefdom.

Dan
 
I don’t know why one would compare Spadina to Eglinton - yes Spadina has deficiencies (eg the switch restrictions, the nearside stops) and could be improved - but its intent is to be a collector/distributor, not a higher speed longer distance city-spanning backbone. All trams need not be LRTs.
But, if you’ve ever been to Portland…. its system crosses one of the densest stoplight-intensive street grids I have ever seen, and does so very quickly. Their traffic control system works. We can do better, but IMHO both Spadina and Eglinton’s stop spacing is appropriate for their respective functions, which are not the same.

- Paul
 
2034?? Holy crap! :eek:
As I was saying those to favoured subways back in David Miller's Transit City line on Sheppard and SRT would never actually get to ride them till they are retired or pass away without seeing their completion. Yet they supported it...

We have yet to see the Line 4 extension funded but good to know they do plan to include LRT back on Sheppard beyond McCowan.
 
That's not construction time (see how quickly the Finch LRT is being built) - you need to include about a decade of buffer time to accommodate political bickering, meddling, interference, and revisions...
The Eglinton East LRT, now that it includes no significant elevated or underground stations, should be able to be constructed incredibly quickly. Like, in 3 construction seasons quickly. All the more reason why it's absurd it won't be done to 2034.

It speaks to Toronto's ridiculous bureaucracy and how it's largely incapable of delivering major capital programs of even a mid-sized scale. You have to look no further than projects like Eglinton Connects, TYSSE, Union Station, Steeles Avenue widening, etc. Major transportation capital projects which take absolutely forever for no apparent reason.

Hell, even the Gardiner Expressway East replacement which was approved in, what, 2016, isn't scheduled for completion until 2030.

When was the last time City of Toronto delivered a capital program over $50 million in less than a decade? The time it takes Toronto to deliver anything of substance alone is an excellent reason to upload projects to the province.

I guess the extended timeline is good news for those hoping to see the project improved.
 

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