GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

[Sunnyside]

Off the top of my head there are 3 connections that must be a priority for Metrolinx to connect with a walkway, and ideally a moving one. If anyone knows any others please feel free to mention them. I know this comes up a lot, but these strike me as the ones of utmost priority to ease travel between heavily used lines.

1. Bloor-Dundas West (‘movator’ probably unnecessary)
2. Spadina (reinstate the movator)
3. Main-Danforth (definitely also needs a movator)

We can cross Oriole-Leslie off the list, and eventually Bloor-DundasW. But, the others aren’t even on the radar.

 

[Northern Light]

Off the top of my head there are 3 connections that must be a priority for Metrolinx to connect with a walkway, and ideally a moving one. If anyone knows any others please feel free to mention them. I know this comes up a lot, but these strike me as the ones of utmost priority to ease travel between heavily used lines.


2. Spadina (reinstate the movator)

I agree this should happen, but for insight into the TTC's mindset, the existing escalators from the Spadina Platform are being removed to make way for the new elevators.

3. Main-Danforth (definitely also needs a movator)

Not happening, probably ever, certainly in the next decade.

Reasoning discussed here:

2681 Danforth Avenue | 163.45m | 48s | CT REIT | Turner Fleischer

Previously, we've seen an application here at UT for the easterly portion of the property currently occupied by a Canadian Tire Retail store and parking lot, fronting Danforth, between Main and Dawes. The site, had a peculiar fragmented ownership, the line of which literally runs through, or...

urbantoronto.ca

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

I agree this should happen, but for insight into the TTC's mindset, the existing escalators from the Spadina Platform are being removed to make way for the new elevators.



Not happening, probably ever, certainly in the next decade.

Reasoning discussed here:

2681 Danforth Avenue | 163.45m | 48s | CT REIT | Turner Fleischer

Previously, we've seen an application here at UT for the easterly portion of the property currently occupied by a Canadian Tire Retail store and parking lot, fronting Danforth, between Main and Dawes. The site, had a peculiar fragmented ownership, the line of which literally runs through, or...

urbantoronto.ca

The pedestrian tunnel from the mainland to Billy Bishop Airport is 853 feet or 260 metres. Almost double the distance mentioned above (148.25m). However, since the rich & elite use it, the movator there stays. See link.

 

[Sunnyside]

I agree this should happen, but for insight into the TTC's mindset, the existing escalators from the Spadina Platform are being removed to make way for the new elevators.



Not happening, probably ever, certainly in the next decade.

Reasoning discussed here:

2681 Danforth Avenue | 163.45m | 48s | CT REIT | Turner Fleischer

Previously, we've seen an application here at UT for the easterly portion of the property currently occupied by a Canadian Tire Retail store and parking lot, fronting Danforth, between Main and Dawes. The site, had a peculiar fragmented ownership, the line of which literally runs through, or...

urbantoronto.ca

Read your response, and it clarifies things. I was thinking more along the lines of an elevated walkway “tube” rather than underground. But, given that the city is leaning towards improving the street-level experience, that is also probably unlikely. I favour a moving walkway to this because of the distance covered; without it, the connection would require a long walk no matter how nice you spruce it up. If we can’t make the stations physically closer, we may as well do so artificially.

Alas, it probably won’t be a popular transfer point anyway, as you could just use the Ontario Line if on the subway already. This certainly limits GO-Line 2 transfers, though. It is still shocking no developers nor the city are trying to leverage the accessibility between the stations given the changes planned for the area.

 

[reaperexpress]

The pedestrian tunnel from the mainland to Billy Bishop Airport is 853 feet or 260 metres. Almost double the distance mentioned above (148.25m). However, since the rich & elite use it, the movator there stays. See link.

It's not that moving walkways are impossible to maintain, nor is a conspiracy against poor people. It's simply a question of cost/benefit. The transfer between Line 1 and 2 is more convenient at St. George regardless of a walkway there, so it's only the transfers between Line 1 and the 510 which actually need to walk down that corridor. In contrast, the tunnel to the island is the only practical way to get to the airport.

 

[innsertnamehere]

the main - danforth connection seems like low hanging fruit at first, but the reality is that it's not *that* close and crosses several different property ownership groups which makes it challenging.

If the TTC / Metrolinx ever wanted to make the connection, they would likely have to do it via a long excavated tunnel underneath Main St, which wouldn't be cheap.

 

[crs1026]

I’m not sure what problem we are trying to solve here.

It utterly makes sense that the two transit nodes be connected. But they are today…. by a sidewalk, albeit iirc with stairs and/or a ramp.

A more climate protected pathway would be an improvement, and if there are accessibility barriers these should be addressed (I have used the route myself, but never really focussed on accessibility so I’m no expert on its current usability). That doesn’t necessarily imply HVAC or moving sidewalks.

There are many pathways on our transit system where one must use their own power to travel a long distance. PATH comes to mind. Adding powered walkways is an improvement, and a convenience at times, but a secondary priority for allocating scarce funding IMHO.

On the basis of potential passenger volumes and network connectivity, I cam’t see a dedicated corridor here as any more than nice to have. I would put the effort and money into building more kms of basic pathways rather thanpolishing the cannonball here.

- Paul

 

[superelevation]

I agree this should happen, but for insight into the TTC's mindset, the existing escalators from the Spadina Platform are being removed to make way for the new elevators.



Not happening, probably ever, certainly in the next decade.

Reasoning discussed here:

2681 Danforth Avenue | 163.45m | 48s | CT REIT | Turner Fleischer

Previously, we've seen an application here at UT for the easterly portion of the property currently occupied by a Canadian Tire Retail store and parking lot, fronting Danforth, between Main and Dawes. The site, had a peculiar fragmented ownership, the line of which literally runs through, or...

urbantoronto.ca

It's not that moving walkways are impossible to maintain, nor is a conspiracy against poor people. It's simply a question of cost/benefit. The transfer between Line 1 and 2 is more convenient at St. George regardless of a walkway there, so it's only the transfers between Line 1 and the 510 which actually need to walk down that corridor. In contrast, the tunnel to the island is the only practical way to get to the airport.

As the only potential direct connection between L2 and the LSE GO line a higher order connection does seem reasonable. 300m is long but, the walk at Kipling is like 250m. And arguably of similar importance. (Connection between many Mississauga transit passengers and L2, versus Scarborough and Durham passengers on LSE)

 

[dkt]

The pedestrian tunnel from the mainland to Billy Bishop Airport is 853 feet or 260 metres. Almost double the distance mentioned above (148.25m).

I believe you're looking at the height of the building at 2681 Danforth. Measuring on Google Earth, a pedestrian tunnel between the GO and TTC platforms would be closer to 300 metres.

It's not impossible but at the same time not nearly as important as Bloor/Dundas West (which looks like it would probably be about half the length). When you're on the Danforth platform it's pretty easy to find Main Street, and then you can just cross Danforth and follow the streetcar tracks until you find the subway station. At Bloor, I most often see people cross the FreshCo parking lot, jaywalk across Dundas, and dodge buses exiting the loop to get into the station. It's pretty embarrassing that the transfer has been this janky for so long.

 

[drum118]

300m+ connection between transit mode in Europe is common for many systems.

Look at the distance between UPX/GO and TTC at Union.

Many times I do the jaywalk by FreshCo to get to the GO platform. Once that tower is completed, it will be a shorter walk than today. Lots of riders are getting off buses and streetcars to get to the platforms as well the subway.

The tunnel for Billy Bishop is only part of the walking distance to get to/from 509 and 511 with 511 being the longest.

Gee!! we need to have scooters for ppl who can't walk more than 150m between transfers points.

 

[ProjectEnd]

the main - danforth connection seems like low hanging fruit at first, but the reality is that it's not *that* close and crosses several different property ownership groups which makes it challenging.

If the TTC / Metrolinx ever wanted to make the connection, they would likely have to do it via a long excavated tunnel underneath Main St, which wouldn't be cheap.

It's just a dumb Twitter 'urbanist' take. It's not gonna happen:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1615815896051712001

 

[Northern Light]

It's just a dumb Twitter 'urbanist' take. It's not gonna happen:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1615815896051712001

Sometimes the questions are the answer:

(from the thread above)

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

It's just a dumb Twitter 'urbanist' take. It's not gonna happen:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1615815896051712001

If there was an equivalent skywalk (like near the CN Tower), but with shops between Main Station and the GO Danforth Station, would people use it? Yes!

 

[reaperexpress]

I believe you're looking at the height of the building at 2681 Danforth. Measuring on Google Earth, a pedestrian tunnel between the GO and TTC platforms would be closer to 300 metres.

It's not impossible but at the same time not nearly as important as Bloor/Dundas West (which looks like it would probably be about half the length). When you're on the Danforth platform it's pretty easy to find Main Street, and then you can just cross Danforth and follow the streetcar tracks until you find the subway station. At Bloor, I most often see people cross the FreshCo parking lot, jaywalk across Dundas, and dodge buses exiting the loop to get into the station. It's pretty embarrassing that the transfer has been this janky for so long.

The tunnel along Main Street would be six times the length of the planned tunnel between Bloor GO and Dundas West TTC. The Dundas West platforms stretch 134 metres east from the current entrance, so the new tunnel from the east end of the platform will only need to be about 50 metres long.

That will be an enormous improvement over the current transfer which is about 350 metres.

At Main Street, the only place where you could conceivably build a tunnel is right under the existing sidewalk. So the only distance saved would be the length of the escalator heading down to the mezzanine in the station. Eliminating one at-grade street crossing, reducing the vertical displacement and providing weather protection are of course benefits, but I doubt that those alone would ever justify the enormous costs of such a tunnel given all the other transit improvements we could get with that money instead.

Dundas West station needs a second exit regardless of any connection to GO, as per the current fire escape regulations. Hence why all the other underground stations are also getting second exits if they don't yet have one. The exit into the GO station will be quite a bit more expensive than a typical second exit because as a useful access point it needs to have elevators, and of course being under Crossways has always been an obstacle. But the huge potential time savings combined with the safety improvements and weather protection for transferring customers make those costs worth it.

 

[reaperexpress]

If there was an equivalent skywalk (like near the CN Tower), but with shops between Main Station and the GO Danforth Station, would people use it? Yes!

No people would not use it because the subway and GO stations are both below grade. People would continue walking along the sidewalk to avoid the hassle of going up and down from that skywalk.