King Street (Streetcar Transit Priority)

[MetroMan]

Traffic signals have already been installed at some intersections with an additional light below which is currently covered. We already know that advanced right turns are coming to intersections on King. So, probably no transit priority signals unless they add those later.

 

[Voltz]

Would most of this stretch of King even need transit priority signals? It would only be streetcars going straight through the intersections.

 

[Megaton327]

Would most of this stretch of King even need transit priority signals? It would only be streetcars going straight through the intersections.

Yes, and cars going north-south. Streetcars should get green extensions and shortened reds over cross traffic.

 

[Leo_Chan]

Yes, and cars going north-south. Streetcars should get green extensions and shortened reds over cross traffic.

At least traffic signals are easier to make changes when need than Presto is right?

 

[299 bloor call control.]

You can note where the new stops will be if you search for a spot on the sidewalk marked with neon green paint. That is where the stop marker will go.

The TTC only utilizes the white priority bar for turns. A streetcar proceeding straight through an intersection would use a regular green ball.

 

[Voltz]

Yes, and cars going north-south. Streetcars should get green extensions and shortened reds over cross traffic.

I would agree with this, but I was thinking more of the dedicated transit signals, there would probably not be much of a need for those on King.

 

[MetroMan]

The John street eastbound stop has been installed across the street from Princess of Wales.

It’ll be a good place for a stop since there is a large amount of seating and tree shade on this stretch. I don’t think they need a shelter here and I hope they remove the existing shelter at John which constrains an already tight sidewalk at a busy corner.

At Simcoe, they’ve started painting new cycling turning boxes:

At University, like other major intersections, an additional traffic light has been added below the Red/Yellow/Green. Presumably, this is a Green Right Turn signal.

You can also see the covered “No through traffic” and “No left turns” signs that will be revealed on the early morning hours of November 12th.

Here’s a sign at University informing transit riders of the stop change:

At the new eastbound stop, the weight of the huge volume of commuters getting off here to go into St. Andrew Station will fall to this private entrance:

The 2 sets of flimsy glass doors here are likely going to present a problem. I wonder if the TTC has discussed this with the property manager. These are not high volume grade doors like you see at TTC stations. For comparison, there are no doors on the steps that lead to the station outside the existing stop.

 

[DSC]

You can also see the covered “No through traffic” and “No left turns” signs that will be revealed on the early morning hours of November 12th.

I am actually in favour of the Project but Monday morning is going to be total chaos no matter how many police they deploy. We will soon see how long it takes for drivers and people to adjust.

 

[TOareaFan]

so they are moving the University WB stop to the west side of University and King .......so the front of a Flexity will be really close to Simcoe? Where we just removed a stop?

 

[MetroMan]

so they are moving the University WB stop to the west side of University and King .......so the front of a Flexity will be really close to Simcoe? Where we just removed a stop?

The Simcoe stop was removed since it was unnecessarily close to the University stop, not because there was any problem with a stop at Simcoe itself. The back of the streetcar will still be near University which will help break front door boarding habits and distribute boarding to all doors like @BMO pointed out earlier.

 

[TOareaFan]

The Simcoe stop was removed since it was unnecessarily close to the University stop, not because there was any problem with a stop at Simcoe itself. The back of the streetcar will still be near University which will help break front door boarding habits and distribute boarding to all doors like @BMO pointed out earlier.

I was just taking a tongue-in-cheek poke at the whole planning thing........if the stop at Simcoe had remained.......it would have done all those things too....and served as a far side University stop.....provided a whole bunch of sheltered wait space (under the glass "canopy" 200 King West has over its front) and given direct entry to the path and subway through the doors of 200 King........essentially we are ending up back at that point and I just find it a bit funny that we went through a bit of a circuitous route to get there.

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

Hoping this will alleviate some issues we've been seeing with heavy loading at the front of the vehicle while the back doors basically have nobody entering through them.

I think that has more to do with people thinking that if they have tickets or tokens they have to pay the driver. The first day they were in service on St. Clar, I saw people knocking on the driver's door an try to hand their fare to them.

 

[Leo_Chan]

I think that has more to do with people thinking that if they have tickets or tokens they have to pay the driver. The first day they were in service on St. Clar, I saw people knocking on the driver's door an try to hand their fare to them.

I would love to see a video of this happening. It sounds so funny.

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

I would love to see a video of this happening. It sounds so funny.

They just told them to use the machine on board. I was standing near one and people seemed to be surprised that tokens and tickets will be going away. It seems like the average person doesn't know about Presto yet or they don't think they need it.

 

[MetroMan]

On a somewhat related note, St. Andrew’s Church has removed most of their fence facing on to King.

It’s funny, I pass by this church several times a week but I’ve never felt compelled to go inside or even stop in front. Removing the fence instantly made it more welcoming. This could become a nice spot to sit down on the steps and have lunch or people watch.

I wonder what other changes we’ll see on King once it moves away from being a busy traffic thoroughfare. Maybe the value of some of the cheap restaurants and will go up and attract higher quality outlets with patios where there’s room.