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King Street (Streetcar Transit Priority)

The single biggest problem with attracting people to King West east of Spadina is the lack of retail. Plenty of restaurants of varying levels of tourist-trapiness but few if any stores to attract afternoon foot traffic. The contrast with Queen is dramatic, and will be especially so once MEC moves.
 
The single biggest problem with attracting people to King West east of Spadina is the lack of retail. Plenty of restaurants of varying levels of tourist-trapiness but few if any stores to attract afternoon foot traffic. The contrast with Queen is dramatic, and will be especially so once MEC moves.
Still, people have to get to St. Andrew.

And most of those restaurants will be demolished soon. I think it's 5 or 6 gone before the pilot ends, including Freds, with the 39-storey condo tower. And then they are trying to get approval for the taller one directly to the east of that now.

The street is going to change significantly.

And all those new residents will change it too.

And who knows when Mirvish sells his theatres, and collects.

Hang on ... isn't that what the Gehry project is?

Though even if they save the theatres in that - whatever it becomes ... that's more people.
 
I wrote an angry email to Joe Cressy (the politician that most unrepresents the vast majority of its constitutents I’ve ever been forced to live under) and the King Street Pilot feedback address about the disaster that is the King and Spadina intersection. Specifically the placement of the far-side stop that had lead to moron drivers constantly blocking the intersection as they make a left turn onto westbound King.

This used to be an occurrence only on Friday and Saturday nights, when it was bad enough to endure, to occurring throughout the day and nearly every single time a streetcar is stopped there. This is an absolute disaster for the 510 line, forced to wait for cars to clear, southbound drivers on Spadina, bicyclists and pedestrians forced to weave around cars stopped in the crosswalk.

How is this allowed to continue?

Please please please join me in emailing this Councillor and the feedback line:

councillor_cressy@toronto.ca
kingstreetpilot@toronto.ca
 
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I wrote an angry email to Joe Cressy (the politician that most unrepresents the vast majority of its constitutents I’ve ever been forced to live under) and the King Street Pilot feedback address about the disaster that is the King and Spadina intersection. Specifically the placement of the far-side stop that had lead to moron drivers constantly blocking the intersection as they make a left turn onto westbound King.

This used to be an occurrence only on Friday and Saturday nights, when it was bad enough to endure, to occurring throughout the day and nearly every single time a streetcar is stopped there. This is an absolute disaster for the 510 line, forced to wait for cars to clear, southbound drivers on Spadina, bicyclists and pedestrians forced to weave around cars stopped in the crosswalk.

How is this allowed to continue?

Please please please join me in emailing this Councillor and the feedback line:

councillor_cressy@toronto.ca
kingstreetpilot@toronto.ca

yea, no matter how long your advanced green turning phase is it doesn't do much if those vehicles turning are blocked by a streetcar at a far-side station. Either remove the left turns from Spadina onto King, or put the streetcar stops near side. I personally would prefer streetcar stops near-side here and at St. Andrew Station because Streetcars basically always end up stopping near-side before proceeding anyway and stopping a second time far-side. My gut is that placing near-side at these locations would reduce the stopping to one.
 
I wrote an angry email to Joe Cressy (the politician that most unrepresents the vast majority of its constitutents I’ve ever been forced to live under) and the King Street Pilot feedback address about the disaster that is the King and Spadina intersection. Specifically the placement of the far-side stop that had lead to moron drivers constantly blocking the intersection as they make a left turn onto westbound King.

How is this allowed to continue?

What is your proposed solution? I forget if the left turn is an advanced or delayed light at King.

If this is an advanced green I get your comment.

Is it that simple of a fix?
 
I wrote an angry email to Joe Cressy (the politician that most unrepresents the vast majority of its constitutents I’ve ever been forced to live under) and the King Street Pilot feedback address about the disaster that is the King and Spadina intersection.
From my experience (as a sender and a recipient) I suggest that 'angry emails' are not the best way to get something changed. A calm statement of the perceived problem and the proposed solution generally works far better.
 
What is your proposed solution? I forget if the left turn is an advanced or delayed light at King.

If this is an advanced green I get your comment.

Is it that simple of a fix?

The left turn is indeed an advance. And actually yes there is a simple fix. Just move the farside stop back to the nearside. Done.
 
But then the streetcar doesn't block anyone who follows them through the interesection.

Shouldn't we wait until see how it works after they activate transit priority?

Why not just ban left turn at this location, if it's causing that much of a problem. Can't they go left on Wellington, and do two rights to come the other way on King?
 
But then the streetcar doesn't block anyone who follows them through the interesection.

Shouldn't we wait until see how it works after they activate transit priority?

Why not just ban left turn at this location, if it's causing that much of a problem. Can't they go left on Wellington, and do two rights to come the other way on King?
The real problem with King (and most other traffic changes) is that there is no answer that is going to improve things for EVERYONE. The City are tweaking things to see if the benefits can be enhanced or maintained without making things worse for another group but the main purpose of the project was to speed up transit and in that it has certainly succeeded.
 
The left turn is indeed an advance. And actually yes there is a simple fix. Just move the farside stop back to the nearside. Done.

Why not a delayed green? Wouldn't that do the same trick? Streetcars would not be blocking the cars trying to turn left.

It's hard to do transit priority at King & Spadina with a near-side stop. The time it takes for people to cross the street both ways would kill the efficiency of the streetcar.
 

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