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King Street (Streetcar Transit Priority)

Back on to street design, I’d like to see certain blocks closed to traffic entirely or at least converted into woonerfs. University to John is one of those ideal blocks. There are no parking garage entrances or building driveways and there are alleyways behind businesses for commercial deliveries. Most of this block is a public square. There would still be Mirvish Way for tour bus and taxis for passenger drop offs and parking.

Spadina to Portland is another such block. By closing off a block like these, there’d be no way for drivers to use King for crosstown access, even if they disobey rules. Their path would be physically blocked and that would put an end to a lot of the law breakers. What’s the point of driving on to King if there’s physically no road every few blocks?
 
MetroMan said:
Back on to street design, I’d like to see certain blocks closed to traffic entirely or at least converted into woonerfs. University to John is one of those ideal blocks. There are no parking garage entrances or building driveways and there are alleyways behind businesses for commercial deliveries. Most of this block is a public square. There would still be Mirvish Way for tour bus and taxis for passenger drop offs and parking.

Spadina to Portland is another such block. By closing off a block like these, there’d be no way for drivers to use King for crosstown access, even if they disobey rules. Their path would be physically blocked and that would put an end to a lot of the law breakers. What’s the point of driving on to King if there’s physically no road every few blocks?
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Niot a bad idea but the streetcar track lanes would need to be open and drivers would simply drive on them.
 
DSC said:
Niot a bad idea but the streetcar track lanes would need to be open and drivers would simply drive on them.
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And nobody seems to have any solutions, or improved enforcement, for stopping illegal drive-throughs. Sad.
 
DSC said:
Niot a bad idea but the streetcar track lanes would need to be open and drivers would simply drive on them.
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Not necessarily. Streetcars drive on a fixed path. Bollards at the ends of these blocks, spaced exactly the width of a streetcar plus a couple of inches would appear to drivers as a dead end but allow streetcars through. Another strategy would be to have a raised curb with cutouts for the track. Yet another one would be to line the streetcar row with humps. My favourite: turn the streetcar lanes in these blocks into a grassed row.

0959544B-68C6-46D5-936F-08C4C862B1A1.jpeg


Ultimately, a street that doesn’t look designed for cars is going to repel them. There might still be the odd idiot who doesn’t know what they’re doing but most drivers will get the hint that they’re not driving on a road.
 
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MetroMan said:
Not necessarily. Streetcars drive on a fixed path. Bollards at the ends of these blocks, spaced exactly the width of a streetcar plus a couple of inches would appear to drivers as a dead end but allow streetcars through. Another strategy would be to have a raised curb with cutouts for the track. Yet another one would be to line the streetcar row with humps. My favourite: turn the streetcar lanes in these blocks into a grassed row.

View attachment 181062

Ultimately, a street that doesn’t look designed for cars is going to repel them. There might still be the odd idiot who doesn’t know what they’re doing but most drivers will get the hint that they’re not driving on a road.
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You think anywhere in Canada would allow pedestrians to walk so close to a moving train?
 
Having a path or trail beside the RR corridor is very common in Europe and various places in the US. There are a few in Canada.
 
TransitBart said:
That is huge. They have been out of service for how long? A decade or more?
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I have lived in Toronto since 2001 and they have been out of service all that time. I would not get your hopes up on seeing them rebuilt - the TTC puts them on their 5-year 'track plan' each year (always in Year 5) and the work never happens. I would not get your hopes too high!
 
MetroMan said:
Is there any restriction preventing the 504 from running additional streetcars on the line if the vehicles were made available? Does it present a problem at terminal stations/stops?
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One of the persistent limitations is the ends of the route, Roncesvalles in the west, Broadview in the east. For the west, a solution could be had by directing Queen cars north on Roncy to Dundas West, and the 504A west along the Queensway to the Humber Loop via the Roncy/King/Queen intersection at Sunnyside. As it is now, that RoW in the middle of the Queensway is an almost complete waste in terms of efficient utilization. Bus connections along that route can be made up to the subway. I've detailed those in the past. This would not only eliminate the bottleneck of Roncy for the 504A, but also the loop limitations and traffic jams at Dundas West Station. Others have suggested re-routing the 504B in the east, they'd know more as to how than I would. I'm at Roncy/Dundas and Bloor, and see the constant traffic jams and streetcars waiting on the street to get space in the station, not to mention that the 504A crawls up Roncy.
MetroMan said:
For example, picking up passengers in the financial district in the evening rush hour and dropping them off in the centre of Liberty Village.
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And since they (added buses) would run express, they could use Richmond and Adelaide for the distance usable, further alleviating King. Even express buses will be held back by streetcars stopping on King, passing them will be difficult in many cases. I think the future replacement of track on King should include 'stopping loops' where possible, which would be virtually a four track system on some blocks, which would merge to two for crossing rail intersections. This would then dramatically decrease transit time on the express streetcars which would only stop at major intersections. The locals could then have more stops than what is now provided, serving both those challenged by the distance between stops and still serving those that must travel distance in good time.
 
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