Missing Links in the Toronto Streetcar Network

[nfitz]

Wrong on a technicality. Its "Lake Shore Blvd." within Toronto, not "Lakeshore Blvd.". But, then people got off on other technicalities as well.

It might well be ... though in 10 years living near Coxwell/Gerrard, I've never once heard anyone talk about LSB ... and seldom use the word Boulevard. People call it Lake Shore. And the locals don't seem to be clamouring for the streetcar running down there. Wouldn't it make more sense to loop at Coxwell/Queen or even the unfortunately named Woodbine loop?

 

[DSC]

Are you looking for fantasy links, or actual, workable links within the existing network? Because a lot of what has been written so far seems to be awfully pie-in-the sky.

Not to mention that the Commission received a report on this just a couple of years ago: https://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Co.../July_14_2010/Reports/Optimal_Turnarounds.pdf

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

Thanks for reminding us about the 2010 Report on additional curves/turnbacks. I thought that the aim of this thread was to identify the smaller changes (like more/better turnbacks or short links) that would make the current network work better and more flexibly. A whole new line would surely warrant a new thread all to itself.

 

[dunkalunk]

It might well be ... though in 10 years living near Coxwell/Gerrard, I've never once heard anyone talk about LSB ... and seldom use the word Boulevard. People call it Lake Shore. And the locals don't seem to be clamouring for the streetcar running down there. Wouldn't it make more sense to loop at Coxwell/Queen or even the unfortunately named Woodbine loop?

There is nothing currently down there. My thinking was to use Coxwell/Lakeshore as an east access route between the Bloor-Danforth Subway to the new streetcar routes which would be running through the portlands.

 

[nfitz]

There is nothing currently down there. My thinking was to use Coxwell/Lakeshore as an east access route between the Bloor-Danforth Subway to the new streetcar routes which would be running through the portlands.

That's a thought. Though such routes are years to decades away. By then it might make more sense to link them down Broadview if there's a subway station near Queen/Broadview. Or down Carlaw from a Gerrard Square station. Coxwell is a bit far east

 

[dowlingm]

I'd like to see service as well as turnback taken into account. No 10 on the TTC report (Dufferin Queen-College) would not only provide more turnback capacity but also introduce the possibility of Dundas West-Exhibition service movements to take some load in the summer, but the table seems to be ranked mostly by the ability to short turn cars per dollar spent and doing some of the higher projects like Ossington would probably be used as an excuse to avoid doing Dufferin.

Extending the 502/503 turn back to Dufferin/Springhurst rather than wandering around Wellington/McCaul would increase all-week service in King West/Liberty Village which is exploding population wise and could be done without any track additions I think?

Problem with 22 Coxwell is that there's that big ass sewer pipe underneath that street which just finished being expensively repaired at the O'Connor end. If it were to be done I think having the loop in Coxwell Barn on the south side of Danforth would be the way to go, with an underground connector to the subway mezzanine (which would be pricey). But that would mean a hike for 22-70 connections too which isn't currently the case.

Also someone needs to tell TTC effected != affected.

 

[Hipster Duck]

I'm a huge fan of a Sunnyside inter-modal station. If the DRL ran through there on the way to Dundas West, GO put a station there, and a streetcar hub was built, it would be very useful.

You could then terminate the Queen streetcar there, and the section west of it could terminate there as a new route (507?), recognizing the very different operating environments each side of the junction. People could then transfer onto the DRL to head North or Downtown, or transfer to GO. It would also mean that a Waterfront West LRT link to exhibition wouldn't be needed anymore.

Good idea. Steve Munro floated the idea of separating the western leg of the 501 from the rest of the route, even if it meant that the route was orphaned from connecting to the subway system. I haven't gone there in a long while, but I always thought that the 501 through New Toronto had some of the worst reliability of any surface route in the city.

A DRL station kills two birds with one stone: it enables connectivity to the subway system (and GO) and separates the 507 from the 501.

A Sunnyside DRL station would also be a good place to extend the 509 from the Exhibition Loop, although I'm not sure what the best alignment for that would be.

 

[Dandy Horse]

I read this whole thing thinking lsb was leslie streetcar barns. whoops. I second the Junction extension, there is still a turn around at Runnymede from before. I would like to see the Ossington/ Dovercourt/ Oakwood replaced between liberty village and a new eglinton/oakwood station. Would do wonders for oakwood village and dovercourt village.

 

[gweed123]

I think the connection of the Ex streetcar loop to the Queensway ROW is the biggest 'gap' in the system right now. That could allow the 501 to terminate at Roncesvalles (or turn up Roncey to Dundas West, or continue to Humber Loop), and have the western leg of the 501 become the extension of the Queen's Quay streetcar. Certainly for more people in southern Etobicoke, that would be faster than the current crawl along Queen.

This would also function as a quasi-WWLRT, just using TTC gauge tracks and vehicles. The Bremner ROW could be added whenever the City saw it fit, as it would simply be a bypass of the current Queen's Quay section of the line. At that point, Spadina and Bathurst cars would use Queen's Quay, Ex and Long Branch cars would use Bremner.