Scarborough-Malvern LRT

[TOareaFan]

A lot of people on twitter pointing out that bringing back the name Malvern LRT is being done for purely political purposes.....this new line seems to stop ~3km short of Malvern.

 

[salsa]

A lot of people on twitter pointing out that bringing back the name Malvern LRT is being done for purely political purposes.....this new line seems to stop ~3km short of Malvern.

Most people that I've seen are simply calling it the Crosstown Extension, or Crosstown East. All of the transit maps that came out say the same thing.

 

[kEiThZ]

A lot of people on twitter pointing out that bringing back the name Malvern LRT is being done for purely political purposes.....this new line seems to stop ~3km short of Malvern.

It barely touches Malvern. Like the previous SLRT replacement when they cut it short at Sheppard. That being said, Malvern will be well served with this LRT and Smart Track. The bus to this LRT won't take more than 15 mins from most of Malvern. They can probably build a small bus terminal at the corner.

 

[W. K. Lis]

So, what yard will Scarborough-Malvern LRT use to store its vehicles?

I think the original plan was to use Sheppard LRT's yard which is in a different budget punted far into the future.

Deadheading all the vehicles to and from Eglinton LRT's yard seems inefficient. However, I expect there to be space in the Eglinton LRT yard as I think it was designed to also hold vehicles for Jane LRT.

Likely they could convert the current SRT yard for LRT use. The Sheppard LRT line is shown as going down to the Scarborough Town Centre, which is close to the current SRT yard. The question then comes down to the timeline.

 

[kEiThZ]

I assumed that this was reaching Sheppard. From the looks of it, I was wrong. So ending at Military Trail. I wonder why.

 

[nfitz]

I assumed that this was reaching Sheppard. From the looks of it, I was wrong. So ending at Military Trail. I wonder why.

The report notes that "For as long as the future of the Sheppard East LRT is uncertain, Crosstown East could terminate at UTSC.". So they'll sort that bit out when they finalize whatever is happening with Sheppard. One of the next steps was:

5. Evaluation of various short-term options for rapid transit service along the Sheppard Avenue East corridor, east of Don Mills Station and connecting to Scarborough Centre;​

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Sheppard is the missing link now if this plan pass council.

Interesting that they are calling it "Sheppard Rapid Transit" instead of "Sheppard LRT".

Something is brewing here...

Yes Cobra, the Sheppard subway collapse is incoming within the next year, it will be the center of Tory for mayor 2018.

The Mark I was proposed to run to Sq One from Kipling in the 80's, but the city turn it down.

If you think Sheppard is a white elephant, any subway to Sq One would 5 times or more worse. The only place a subway can be built for Mississauga is along Dundas to Hurontario in phases as that street gets redeveloped over the next 50-100 years so there is density to support it.

Best thing for Mississauga is an LRT as well a Tram-Train from the Milton line to Hurontario to service Sq One.

Having this line to rise from the dead let alone getting to Malvern is long over due as well the Sheppard extension.

Agreed, but the have to close the gaps now according to that map. Eglinton West and Malvern Down. Now, MCC, Sheppard and Richmond Hill.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

I assumed that this was reaching Sheppard. From the looks of it, I was wrong. So ending at Military Trail. I wonder why.

The report notes that "For as long as the future of the Sheppard East LRT is uncertain, Crosstown East could terminate at UTSC.". So they'll sort that bit out when they finalize whatever is happening with Sheppard. One of the next steps was:

5. Evaluation of various short-term options for rapid transit service along the Sheppard Avenue East corridor, east of Don Mills Station and connecting to Scarborough Centre;​

That's as far as the money will take them.

 

[nfitz]

That's as far as the money will take them.

Sheppard is already funded. Tory and planning have made it clear, that they won't consider expensive solutions with low ridership - so there's no one that thinks a Sheppard subway extension is in the cards.

 

[salsa]

Sheppard is already funded. Tory and planning have made it clear, that they won't consider expensive solutions with low ridership - so there's no one that thinks a Sheppard subway extension is in the cards.

The Toronto Star transportation reporter said on twitter that "from our sources, language/plans on Sheppard LRT haven't changed". So hopefully all is good.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Sheppard is already funded. Tory and planning have made it clear, that they won't consider expensive solutions with low ridership - so there's no one that thinks a Sheppard subway extension is in the cards.

But the Malvern LRT is not going to sheppard, I was just saying why. I agree on Sheppard but that won't stop the Scarborough Liberal caucus or De Baremaker.

 

[WislaHD]

So here is what the report has to say about the Crosstown East:

Crosstown East

In 2009, the City and TTC were granted authority to construct the 12 kilometre, 19-stop Scarborough-Malvern LRT. The project, shown in Figure 9, consistently performed very well when analysed by the RTEF. However, funding for its detailed design and construction was not secured.

Renamed Crosstown East, it would:

• Provide rapid transit along eight kilometres of Avenues;
• Directly serve five NIAs (Eglinton East, Kennedy Park, Morningside, Scarborough Village and West Hill);
• Provide connections to two existing GO RER stations (Eglinton and Guildwood);
• Improve transit connectivity in areas served only by buses;
• Provide rapid transit service to the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus (UTSC), which has consistently been identified as an important destination by stakeholders and the public throughout the SSEPA; and
• Provide a connection to Durham Region Transit's PULSE bus rapid transit (BRT) line (part of the regional transportation link known as the Durham Hwy 2 BRT).

Crosstown East could be built and operated as an easterly extension of Line 5 (Eglinton Crosstown LRT) rather than a separate service as originally planned. It should be noted that the previously proposed Scarborough LRT replacement of Line 3 (SRT) was originally planned to be the easterly extension of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT while the Scarborough-Malvern LRT was to be a standalone line.

For as long as the future of the Sheppard East LRT is uncertain, Crosstown East could terminate at UTSC. There is an opportunity for the City to collaborate with the University of Toronto to develop their Scarborough Campus Master Plan as a Secondary Plan. This would result in the best integration between development on the campus with stations both for the new LRT and the existing BRT services. Further review is required to determine the extent of work that would be necessary to update the Scarborough-Malvern LRT approved EA (i.e. for Line 5 - Eglinton Crosstown extension), including a revised connection at Kennedy Station.

Looks like confirmation that they are planning on operating it as an easterly extension of the Crosstown, so long as there is no complications upon further studying.

Confirmation that no SELRT, no Sheppard station on Crosstown East. Confirmation that the SM-LRT EA needs to be reviewed, and that Kennedy Station will need to be reconfigured. Not exactly surprises.

And finally, to settle the earlier debate, yes the Scarborough-Malvern LRT is being officially renamed as the Crosstown East in the planning documents. This is consistent with the extension to Renforth in the west being renamed to Crosstown West. I like the new name, it is simple, consistent with the concurrent plan in Etobicoke, and with it no longer being a standalone line, accurate.

Perhaps this thread title should be renamed.

 

[georgevicbell]

Sheppard is the missing link now if this plan pass council.

Interesting that they are calling it "Sheppard Rapid Transit" instead of "Sheppard LRT".

Something is brewing here...

They should just swing it south and turn it into the DRL...do it in three digs (Sheperd to Eglinton, Eglinton to Bloor, Bloor to Downtown (maybe to Bathurst))

Each of those routes is 5km, two of them would be relatively straight forward.

Benefits are that it allows for storage of trains and routing of vehicles between both bloor and young lines...

Initially just build stations at Don Mills, York Mills, Lawrence, Eglinton, O'Connor, Pape, Queen, Corktown/Distillery, Young, Spadina, Bathurst (11 stations at 500 million each = 5.5 billion in stations and 10km at 100m/km = 1B$ and 5km at 500m/km = 2.5B) that works out to like 9B$....

 

[WislaHD]

They should just swing it south and turn it into the DRL...do it in three digs (Sheperd to Eglinton, Eglinton to Bloor, Bloor to Downtown (maybe to Bathurst))

Each of those routes is 5km, two of them would be relatively straight forward.

Benefits are that it allows for storage of trains and routing of vehicles between both bloor and young lines...

Initially just build stations at Don Mills, York Mills, Lawrence, Eglinton, O'Connor, Pape, Queen, Corktown/Distillery, Young, Spadina, Bathurst (11 stations at 500 million each = 5.5 billion in stations and 10km at 100m/km = 1B$ and 5km at 500m/km = 2.5B) that works out to like 9B$....

I remember a year ago before the YRNS study came out, I wanted to run the Sheppard LRT down to Don Mills and Eglinton to meet with the DRL there.

What benefits is it to keep Sheppard as a standalone line vs. interlining it with the DRL (if that is even possible), aside from killing the idea of subways in Sheppard East?

 

[Hopkins123]

They should just swing it south and turn it into the DRL...do it in three digs (Sheperd to Eglinton, Eglinton to Bloor, Bloor to Downtown (maybe to Bathurst))

Each of those routes is 5km, two of them would be relatively straight forward.

Benefits are that it allows for storage of trains and routing of vehicles between both bloor and young lines...

Initially just build stations at Don Mills, York Mills, Lawrence, Eglinton, O'Connor, Pape, Queen, Corktown/Distillery, Young, Spadina, Bathurst (11 stations at 500 million each = 5.5 billion in stations and 10km at 100m/km = 1B$ and 5km at 500m/km = 2.5B) that works out to like 9B$....

The existing subway's tail tracks are too far east of the Sheppard/Don Mills intersection to simply curve southwards. It would at least have to enter the Hwy 404 corridor in order to swing back, but more likely so the swing back would have to occur at Victoria Park Ave. Now while 22 Victoria Park has similar ridership levels to the 25 Don Mills, it misses too many nodes en route. So although it'd be intriguing if a DRL ran all the way down it to the Beaches then across Queen, one must argue that we keep Sheppard subway and the DRL as separate lines.