Sloppy Construction on St Clair ROW

[drum118]

St. Clair curb is punishing tires TheStar.com - News - St. Clair curb is punishing tire

September 18, 2007
Jack Lakey
Staff Reporter
A curb that separates the St. Clair Ave. streetcar right-of-way from regular traffic is sometimes missed by motorists – until they are rocked by driving over it.
After years of political battles and endless construction delays, the project to allow streetcars to roll down the middle of St. Clair without getting tangled up in traffic is nearly complete.
The right-of-way has achieved the goal of making TTC streetcars move more quickly, a boon for transit users.
But many of those opposed to the project have sunk their teeth into problems that have since arisen, including landscaping complaints and flaws at intersections.
An email from Collyn Rezsnyak notes that a short length of curb that runs at intervals between the right-of-way and regular traffic can escape the attention of drivers, to their rueful surprise.
The curb borders the lane used by eastbound drivers on St. Clair W. to turn left at Vaughan Rd. and runs for about 20 metres.
It acts as a buffer between vehicles and streetcars, and seems primarily intended to keep traffic turning left from straying into the streetcar lane.
But Rezsnyak says the curb extends so close to the intersection that drivers making a tight left turn are bouncing over it, an unhappy event that poses a threat to their tires and wheel alignment and to the curb itself.
"I know it's not a big issue, but there needs to be some reflective material put on the curb or it should be removed completely," Rezsnyak said.
He's called the city and the TTC about it, "but so far everyone has passed the buck, saying it's someone else's problem."
We checked the spot out and found scrape marks across the top of the curb and pieces of concrete chipped away.
Given these forensics, it looks as though the curb needs to be tapered down to road level as it nears the intersection.
[FONT=helvetica,arial] STATUS: [/FONT]Curb problems are usually transportation services, but the right-of-way is TTC property. We called media officer Marilyn Bolton; she's getting back to us about a possible solution.

This whole problem is under the CITY control, "NOT" TTC. All complaints are to go to Transportation and Works and the Traffic Engineers.

TTC is only responsible for the ROW "ONLY".

If the traffic engineers went with the original plan as proposed by TTC, these issues would not exist today.

ALL pave Intersection crosswalks have to be 100% rebuilt as the falling apart.

The rest of St Clair crosswalks will NOT have paver's that were done under phase 1. This now applies to all future intersections in the City.

 

[EnviroTO]

Part of the problem is that there are a lot of bad drivers. I see drivers smashing over the curbs on Queens Quay and turning in front of big red streetcars and getting hit all the time. To handle some of the people who are behind the wheel you need to install bright yellow rubber bumpers along the side of the road and wrap the cars with rubber and syrofoam. There should be mandatory drivers licence retests every 15 years if you ask me.

 

[St. Even]

those curbs are going to be REALLY fun once the snow start.......
eesh

 

[RedRocket191]

Part of the problem is that there are a lot of bad drivers. I see drivers smashing over the curbs on Queens Quay and turning in front of big red streetcars and getting hit all the time. To handle some of the people who are behind the wheel you need to install bright yellow rubber bumpers along the side of the road and wrap the cars with rubber and syrofoam. There should be mandatory drivers licence retests every 15 years if you ask me.

The should add streetcars and streetcar ROWs to the ontario driver's test. There's nothing about streetcars on either road test outside of downtown Toronto, and the New Drivers Handbook only devotes a few sentences to dealing with streetcars.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

Why can't she just go away?

SOS Bulletin
Oct 3, 2007 --

The Election Question

As you all know, the provincial election is next Wednesday, October 10, 2007. There are always many issues in election campaigns and many reasons to decide who to vote for. But, let me explain why I believe that the St.Clair streetcar exclusive right-of-way remains the deciding issue for me.

First, I think government should be accountable for its actions. The current provincial government has allocated the necessary monies to the municipal government to enable the construction of this project. Without provincial government financial support, this $100M project would not be possible. The City does not have sufficient funds on its own.

Second, the current provincial government has further allocated $6B to Toronto to replicate the St.Clair ROW across the city on other transit routes, regardless of whether this specific option is appropriate in these areas.

Third, this provincial government included the St.Clair streetcar exclusive right-of-way in its infrastructure planning before the St.Clair transit environmental assessment was even completed. In other words, before there was an assessment of the potential impact of such a project, and before considering whether another alternative might improve transit more effectively, and before the community was engaged in the process, provincial government staff were working with the City staff to promote exclusive transit lanes on St.Clair.

Fourth, the provincial Minister of the Environment approved this project, rejecting community pleas not to, and since 2005 has ignored repeated requests to force the City and TTC to comply with the conditions imposed by the Minister, in contravention of the Environmental Assessment Act.

Fifth, I want responsible government, yet the cost of this project continues to climb and is apparently out of control. Remember, originally, this project was estimated to cost $32M, City Council approved $65M, and now the cost has climbed to $100M, with only about 1.5 km of the 6.4 km project almost completed. We are the only pockets for tax dollars; whether collected by the city, the province or the federal government, the money comes out of our pockets. This $100M project is unwise spending; the so-called transit 'improvement' is negligible, about a 1-minute savings for the average passenger trip. That's an expensive minute for the citizens of Toronto.

Sixth, I want sustainable communities, but the losses we are experiencing are staggering, both in terms of lost business taxes and the consequent decline in property values. Remember before this project started, the Bathurst/St.Clair area and to the west was touted as the 'next happening' area for new business start-ups and residential real estate. Now, today, walk along St.Clair west from Bathurst and count how many businesses have closed, including Harvey's and Budget car rentals. Shopper's and Second Cup report that their business is down by 20-30 percent. The Retro Cafe is now open only part time. The same negative effect is visible further east. Walk along St.Clair west from Avenue Road and note how many professional offices are 'for rent' because clients could not access their doctors, dentists and chiropractors. And this project hasn't even been completed; what's next? Adjacent residential neighbourhoods from Yonge to Bathurst are now experiencing increased traffic; this situation will only get worse.

Seventh, I want a safe community, but our community safety has been significantly compromised. The same neighbourhoods from Yonge to Bathurst are also experiencing increased response time for emergency vehicles that cannot access the neighbourhoods due to traffic congestion and the ROW concrete barrier. Accidents are occurring involving cars and pedestrians due to the poor design of the intersections and the confusing signage. Sidewalk cuts are so extreme that pedestrian safety is reduced, and eliminating street parking at rush hour results in increased traffic speed that again imperils pedestrian safety.

Eight, I want our government at all levels to respect the wisdom of the local community. I believe in local democracy. I believe that Toronto is at its best when the many neighbourhoods that comprise the city are vibrant and exciting. Our community demonstrated, from Yonge to Keele, that the vast majority of residents and businesses were opposed to this project, and that a cost-effective alternative that respected a necessary urban balance was available. We were ignored by David Miller and Dalton McGuinty.

In this election, for these reasons, I will vote for the candidate who will commit to stop this project. It is not too late. The Spadina Expressway/Allen Road was stopped at Eglinton by former Premier Bill Davis. We need a Bill Davis now.

My riding is Davenport. The only candidate who is opposed to this project and who has publicly committed to stop it is Antonio Garcia, candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. I cannot support the Liberal Party for the reasons listed above. I asked the NDP candidate his position, but he waffled. Earlier, his staff told me absolutely no, he would not intervene in a 'municipal' matter. And, I must admit that I cannot forget that it was David Miller and his band of merry NDPers who fought so hard to tarnish us and force this project ahead. So, on October 10, I will vote for Mr. Garcia.

All of you will decide for yourselves, and if you believe, as I do, that all politics is local, then please vote for the candidate who will fight to save our St.Clair!!

Best,

Margaret

 

[adma]

Wow. PC in *Davenport*. And wound up in 4th place, too (even if part blame goes to Frank De Jong being the Green standard-bearer)

 

[Tuscani01]

increased response time for emergency vehicles that cannot access the neighbourhoods due to traffic congestion and the ROW concrete barrier.

Last time I checked, the ROW improves emergency response time as emergency vehicles are allowed to use it. The concrete barrier isn't even a barrier to emergency vehicles anyways. They can drive onto and off the ROW no problem.

eliminating street parking at rush hour results in increased traffic speed that again imperils pedestrian safety.

Does she think before writing letters? Rush hour and increased speed don't go together. St. Clair is slow during rush hour.


Every other thing she used in her argument against the ROW will no longer be an issue once construction is complete. SOS needs to go away. It's already being saved.

 

[CDL.TO]

My favorite is the argument that the ROW is terrible because it caused a Budget Rent-a-Car to go out of business. Guess with all the folks avoiding St. Clair it just killed that drive-by customer base... "Hey look Honey! There's a Budget! Let's rent a car!". A car rental place is nothing but a private parking lot... guess that's the vision Mrs. Smith has for St. Clair.

 

[ShonTron]

A bigger case could be made for Harvey's I guess, but it's not like Harvey's locations weren't dropping like flies or anything....

I doubt Shoppers Drug Mart would casually give out sales information to Margaret Smith either. She's harmless now, and good only for a laugh.

 

[drum118]

A bigger case could be made for Harvey's I guess, but it's not like Harvey's locations weren't dropping like flies or anything....

I doubt Shoppers Drug Mart would casually give out sales information to Margaret Smith either. She's harmless now, and good only for a laugh.

Construction has finally started and it not happen where it said it would start.

Every other block on the north side east of Lawsdowne has its sidewalk remove and trees cut down. Sad day to see the trees been cut first hand at the expense of traffic.

SOS had some points, but not many.

Seeing Harvey go was sad as it is one less in the city to find. Bloor will be gone shortly. A large number of Harvey have disappear the last few years.

TTC drivers refuse to use the ROW that in place because some say it a safety issue with the centre pole there.

I hope the city learn a lesson over this ROW and look at Cherry St ROW for how to it right for the rest of the Transit City Lines.

Better stay off St Clair as it is only a single lane going west from Dufferin and it backup even at off peak times.

 

[dowlingm]

Even the pro-LRT Steve Munro has repeatedly stated that the centre poles on St Clair were a mistake, for example: http://stevemunro.ca/?p=591

 

[CDL.TO]

The ongoing comedy of errors that is St. Clair

The TTC's management of St. Clair ROW construction and St. Clair West station reconstruction is truly something to behold.

It's come out that the phases of the ROW make no sense. The last section scheduled to be built is the bit in the middle. Plus, the reconstruction of Bathurst (which streetcars need to access St. Clair) doesn't coincide with St. Clair construction, requiring further shutdowns.

St. Clair West station closed its bus and streetcar station to vehicles at the beginning of August for a schedules one-month reconstruction. The is still closed with no end in sight, I can think of 2 days in the past two-and-a-half months where I've actually heard construction in the station. The subway station itself now looks like a construction zone. The place is so full of supports holding up the ceiling that my mind pictures a collapse... more supports appear every week or two.

Probably most frustrating was the return of streetcar service last week. Buses have been running on St. Clair for its full length for the past couple months, dropping passengers off right in front of the station. The TTC decided that streetcar service would be reinstated between Yonge and Oakwood with buses running between Keele and Vaughan Road... two blocks west of St. Clair West station.
New notices went up (looking exactly like the old signs and in the exact same place, so no one noticed them) telling passengers to walk a block east, catch a streetcar, ride it two stops west, then change to a bus. Genius!
As mentioned, no one noticed the change and there were no TTC employees present to direct passengers, so each evening there was a mass of passengers waiting on the curb for a 512 bus that would never come (the TTC also decided to fix the escalator to the street when many, many more people than usual were needing it). What tended to happen was people would pile on to the 90 Vaughan bus when it arrived, ride it 2 stops, then pile off at Vaughan & St. Clair to catch the 512 Keele bus (kudos to the Vaughan buses for directing people to do this).

I guess the TTC clued in pretty quickly that that terminating a bus 600m shy of the subway station wasn't such a bright idea, so after 5 days buses have been extended back to their former location right outside the station entrances. Notices of the original return of streetcars and new bus routing have been updated... with markers.

Oh, and for some reason the Christie bus is being rerouted to Bathurst station. Now that I don't understand.

Overall, not impressive and the lack of effort in informing the public has left a bad taste in my mouth. But hey! That's the TTC!

---------------------------

New St. Clair West passenger signage... made out of duct tape!!!

Screams professionalism!

Destination and route map updated... magic marker or Sharpie?

 

[ShonTron]

Oh. My. God. That's awful!

The TTC takes a page from Red Green.

By the way, I posted this over at Spacing Wire (gave you full credit) and linked to this thread.

 

[Hydrogen]

New St. Clair West passenger signage... made out of duct tape!!!

Although, it does kind of look like an employee on site took some personal initiative to help out.

 

[ITcomputer]

LOL, Once again, glad I drive my fuel effecient car.
The TTC is really going to have to do better to get me back on their 3rd world service.

scratch that, I've seen transit in 3rd world countries that operate better than the TTC, forth world maybe?