SmartTrack (Proposed)

[WislaHD]

Josh Colle clarified in council today that SmartTrack intends to study the Eglinton spur and that it is definitely not a sure thing.

Edit: Mayor Tory now saying that the Eglinton spur is about reaching jobs in Mississauga, and vice versa. I wonder if he is alluding to something more than just the Airport Corporate Center?

 

[BurlOak]

Josh Colle clarified in council today that SmartTrack intends to study the Eglinton spur and that it is definitely not a sure thing.

Edit: Mayor Tory now saying that the Eglinton spur is about reaching jobs in Mississauga, and vice versa. I wonder if he is alluding to something more than just the Airport Corporate Center?

It sounds like Tory may be willing to compromise on SmartTrack West via Eglinton. Throw him a lifeline of an elevated ECLRT and he would definately be willing to give it up.

 

[Forgotten]

It sounds like Tory may be willing to compromise on SmartTrack West via Eglinton. Throw him a lifeline of an elevated ECLRT and he would definately be willing to give it up.

What does elevating Eglinton east have to do with SmartTrack west?

 

[nfitz]

What does elevating Eglinton east have to do with SmartTrack west?

Nothing.

 

[BurlOak]

What does elevating Eglinton east have to do with SmartTrack west?

who said anything about Eglinton East.

 

[44 North]

Switching the DRL to being part of the GO RER network instead of the TTC subway network instantly changes the analysis on a number of other projects in the region, the Scarborough Subway being one of them.

This is why I think the Relief studies are taking longer than previously promised: rather than separate studies, the TTC and Metrolinx may’ve joined forces to create a DRL-RER hybrid. At least it seems the studies have been delayed by at least 6mths.

 

[Amare]

It sounds like Tory may be willing to compromise on SmartTrack West via Eglinton. Throw him a lifeline of an elevated ECLRT and he would definately be willing to give it up.

If Ford wasnt stupid enough to allow the Richview ROW to be sold off to development, there would've been a greater chance of something being built west of Mount Dennis. The way I see it, once this study is done it will be deemed "too expensive for the benefits" and this portion will be cancelled. Although it would make a lot more sense to extend the Crosstown line, I dont see this happening for a long, long time for a variety of reasons.

 

[dowlingm]

I'm hoping Team Tory is realising how deep they are in it with Messrs Google Streetview and the talk of study is just face saving as they sidle toward the exit marked "Crosstown West".

 

[ssiguy2]

The Eglinton West section never made any sense and would be better as an extension of the Crosstown. It makes far more sense {and would be a hell of a lot cheaper} just to extend the line further NorthWest to Weston and Etobicoke North.

 

[BurlOak]

If Ford wasnt stupid enough to allow the Richview ROW to be sold off to development, there would've been a greater chance of something being built west of Mount Dennis. The way I see it, once this study is done it will be deemed "too expensive for the benefits" and this portion will be cancelled. Although it would make a lot more sense to extend the Crosstown line, I dont see this happening for a long, long time for a variety of reasons.

Elevated LRT needs less space than on-street LRT (since they promised not to lose any traffic lanes in the process). It needs only +/- 7m, even less if you cantilver above the sidewalk (and road). Only at the major intersection is more space needed, and I understand that land was not sold there.

 

[MrsNesbitt]

It's not like there is much continuous corridor space suitable for transit lines left in this city—I don't understand why the planning department at the city would be shortsighted enough to not push for some sort of moratorium on selling it off for useless townhomes.

Regardless, I hope that the ridership projections and (I hope doubly) pressure from Metrolinx gets Tory to settle for a Crosstown extension westward (which hopefully could even reach the airport or link with the Mississauga Transitway) instead of trying to bring heavy rail service to Eglinton West. After all, if the Eglinton spur is deleted from the "SmartTrack" map, then SmartTrack can just be subsumed into GO RER wholesale and we don't have to worry about the ridiculous notion of running parallel services on these corridors (except for UPX of course ).

 

[gweed123]

This is why I think the Relief studies are taking longer than previously promised: rather than separate studies, the TTC and Metrolinx may’ve joined forces to create a DRL-RER hybrid. At least it seems the studies have been delayed by at least 6mths.

I hope that's the case. SmartTrack brought Toronto-specific GO RER to the forefront, which I think changed the calculations a little bit. It also may have to do with Provincial funding: the TTC may be realizing that if the DRL is part of the RER system, they can get Metrolinx to pick up a greater percentage of the tab, while still getting the relief benefits and increased accessibility in the shoulder areas of downtown that the DRL will provide. A TTC subway that runs from downtown to the Danforth is a City of Toronto issue, but an RER tunnel that relieves Union and has routes that stretch all across Toronto and into the 905 is a regional project.

 

[Cobra]

This is why I think the Relief studies are taking longer than previously promised: rather than separate studies, the TTC and Metrolinx may’ve joined forces to create a DRL-RER hybrid. At least it seems the studies have been delayed by at least 6mths.

Hopefully you're right.

Just like in Paris, they may decide that the downtown portion of a DRL-Smarttrack must be underground in the downtown section under King street

 

[gweed123]

Hopefully you're right.

Just like in Paris, they may decide that the downtown portion of a DRL-Smarttrack must be underground in the downtown section under King street

A regional rail central tunnel is a pretty common setup. BART has the tunnel under Market St, Berlin has the Nord-Süd Tunnel for the S-Bahn, and London is getting the Crossrail. Toronto-specific GO RER (aka SmartTrack) uses the tunnel, 905-centric GO RER and longer distance GO and VIA routes continue to use Union.

And PS: I think that Wellington through the core is a better alignment than King, because with Wellington you can maintain pedestrian access to the Union complex.

 

[gweed123]

gweed:

Indeed - well, considering Smart Track is basically the SSRA report, and Wellington tunnel was envisioned in said report...

AoD

Very true. I suspect that it was dropped from Tory's SmartTrack plan in order to reduce the price tag. The tunnel will no doubt be a pretty considerable sum, and $8 billion (still not sure how he got to that number) is a pretty hefty price already.