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Toronto Crosstown LRT | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | Arcadis

Doesn't strike me that anyone is asking for "lavish" or "expensive". The comments are merely asking for "functional" and "marketable". And yes, we should up our game on the other routes too. The platforms on St Clair are part way to this standard, and there are some bits of roof on Spadina.

And, yes, we are trying to change deep-rooted behaviours. Standing in the rain or sleet is not going to help with that.

- Paul
 
Hopefully any kind of overhead shelter over the entire length of a platform is better than none.

Compared with the outdoor New York City subway stations going without any overhead shelter would be better.
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That's the kind of modification they should look at for practicality, not let's bling it up because " it looks sad" or "it is what "x" deserves".

AoD

It doesn't cost much to have some artistic touch to the chosen footprint and as posted the functionality is questionable and quite unwelcoming given our climate. Minor details and investments in the bigger budget that would go a long way to attracting ridership.
 
That didn't really answer the question though - if you are saying Eglinton is shortchanged, then Spadina, Harbourfront and even St. Clair is even more extremely short-changed, both as an absolute statement of the condition and relative to ridership. People have been using them for ages now, why is that acceptable there and not here?

AoD
At least we are all starting to agree that Spadina, Harbourfront, and St. Clair are comparable LRT's to Eglinton.
 
That didn't really answer the question though - if you are saying Eglinton is shortchanged, then Spadina, Harbourfront and even St. Clair is even more extremely short-changed, both as an absolute statement of the condition and relative to ridership. People have been using them for ages now, why is that acceptable there and not here?

AoD
Guess that means buses on street are short changed to! This is crazy. LRT will be minutes between trains (I hope)
 
It doesn't cost much to have some artistic touch to the chosen footprint and as posted the functionality is questionable and quite unwelcoming given our climate. Minor details and investments in the bigger budget that would go a long way to attracting ridership.
People in this city do not realize how good they have it. I remember in New York where at one station, to make a transfer, we had to actually climb stairs and leave the station, cross a street and go back downstairs. And people in Scarborough complain about the transfer at kennedy!
 
At least we are all starting to agree that Spadina, Harbourfront, and St. Clair are comparable LRT's to Eglinton.
Because of poor shelter design? I'm concerned about your understanding of LRT, if you think that shelter design is an input.
 
People in this city do not realize how good they have it. I remember in New York where at one station, to make a transfer, we had to actually climb stairs and leave the station, cross a street and go back downstairs. And people in Scarborough complain about the transfer at kennedy!

Sounds like a poor design, maybe there was a reason for it? Still doesn't justify placing a transfer before Scarborough Centre. I'd be OK with the design of he LRT stops if the artistic touch was equal to the stops in the core and/or these shelters provided better protection given that many of these stops are not in close proximity to shelter on the side streets.

I guess some people in this City don't know how much better they have it or they just expect others to ignore these difference in details
 
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People in this city do not realize how good they have it. I remember in New York where at one station, to make a transfer, we had to actually climb stairs and leave the station, cross a street and go back downstairs. And people in Scarborough complain about the transfer at kennedy!

Bangkok is similar - they have a skytrain and subway system, and to enter one you have to fully leave the other, going up several flights of stairs (Thankfully there are escalators). Sometimes the entrances to the subway and skytrain aren't on top of eachother but just kind of close, so you might have to cross an intersection to get there. It's dumb. Seeing that and then coming home to see people complain about the one transfer at kennedy put things into perspective. Its a little silly.

That didn't really answer the question though - if you are saying Eglinton is shortchanged, then Spadina, Harbourfront and even St. Clair is even more extremely short-changed, both as an absolute statement of the condition and relative to ridership. People have been using them for ages now, why is that acceptable there and not here?

AoD
Because those aren't rapid transit lines.

(I'm playing devil's advocate here. I think its a little absurd that the YRT of all places got nice rapid transit shelters with a fraction of the usage this line will have, and this just plays into the LRT=Streetcar camp. But I don't think its that big of a deal. The stops are fine. Thats all they really need to be.)
 
Some of those Calgary C-Train platforms are fully exposed to the weather with just a small enclosed shelter in the middle. A stop isn't a station. It doesn't have to look like one either. I'm just hoping for those shelter to extend fully to the yellow line instead of those decorative but useless shelters on St Clair.
 
At least we are all starting to agree that Spadina, Harbourfront, and St. Clair are comparable LRT's to Eglinton.

No, we are starting to agree that when ML gets sloppy, it erodes the quality of the Crosstown design, in ways that could end up delivering just another street car line - like St Clair Spadina and Harbourfront.

I guess some people in this City don't know how much better they have it or they just expect others to ignore these difference in details

As the old woman in Python's Holy Grail said : "There you go, bringing class into it again".

It's true that ML has put a lot of architectural thought and effort into integrating the underground stations into the established streetscape along Eglinton. I don't see that as pandering to some elite. It's just taking the trouble to do things well. I would expect the same of any other project.

The minimalist approach to the above ground design is definitely a contrast. I attribute that to planning fatigue and maybe the budget didn't stretch quite far enough. Or the people who championed the design excellence in the early phases have moved on to other projects perhaps. Or the experience in at-grade station design just isn't there.

To the extent that inequality often comes from indifference or inattention, I take your point that this is not equal treatment. But - it is a stretch to declare a conspiracy in that.

Sometimes bureaucracy just does a mediocre job and it takes vocal opposition to get things right. That's how the west side of town got some elements of the extension to Renforth revisited. If the east end community doesn't unite and get active, the design will stand. Don't accuse the rest of us of bias if that happens. It's the local community's game to lose.

It's a fact that in the sixties, political pressure by Rosedale residents is what got a cover over the Line 2 Rosedale Ravine viaduct. Fewer people spoke up in the east or west ends, so those parts of the line that are above ground were not covered. That wasn't elitism, it was just good local community action by one group of ratepayers. There are winners and losers in community activism.

- Paul
 
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No, we are starting to agree that when ML gets sloppy, it erodes the quality of the Crosstown design, in ways that could end up delivering just another street car line - like St Clair Spadina and Harbourfront.



As the old woman in Python's Holy Grail said : "There you go, bringing class into it again".

It's true that ML has put a lot of architectural thought and effort into integrating the underground stations into the established streetscape along Eglinton. I don't see that as pandering to some elite. It's just taking the trouble to do things well. I would expect the same of any other project.

The minimalist approach to the above ground design is definitely a contrast. I attribute that to planning fatigue and maybe the budget didn't stretch quite far enough. Or the people who championed the design excellence in the early phases have moved on to other projects perhaps. Or the experience in at-grade station design just isn't there.

To the extent that inequality often comes from indifference or inattention, I take your point that this is not equal treatment. But - it is a stretch to declare a conspiracy in that.

Sometimes bureaucracy just does a mediocre job and it takes vocal opposition to get things right. That's how the west side of town got some elements of the extension to Renforth revisited. If the east end community doesn't unite and get active, the design will stand. Don't accuse the rest of us of bias if that happens. It's the local community's game to lose.

It's a fact that in the sixties, political pressure by Rosedale residents is what got a cover over the Line 2 Rosedale Ravine viaduct. Fewer people spoke up in the east or west ends, so those parts of the line that are above ground were not covered. That wasn't elitism, it was just good local community action by one group of ratepayers. There are winners and losers in community activism.

- Paul


Fatigue and budget are not an excuse for such a drop off . If bland and simple was the design choice, do it for all stops. There are clearly certain areas where many people live a lifestyle which allows for these strong localized community groups to form to fight these extra details.
 

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