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

[drum118]

Sept 5
was up at Yonge and Eglinton today after my last visited many months ago and surprise the north-east corner is still not finished considering the rest is done.

What is the hold up?

 

[EYorker]

That's terrible. Lack of foresight. And yet I'm not surprised.

The idea behind the 30 year maintenance contracts under the PPP model is to:
1- Have the contractors build higher quality infrastructure that would last as they'd be on the hook for maintaining it for such a long period.
2- That the asset would be maintained in a better state of repair for when that 30 year period ends and the asset is handed over to the public sector.

How this plays out remains to be seen, as this seems to be the first time it's really been done on such large infrastructure in Ontario.

 

[smallspy]

That's terrible. Lack of foresight. And yet I'm not surprised.

Why? What would possibly be gained from doing so?

Dan

 

[Rainforest]

That's terrible. Lack of foresight. And yet I'm not surprised.

Not even lack of foresight, but a consious decision to ignore the interoperability aspect. Arguably, that makes it even worse.

But fortunately, this is not a hard physical constraint. The contract only lasts for 30 years. After that, TTC or Metrolinx or whoever is in charge can demand interoperability to be a part of the new deal.

 

[Rainforest]

Why? What would possibly be gained from doing so?

Dan

The ability for both the Eglinton and Finch trains to enter/exit Pearson using a common pair of tracks?

 

[Aplus23]

The ability for both the Eglinton and Finch trains to enter/exit Pearson using a common pair of tracks?

But why, what purpose would that serve?

 

[adys123]

The ability for both the Eglinton and Finch trains to enter/exit Pearson using a common pair of tracks?

But protecting for a highly hypothetical, unfunded solution is also a waste of resources, and is never ending, unless you apply a hard constraint to when the scope stops creeping.

 

[Rainforest]

But why, what purpose would that serve?

I though that building one pair of tracks is cheaper than building two pairs.

 

[Rainforest]

But protecting for a highly hypothetical, unfunded solution is also a waste of resources, and is never ending, unless you apply a hard constraint to when the scope stops creeping.

It was always an intention to connect both ECLRT and FWLRT to the airport; not something highly hypothetical.

 

[Admiral Beez]

What is the hold up?

In August 2011 construction began on the first phase (19 km, 25 stops) of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. At 156 months (679 weeks) equal to 27 weeks per meter, is this the longest time ever needed for a Toronto transit project? If we can assume that after weather delays and hiccups the first phase finally opens in Spring 2025, it will be 162 months (648 weeks) from start to completion. That must be a record for a LRT build?

For comparison, the CN Tower took 40 months to build. The Boston Tunnel system, aka the Big Dig began construction in 1991 and opened (to cars) in 2003, for a total of 14 years or 728 weeks. How long would be have taken Ontario to make a Big Dig for Toronto, thirty years?

 

[smallspy]

Sept 5
was up at Yonge and Eglinton today after my last visited many months ago and surprise the north-east corner is still not finished considering the rest is done.

What is the hold up?

Crews are likely too busy with Metrolinx's silly and inane requirements to lower or raise sidewalks and curbs by single inches.

I know of a number of people in the construction industry who are in retrospect happy that they missed out on this job.

I though that building one pair of tracks is cheaper than building two pairs.

Sure, it would be.

Except that one is coming from the north, and one is coming from the south. The amount of overlap of the two lines is likely going to be limited to the length of the platforms.

Now, what may make sense is some sort of (unpowered or unsignalled) connection between the two for the purposes of moving MOW/specialty equipment between the two lines, but I struggle to be able to come up with a line design that makes sense for the two lines to operate on common tracks.

It was always an intention to connect both ECLRT and FWLRT to the airport; not something highly hypothetical.

It was an intention for both, sure, but that's hardly a statement of commitment. Hell, of the two lines only one saw anything remotely close to the engineering of a connection. I think it's fair to call it hypothetical in any timeframe in which most of us are alive.

Dan

 

[GenerationLee]

Sept 5
was up at Yonge and Eglinton today after my last visited many months ago and surprise the north-east corner is still not finished considering the rest is done.

What is the hold up?

It's awful, especially for rush hour crowds. I guess some kind of Toronto Hydro or other contractual hold up is going on.

 

[duty free]

In August 2011 construction began on the first phase (19 km, 25 stops) of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. At 156 months (679 weeks) equal to 27 weeks per meter, is this the longest time ever needed for a Toronto transit project? If we can assume that after weather delays and hiccups the first phase finally opens in Spring 2025, it will be 162 months (648 weeks) from start to completion. That must be a record for a LRT build?

For comparison, the CN Tower took 40 months to build. The Boston Tunnel system, aka the Big Dig began construction in 1991 and opened (to cars) in 2003, for a total of 14 years or 728 weeks. How long would be have taken Ontario to make a Big Dig for Toronto, thirty years?

that wasn't always the case. they used to build subway lines in under 4 years. i'll let you figure out why that's no longer the case.

 

[Aplus23]

I guess we won't be seeing anything new about this line untill it's actually complete. Plenty of stations we actually haven't seen below ground but doubt we'll get any new insight on that

 

[Rainforest]

Except that one is coming from the north, and one is coming from the south. The amount of overlap of the two lines is likely going to be limited to the length of the platforms.

ECLRT will likely follow Silver Dart Drive into the airport. Looking at the map, FWLRT could join where Silver Dart comes close to the Airport Road & Carlinview intersection. From there, the two lines could share about 800 m of tracks, assuming the LRT terminal will be located close to the UP terminal. The main benefit might not even be the construction cost saving, but a smaller footprint on the airport grounds that are already filled with a maze of ramps.

Furthermore, interoperable lines would allow some new LRT route(s). Such as: from Kipling subway up to Eglinton, then with ECLRT to the Renforth station and up Silver Dart, and then taking the Finch LRT tracks to Humber College.