Toronto Eglinton Line 5 Crosstown West Extension | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx

Have you looked at the project website at all?!?!? The entire point of this project is to extend it to at least the Airport Corporate Centre (to meet the goals of SmartTrack) and to study how to take it into the Airport to connect with their Regional Transportation Centre. The original EA ended at Silver Dart and never recommended a preferred route or alignment north from that point. The Metrolinx IBC for the line showed there was minimal utility for the line unless it went to the airport. Given the fact that Silver Dart is a GTAA road, they could just entirely shut it down and make it a transit-only or LRT-only corridor, as their Master Plan mentioned.

Ending at Martin Grove would be a huge mistake. You have major pipelines, a floodplain, a reservoir, one of the top ten congested intersections in TO, and hydro wires to contend with. How would you turn buses around? Why would you end just short of a major mobility hub and one of the largest employment nodes in the nation? That would be a complete lack of planning and foresight, which has ultimately been the issue facing TO transit planning for years. Arbitrary boundaries do not influence travel demand. If we want to create change, we have to plan and provide.
 
What I want to know is how exactly GTAA plans to get employees between the places of employment and the Airport's LRT stop. Remember folks, Pearson Airport is as large as Downtown Toronto. Having an LRT stop there with no other supporting transit services would be no better performing than putting one random subway stop in the middle of Downtown Toronto, in the hope that people will walk across Downtown to get to their jobs. Until we have a solid transit master plan in place, that will effectively get people between the LRT and their jobs, not a single cent should be spent extending the Eglinton West LRT beyond Renforth Gateway. One doesn't have to look very long to see how prone airport transit connections are to underutilization due to poor planning. The LRT and supporting transit services must go hand in hand.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
What I want to know is how exactly GTAA plans to get employees between the places of employment and the Airport's LRT stop. Remember folks, Pearson Airport is as large as Downtown Toronto. Having an LRT stop there with no other supporting transit services would be no better performing than putting one random subway stop in the middle of Downtown Toronto, in the hope that people will walk across Downtown to get to their jobs. Until we have a solid transit master plan in place, that will effectively get people between the LRT and their jobs, not a single cent should be spent extending the Eglinton West LRT beyond Renforth Gateway. One doesn't have to look very long to see how prone airport transit connections are to underutilization due to poor planning. The LRT and supporting transit services must go hand in hand.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't that be Mississauga Transit's problem, as that is their jurisdiction?
 
We don't know if such transit will be operated by Mississauga, GTAA, Metrolinx, or an entity set by the local employers. However, technically it isn't very difficult to organize shuttle bus service that solves the last-mile problem.

Thus, although I recognize the importance of the said bus connection, I wouldn't delay the Eglinton West light rail expansion just because the shuttle bus plans are not set.

Once the light rail line reaches the Renforth Gateway, it will be both obviously useful and relatively affordable to establish the shittle bus, as well as extend the line to Pearson terminals to serve the other type of customers. Enough politicos will jump on to make it happen.
 
Rainforest said:
Once the light rail line reaches the Renforth Gateway, it will be both obviously useful and relatively affordable to establish the shittle bus, as well as extend the line to Pearson terminals to serve the other type of customers. Enough politicos will jump on to make it happen.
Click to expand...

We need to keep in mind that, as far as public transportation route planning goes, the Pearson Airport lands are essentially a no-go (unless we were to tunnel under the airport, which seems unlikely). So this means that any public transport routes accessing the airport employment lands from the Eglinton LRT need to go around the Airport.

Due to this geographic limitation, the closest LRT station for most airport-area employees will actually be Renforth Gateway. Brining the LRT to the terminal would only serve the employees that work on the airport grounds.

Screen Shot 2018-07-14 at 1.59.54 PM.png
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2018-07-14 at 1.59.54 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2018-07-14 at 1.59.54 PM.png
    1.3 MB · Views: 818
TheTigerMaster said:
Brining the LRT to the terminal would only serve the employees that work on the airport grounds.
Click to expand...

Plus, the air travelers.

Regarding the employees, the area in question has enough local roads to organize a shuttle bus service connecting to the Renforth gateway station. At least, the south-eastern and the south-western segments would be covered. Not so sure about the north, but even covering just the southern half would be quite beneficial, compared to the present situation (nearly every employee drives).
 
Rainforest said:
Plus, the air travelers.

Regarding the employees, the area in question has enough local roads to organize a shuttle bus service connecting to the Renforth gateway station. At least, the south-eastern and the south-western segments would be covered. Not so sure about the north, but even covering just the southern half would be quite beneficial, compared to the present situation (nearly every employee drives).
Click to expand...

The northern areas that are west of Bramelea could also be connected to Renforth.

For example, I envision a route traveling south along Dixie and east along Eglinton (via the Transitway) to link up with Renforh Gateway.
 
From John Campbell's, Ward 4, website, at this link:

THE EGLINTON WEST LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT (LRT LINE)

One of the most frequent questions that I am asked is “What is happening with the Eglinton LRT?”. In my estimation, this project is 20-30 years away, perhaps longer. Here is why.

The proposed Eglinton West LRT line was originally part of plan that included the Eglinton Crosstown.

It is the line which is now being built along Eglinton. When City Council confirmed the funding for the 19 km, 25 station Crosstown, they excluded funding for the western portion that would run through Wards 4 and 3 from Mount Denis (Black Creek) west to the airport. The Eglinton Crosstown will be completed in 2021.
Click to expand...

The Eglinton West plan was revived in John Tory’s mayoral campaign of 2014 under his Smart Track proposal. Under that plan, the western portion in our area would have heavy rail or, or GO service. Further study during this term determined that was not feasible, and so the LRT concept was brought back for further study which is on-going today.

As I was a Commissioner on the TTC during this past term, I have paid very close attention to all things ‘transit’. I am a big advocate for mass transit.

On the long list of transit priorities, the Eglinton West LRT is superseded by several more important projects. Projects that are ‘funded’ are those for which there is a source of government funding. These include the Finch West LRT to Humber College. The project has not yet begun construction. The Sheppard East LRT project is funded and it will connect the Sheppard subway line with Scarborough and possibly the Scarborough Town Centre. Construction will start on Sheppard after the Finch West line is completed in 2023.

The Scarborough extension of the Bloor Danforth (Line2) to Scarborough Town Centre is another funded project, although the full costs, estimated at $3.56 billion, have not been determined.

High priority transit ‘unfunded’ projects are those for which plans are drawn up, but there is no provincial agreement to partner and fund the costs of design and build. The city cannot fund these projects without assistance from other levels of government. The unfunded projects include:

  • the Downtown Relief line
  • the Waterfront LRT (from Park Lawn and Lakeshore Etobicoke right across the city to East Bayfront),
  • the Eglinton East LRT and finally,
  • the Eglinton West LRT.
The total costs for all of these projects is staggering. For example, the Downtown relief line is estimated at upwards of $5.6 billion.

Tunnelling or not Tunnelling

Everyone would prefer that the route be tunnelled. However, given that there is no business case with ridership data to back up the need for the line, the tunnelling option cannot be substantiated for the provincial government or the City to commit to the funding.

At Council, along with a large majority of councillors, I voted against a motion to ‘study tunnelling the LRT’. Why spend hundreds of thousands dollars on staff time to study an option for a line that is a) not funded, b) is far down the list of transit priorities and c) has no business case? This would be a waste of time and money.

The Staff Recommendation

Our transportation staff recommended a surface route that would have included grade separations at only two intersections. ‘Grade separations’ means that the rail line would go above or under traffic so as not to stop cars.
I moved a motion, which passed, calling for them to look at grade separations at all intersections: Martingrove, Kipling, Islington, Royal York and Scarlett Road.

Summary

The Eglinton West LRT is most likely decades away from construction and completion.
Click to expand...
This is John Campbell's view and opinion, of course. Though the city had just finished repaved Eglinton Avenue West in Etobicoke this summer, so...
 
alexanderglista said:
This webpage was last updated yesterday, and don't worry, the EG West LRT will go to the airport.

Airport Segment Feasibility
Click to expand...
There are actually people who don't think the EWLRT is going to the Airport? Not taking the EWLRT to the Airport would the equivalent of not connecting the Subway to Union Station. If we have to tunnel under the Airport, then just tunnel under the Airport; its not exactly a new concept. Considering GTAA has plans of turning Pearson into a major transit hub not taking the EWLRT there would be Toronto levels of stupid.
 
JSF-1 said:
There are actually people who don't think the EWLRT is going to the Airport? Not taking the EWLRT to the Airport would the equivalent of not connecting the Subway to Union Station. If we have to tunnel under the Airport, then just tunnel under the Airport; its not exactly a new concept. Considering GTAA has plans of turning Pearson into a major transit hub not taking the EWLRT there would be Toronto levels of stupid.
Click to expand...

While the Union Pearson Express would serve the downtown or tourist crowds between the airport and downtown, the Eglinton West LRT AND Eglinton Crosstown LRT AND Eglinton East LRT would (combined) provide access to the airport from ALL across Toronto, including the old City of Etobicoke, the old City of York, the old City of Toronto, the old Borough of East York, the old City of North York, and the old City of Scarborough, on one ride.
 
W. K. Lis said:
While the Union Pearson Express would serve the downtown or tourist crowds between the airport and downtown, the Eglinton West LRT AND Eglinton Crosstown LRT AND Eglinton East LRT would (combined) provide access to the airport from ALL across Toronto, including the old City of Etobicoke, the old City of York, the old City of Toronto, the old Borough of East York, the old City of North York, and the old City of Scarborough, on one ride.
Click to expand...
Realistically, how long would it take to get to the airport from Scarborough on the LRT? 90 minutes?
 
raptor said:
Realistically, how long would it take to get to the airport from Scarborough on the LRT? 90 minutes?
Click to expand...

Crosstown web site says Kennedy to Keele in 38 minutes, so closer to 60 minutes to the airport from Kennedy. Another 8ish minutes to STC if the one-stop is completed by the time the LRT is built. Add on bus connection time at the east end.

The thing that I can never get my head around is, how far will air travellers schlep their bags from the higher order transit to get to their homes. I see lots of air passengers on the 192 Rocket and the subway..... but do they live in a condo that is right at the subway? Or do they take a connecting bus.....eg Dufferin bus to Liberty? How far is the walk from their bus stop to their door?

Eglinton will have lots of residential ridership right close to its stops - but is anyone going to ride a bus down from Sheppard to connect to it?

- Paul
 
^I once took the Stouffville GO and UPX to the airport. I asked a friend to drop me off at the GO station.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top