Toronto Eglinton Line 5 | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | Arcadis

[car4041]

What are you suggesting? That Ford will win the next election, and pull a Harris? I know I take a bit of a leap in saying this, but even he's not that stupid.

I took BurlOak's point to mean that the tunnel from Keele to Laird is a definite, but other aspects of the plan could still change. For example, if Ford got re-elected, he could have another go at putting Eglinton East underground.

 

[BurlOak]

What are you suggesting? That Ford will win the next election, and pull a Harris? I know I take a bit of a leap in saying this, but even he's not that stupid.

IMHO, the continued chatter is just fanboys wanking. Everyone seems to want to appoint themselves as the be-all and end-all 'expert' that really knows how this thing should be built.

Based on that past dozen posts, it appears that to "pull a Harris" means to cancel an unwarranted politically motivated subway with very little transit demand.

I do not think Ford, or anyone else, will cancel the Crosstown. What I do think is that Ford, or some other non-Councillor mayoralty candidate, will make this an issue and propose anything different from the current Transit City proposal just to gain support from Scarborough and the other former boroughs. Elevated and/or cut-and-cover through Scarborough, along with through routing with SRT and a DRL up to Eglinton seems like something that could feasibly be promised and delivered. Of course we could wind up in a similar situation in 3 years time where the Mayor, and the public, and Council, do not see things the same way.

 

[rbt]

Whenever I read about transit expansion on Eglinton in the context of Network 2011, I wonder how can you build a BRT line on Eglinton when there are only two lanes in each direction in the central section. How could that idea have been taken seriously by planners, unless they envisioned turning Eglinton into a transit mall?

A transit mall on Eglinton may have been a reasonable thing to do.

People (tax-payers as Ford likes to call 'em) would freak out if we spent $4.3B to create a 15km long 2-lane road for private automobiles. Somehow it becomes a reasonable expenditure to preserve a 15km long 2-lane road for private automobiles.

 

[Palma]

The busway plan then became a subway plan due to politics, because Sheppard East was getting a subway.

And Sheppard East was not political?. A subway is warranted north (Sheppard) yet a subway running central (Eglinton) is not? Guess Bloor subway should not have been built when it was and instead a subway running further north should have been. Does this make sense? No it does not. There is greater density at Eglinton and south then there is north of the 401. And that is pretty obvious

 

[Palma]

I took BurlOak's point to mean that the tunnel from Keele to Laird is a definite, but other aspects of the plan could still change. For example, if Ford got re-elected, he could have another go at putting Eglinton East underground.

And councillors will somehow have a change of heart?

 

[ssiguy2]

Regardless who is in power at City Hall or Queen's Park in a few years, Eglinton is a go.
I do think, however, that there will be further discussions about the DM to Kennedy section and wanting it made into a total grade separated line and with good reason. Needless to say that will involve some form of elevation and if it becomes a totally grade separated line then I think you will see continued pressure to scrap LRT technology.

 

[car4041]

And Sheppard East was not political?. A subway is warranted north (Sheppard) yet a subway running central (Eglinton) is not?

Of course Sheppard was also political.

 

[dowlingm]

There will be some undergrounding east of Brentcliffe where road conditions warrant it - the Kennedy approach and Don Mills junction are definite underground bits.

 

[ladyscraper]

I wonder how construction is coming along? They are digging the tunnel already, right?

 

[rbt]

I wonder how construction is coming along? They are digging the tunnel already, right?

I don't believe TBMs have been delivered (this fall).

They are digging launch points and performing soil testing around stations as required.

 

[BurlOak]

Regardless who is in power at City Hall or Queen's Park in a few years, Eglinton is a go.
I do think, however, that there will be further discussions about the DM to Kennedy section and wanting it made into a total grade separated line and with good reason. Needless to say that will involve some form of elevation and if it becomes a totally grade separated line then I think you will see continued pressure to scrap LRT technology.

I do not think that totally grade separated will have any impact on the LRT technology.

What could change the technology is the shutdown of the existing SRT. I do not think it is on anyones radar that this will be shut down for 3 years to convert to LRT. If this shutdown can be made into a major issue during a campaign, I could see some attempts made to drastically reduce this time. Skytrain technology is the easiest way I see that this shutdown could be significantly reduced. The closure of the SRT will be a huge issue, but it will probably not surface during the campaign of 2014 since it is still too far away.

The other thing that may come up is the extension of the B-D subway to STC. Council voted on this to be studied and depending on who does this study, they could probably come up with whatever result they want. At about $2B, it is quite an expensive option.

 

[nfitz]

I don't believe TBMs have been delivered (this fall).

late summer/early fall according to the most recent (early May) West Tunnel Launch Site Construction Update on the website - http://www.thecrosstown.ca/news-med...2-west-tunnel-launch-site-construction-update

 

[kEiThZ]

I do not think that totally grade separated will have any impact on the LRT technology.

What could change the technology is the shutdown of the existing SRT. I do not think it is on anyones radar that this will be shut down for 3 years to convert to LRT. If this shutdown can be made into a major issue during a campaign, I could see some attempts made to drastically reduce this time. Skytrain technology is the easiest way I see that this shutdown could be significantly reduced. The closure of the SRT will be a huge issue, but it will probably not surface during the campaign of 2014 since it is still too far away.

The other thing that may come up is the extension of the B-D subway to STC. Council voted on this to be studied and depending on who does this study, they could probably come up with whatever result they want. At about $2B, it is quite an expensive option.

I have long maintained that a big reason to do a Bloor-Danforth extension to STC is specifically because it can be accomplished without shutting down the SRT. There will be utter chaos in the east end with Eglinton and Sheppard under construction, with a shutdown of the SRT.

I would've also liked to have seen Eglinton combined with the old plan for the Morningside LRT, to serve Eglinton East, Kingston and Morningside UTSC...possibly extending up to Malvern.

With the Sheppard LRT going into Malvern, I think buses from Malvern to STC, especially if connecting right to the BD line, would be more than adequate for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, there's no political will to close some of the useless stations along the SRT corridor. And so they are going to force the Eglinton line up the SRT corridor.

 

[Dan416]

After spending the long weekend in New York, for the life of me I can't figure out why Toronto doesn't build above-ground subways.

 

[sixrings]

After spending the long weekend in New York, for the life of me I can't figure out why Toronto doesn't build above-ground subways.

I agree big time. We want rapid transit. But we don't have the money nor do we want to pay the needed taxes for underground. We don't want on surface because of the reduced speed and the potential problems we might run into with car traffic. Above grounds only negative seems to be asthetics. It's cheaper then underground and faster then surface. For the life of me I can't understand why above ground wasn't considered a option for the western portion of the eglinton line between the airport and WESTON. Basically that section is almost through a abandoned forest. On the east side after vic park its all industrial.