Toronto Ontario Line 3 | ?m | ?s

[WislaHD]

EA is here http://thecrosstown.ca/the-project/reports/EglintonCrosstownLRTEnvironmentalProjectReport

It must be way cheaper considering you live next to a Metro . That drive is about to get much worse for you though due to the east TBM launch site.

Heh the Metro is convenient; I'm heading there right now actually. The supermarkets in Scarborough are geared for a different demographic and lack some of the products you'd find from Metro/Sobeys/Loblaws so I do this alternating supermarket weekends thing at the moment.

When I last drove by the launch site, I saw that they were already clearing trees and moving telephone poles. No lanes have been reduced yet but I am sure that is coming soon.

The only reason the tunnel got built significantly further west of Sheppard Yonge is for train storage. There would be absolutely no reason to do so otherwise, and it is the same reason tail tracks are being built on the Spadina extension, for train storage.

Again, Phase 2 will likely be the western portion given how it relieves Yonge equally as the northern extension and has higher side benefits such as higher overall ridership and improving movement through the downtown core.

I see, thanks for the correction.

If that is the case then I meant phase 3 in my previous post.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Looking at the TTC documents for the DRTES again, I see no reason why the northern phase would occur first. The initial DRL relieves 12% of the ridership from Yonge, with both the western and northern portions relieving 2%. However, the western extension sees more significant growth in RT ridership than the northern extension, adding 6% to RT ridership compared to 1% for the northern extension
(probably largely because it siphons off large portions of streetcar users). It also has the benefit of increasing service to the under served "shoulder" areas of the core, compared to the Northern extension which extends into an area that is already relatively well served by RT especially once the Eglinton LRT is completed. The only downside really is that it costs $500 million more.

 

[W. K. Lis]

The problem is that they have no way of knowing what the DRL station will look like. Beyond maybe avoiding to place utilities below the station (unlikely to occur anyway), there isn't much you can do if you have no idea what the line will look like.

They can build a station box now that can be configured for heavy rail or light rail at a later date. Just build for the largest dimensions needed. Heavy rail platforms are hallow anyways, they build the platforms AFTER the station box is built.

Constructed platforms on the Yonge subway:

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

They should do Dundas West to Don mills as phase 1. Phase 2 should be Dundas West to Weston/York Centre/Keele and Don Mills to Sheppard or Finch East. Let's do this right the first time.

 

[innsertnamehere]

doing a pre buildout for something like that adds $50 million to the cost of the ECLRT and very well may not be up to code by the time the subway actually comes along regardless, only further driving up costs. You are significantly raising the price of the ECLRT to potentially save a few dollars on a project that may happen, maybe, 2 decades from now.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

I am a bit peeved that Don Mills station on Eglinton won't be accommodating future DRL needs. It is shortsighted and feels like we will be spending millions of dollars renovating that station immediately after the Crosstown's opening.

It will probably be 10-15 years at minimum before it reaches Eglinton, if not more.

The problem is that they have no way of knowing what the DRL station will look like. Beyond maybe avoiding to place utilities below the station (unlikely to occur anyway), there isn't much you can do if you have no idea what the line will look like.

10-15 years isn't that far from now innsert. But I do agree that there is little that can be done to prepare for the arrival of the Relief Line at Don Mills Station.

 

[innsertnamehere]

I'M talking 10-15 after the initial completion of Eglinton, meaning 2030-2035, at the earliest. The phase north of bloor has no intention of funding from anyone right now.

 

[GenerationW]

How can phase 1 go to Spadina? I thought the western portion would at some point get to Dundas West on Bloor and eventually to Weston Rd on Eglinton.

Simple: stop phase 1 at Spadina.

 

[nfitz]

Simple: stop phase 1 at Spadina.

Given (on King at least), the current gridlock westbound between Spadina and Bathurst in PM rush, I'd be reluctant to be dumping a tone of passengers at Spadina.

 

[innsertnamehere]

IIRC spadina is projected to actually be a really busy station. Roughly 1/2 the load st Andrew and King will receive, but the next busiest on the line.

Also, looked through the DRTES again and the western portion of the line is expected to get over triple the ridership of the northern portion. (17,000 peak hour boardings compared to 5,000 for the northern extension)

 

[Uncle Teddy]

The first phase should ideally go as far west as Liberty Village. The King car needs all the help it can get.

 

[smallspy]

10-15 years isn't that far from now innsert. But I do agree that there is little that can be done to prepare for the arrival of the Relief Line at Don Mills Station.

There is lots that they can do, and will be doing as part of the construction of the station there. Just like what was done with Downsview when it was built. And what they are doing at Finch West now.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[gweed123]

One other thing that needs to be considered when determining Phase 1's western terminus is TBM launch/extraction sites. Spadina makes sense as a terminus, especially if Wellington is used, because Clarence Square and the adjacent surface parking lot would make an excellent launch/extraction site, as well as a good station box.

Any TBM job through the CBD will also need to be very deep in order to not interfere with surface and immediate subsurface infrastructure. Cut and cover through downtown would be virtually impossible today. Even building the station box would be a feat.

 

[ehlow]

The first phase should ideally go as far west as Liberty Village. The King car needs all the help it can get.

The further west it goes the better, but I'm not that optimistic for phase 1 since the study area seems to end at University on the website. Even going one further stop to Spadina makes it much more useful, Bathurst would be even more useful, and Liberty Village even more so.

One other thing that needs to be considered when determining Phase 1's western terminus is TBM launch/extraction sites. Spadina makes sense as a terminus, especially if Wellington is used, because Clarence Square and the adjacent surface parking lot would make an excellent launch/extraction site, as well as a good station box.

Any TBM job through the CBD will also need to be very deep in order to not interfere with surface and immediate subsurface infrastructure. Cut and cover through downtown would be virtually impossible today. Even building the station box would be a feat.

Great point. There's also a parking lot at Bathurst & Front that maybe could be used? Or maybe Victoria Memorial Park near Bathurst & Wellington?

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

I'm seriously hoping that that whole "Western Union" idea is just a straw man to justify a GO tunnel, either under the existing rail corridor or along a new corridor further north (like in my GO REX plan). The Western Union proposal that was included in that white paper a while back made my stomach turn.

Hahaha Western Union...