aquateam
Active Member
While I do like the idea of ending phase one in the west at Sunnyside, I'm not sold on extending the subway all the way to Pearson along The Queensway. Parkdale is far more suited to a subway then the Queensway. I can't see tunnelling a subway underneath suburban Etobicoke being affordable, especially when there are far less expensive alternatives that have not yet been tried.
For instance I had always envisioned the Queensway as being an ideal route for the Waterfront West LRT given that there was lots of space in the ROW and because of the constrains of Lake Shore Boulevard past Humber Loop. As well, solutions such as BRT on the 427/East Mall or express buses and queue jumps on Islington or Jane haven't been tried yet. In addition, with the Kitchener Line converted to rapid transit with frequent AD2W GO, the argument for a western leg of the DRL becomes less solid.
Your fantasy map is great. That's the exact alignment I pictured for the western leg of the DRL. Makes me wish I was faster about making my fantasy map. You're right about the AD2W GO reducing the impetus for a western DRL, though, but at a minimum it has to go to Sunnyside. Parkside makes more sense for an alignment than Roncesvalles, in terms of construction.