News   Jul 12, 2024
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Toronto's Transit Network Plan

Cheep to get to 427, but to get to Sherway, it would have to go under the CP railway (over is not feasible, because you need to go over both the 427 and railway, about 15 to 20m elevation).
 
The thing about Sherway is......why? It's not a good place to tie into Miway, it has only a couple residential buildings, the connection to the QEW doesn't buy you anything that Cloverdale doesn't give you, and it is less attractive to south Mississauga than GO as a way to get into Etobicoke or downtown. Outside of peak mall hours, it will be lightly used.

As Sherway Gardens goes upscale, it is becoming the destination of choice for those who think transit is for poor people. Even teenagers don't hang out there any more.

Queensway would be an excellent candidate for LRT because
- Lakeshore west will not turn out to be a good candidate for LRT - inevitably it will remain a streetcar route, not LRT
- It's a direct straight line route on a wide roadway that offers a connection between Liberty, Parkdale, St Joe's and key north-south routes in Etobicoke, and yes Sherway Gardens, which might benefit more by connecting to the west leg of the Relief line and all the downtown urban areas than to the Bloor line
- Queensway is about to redevelop
- It could run down Browns Line to Long Branch GO

- Paul
 
Let's wait until Queensway has the ridership to support more than a bus every 30 mins before contemplating how to spend a few hundred million on LRT.

Lake Shore is the Yonge line in comparison.

I'm not holding my breath for a Queensway line, but it would be interesting to see the ridership modelled, assuming some version of DRL West and/or WWLRT, taking into account the new projects planned along the Queensway.

The 80 bus used to be a more heavily used arterial route, but the more direct connections to the Subway (Evans, Shorncliffe,etc) have proved more popular. The formerly working-class residential areas between Queensway and Bloor have grown more car-saturated. And of course the connection to the 501 is not time competitive.

Lakeshore is a solid performer, but its downfall is how well it serves the residential areas along the Lakeshore. If it were upgraded to LRT, the stop spacing would have to be reduced otherwise trip speed will remain poor. That would be a tough sell - every stop along the Lakeshore is important.

That's why I would look for an alternate route for a through LRT. The GO station at Park Lawn is critical to improving transit for those heading downtown, but GO/RER will never be a good cross-Etobicoke service. Queensway is the logical arterial road for people trying to get around in south Etobicoke, and it connects well to WWLRT and DRL.

- Paul
 
See this link about a proposed amendments to the Etobicoke Zoning Code to permit a mixed use development on the northern portion of the Queensway Cineplex site at Islington with 4 residential apartments (three 12-storey buildings and one 20-storey building for a total of 588 residential units) with commercial at grade, an open space area, and an underground parking garage.
 
I'm not holding my breath for a Queensway line, but it would be interesting to see the ridership modelled, assuming some version of DRL West and/or WWLRT, taking into account the new projects planned along the Queensway.

The 80 bus used to be a more heavily used arterial route, but the more direct connections to the Subway (Evans, Shorncliffe,etc) have proved more popular. The formerly working-class residential areas between Queensway and Bloor have grown more car-saturated. And of course the connection to the 501 is not time competitive.

Lakeshore is a solid performer, but its downfall is how well it serves the residential areas along the Lakeshore. If it were upgraded to LRT, the stop spacing would have to be reduced otherwise trip speed will remain poor. That would be a tough sell - every stop along the Lakeshore is important.

That's why I would look for an alternate route for a through LRT. The GO station at Park Lawn is critical to improving transit for those heading downtown, but GO/RER will never be a good cross-Etobicoke service. Queensway is the logical arterial road for people trying to get around in south Etobicoke, and it connects well to WWLRT and DRL.

- Paul

Interesting....

I would propose running everything and anything into Park Lawn GO - that includes the WWLRT, Queensway LRT and 507 to Long Branch. I would also identify ways of bringing neighbouring bus routes into it as well. It can serve as a gateway to South Etobicoke.
 
The redevelopment opportunities along the Queensway are really interesting though, especially on the south side between the Queensway and the Gardiner, where it's pretty much megablocks. Developers could buy up an entire block just by buying a few properties, which makes neighbourhood-scale redevelopment a lot easier, as opposed to redeveloping one condo at a time by buying up a few houses.
 
The redevelopment opportunities along the Queensway are really interesting though, especially on the south side between the Queensway and the Gardiner, where it's pretty much megablocks. Developers could buy up an entire block just by buying a few properties, which makes neighbourhood-scale redevelopment a lot easier, as opposed to redeveloping one condo at a time by buying up a few houses.

The_Queensway.jpg
 

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The redevelopment opportunities along the Queensway are really interesting though, especially on the south side between the Queensway and the Gardiner, where it's pretty much megablocks. Developers could buy up an entire block just by buying a few properties, which makes neighbourhood-scale redevelopment a lot easier, as opposed to redeveloping one condo at a time by buying up a few houses.

Etobicoke demands subway access to Ikea/ Ikea breakfast. Isn't that reason enough? :D

AoD
 
I have never liked seeing highrise residential next to a 12 lane expressway. Hopefully some commercial buildings would be built on the north side of the QEW.

Just to make the point....look where GO Mimico sits in relation to current or future development.

If this stretch of the Queensway is developed, one would think that we would have a better connection to the downtown than the current plodding (if charming) 501 streetcar.

- Paul
Queensway.jpg
 

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Exactly. And that pattern continues pretty much all the way west to Sherway. Thanks for the pic illustrating my point! The redevelopment opportunity there is massive.

I have never liked seeing highrise residential next to a 12 lane expressway. Hopefully some commercial buildings would be built on the north side of the QEW.

Just to make the point....look where GO Mimico sits in relation to current or future development.

If this stretch of the Queensway is developed, one would think that we would have a better connection to the downtown than the current plodding (if charming) 501 streetcar.

- Paul

I'd like to see residential on the 2/3rds closest to the Queensway, and some commercial on the 1/3rd closest to the Gardiner. If the whole thing is residential though, putting the highest density closest to the Gardiner is best, so that it doesn't overwhelm the streetscape of the Queensway. 10-15 storeys fronting onto the Queensway, 20-30 midway back, 30-50+ fronting onto the Gardiner.

What I'd like to see is, if the DRL is built as a subway and not part of the RER network, that both the Lake Shore LRT and Queensway LRT funnel into a DRL terminus at Roncesvalles. That cuts out the crawling stretch along Queen. 10-15 min LRT ride + 10-15 min subway ride is definitely decent for this area, and comparable to using the Gardiner at rush hour.
 
Exactly. And that pattern continues pretty much all the way west to Sherway. Thanks for the pic illustrating my point! The redevelopment opportunity there is massive.



I'd like to see residential on the 2/3rds closest to the Queensway, and some commercial on the 1/3rd closest to the Gardiner. If the whole thing is residential though, putting the highest density closest to the Gardiner is best, so that it doesn't overwhelm the streetscape of the Queensway. 10-15 storeys fronting onto the Queensway, 20-30 midway back, 30-50+ fronting onto the Gardiner.

What I'd like to see is, if the DRL is built as a subway and not part of the RER network, that both the Lake Shore LRT and Queensway LRT funnel into a DRL terminus at Roncesvalles. That cuts out the crawling stretch along Queen. 10-15 min LRT ride + 10-15 min subway ride is definitely decent for this area, and comparable to using the Gardiner at rush hour.
Is there a point though if Park Lawn GO plus RER 15 min frequencies provides that rapid link to downtown?

I've viewed the DRL as an enhancement of the surface network and it really should have closely spaced stops like Bloor.
 
Is there a point though if Park Lawn GO plus RER 15 min frequencies provides that rapid link to downtown?

I've viewed the DRL as an enhancement of the surface network and it really should have closely spaced stops like Bloor.

That's true, which is why I would ideally like to see the DRL built as an RER tunnel in order to connect with RER surface tracks at either end. There are still some trips for which LRT + subway (tunnel, not specific to technology) along Queen will still be faster than LRT + RER + potential subway at the other end. It never hurts to have redundancy in the system, especially when the connecting LRT track between Humber Loop and Roncesvalles is already there.
 

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