Transit City Plan

[BMO]

I was wondering if anybody could answer my question. I was reading on Spacing.ca an article about the scarborough-malvern lrt (SMLRT) here. In the article it says the project has recieved 1.4B in funding and that it will be in operation fro the Pan Am games. Sorry if I am totally mistaken, but I was under the impression that this line hasn't recieved funding yet. Can anyone clarify this for me?

thanks in advance.

 

[Voltz]

I was wondering if anybody could answer my question. I was reading on Spacing.ca an article about the scarborough-malvern lrt (SMLRT) here. In the article it says the project has recieved 1.4B in funding and that it will be in operation fro the Pan Am games. Sorry if I am totally mistaken, but I was under the impression that this line hasn't recieved funding yet. Can anyone clarify this for me?

thanks in advance.

It's not funded, and the map in that article is out of date.

 

[BMO]

thanks, so the article is wrong about that right? or was he just referring to the SRT extension plan?

 

[nfitz]

thanks, so the article is wrong about that right? or was he just referring to the SRT extension plan?

The article is completely wrong about the funding for the Scarborough-Malvern line ... it also says it's been bandied back and forth for several decades. What?? Where do they get this stuff? It's pretty clear from the map they were talking about the Scarborough-Malvern LRT line down Eglinton, Morningside, and Kingston Road.

 

[SteveMunro]

Yes, the article is wrong. I don't know where the writer got that info, and suspect she may have conflated the SRT and the SMLRT projects. The SRT project is funded, the SMLRT is not, although some are lobbying for it to get bumped up in support of the Pan Am Games. I happen to think that idea is a real crock because UTSC can be served from the north via the Sheppard East line just as easily as from the south via SMLRT. There are actually people north of Eglinton who want to get to UTSC.

I will leave a comment on the spacing article to correct this info. I provided background to the writer, but am not responsible for the content.

 

[BMO]

oh ok thank you for clarifying that, I was very confused because I wasn't sure if somehow there was funding from the pan am games or something that was available for this project or not.

regards,

 

[W. K. Lis]

I was wondering why the traffic circle/roundabout was not considered for the main intersections of Transit City. See this link (PDF) for one view being taken by the Utah Transit Authority for their light rail.

As I see it, a traffic circle/roundabout will slow down traffic, allow for U-turns, right turns, and left turns, and give priority to light rail when combined with traffic signals to allow true priority to light rail vehicles.

See this link for information on how light rail fits in with Compatibility With Roundabouts (Traffic Circles). You will need to page down.

See this link for general information on traffic circles/roundabouts.

Click here for an animated presentation of a roundabout with trams.

 

[Hipster Duck]

What's the difference between a traffic light on a roundabout that gives priority to LRTs versus an intersection with a traffic light that gives priority to LRTs? In either case, you would need to have a city/transit agency/transportation department that gives signal priority to transit, and that ain't the case here.

 

[Rainforest]

If anything, one advantage of traffic circles is that LRT passengers would wait in a nice green space, instead of being squeezed in a shelter between roaring traffic lanes

I guess the main constraint be the throughput of the circle. Traffic from busy 2-lane or 3-lane roads will not merge into the circle seamlessly, and long traffic jams would grow on approaches to the circle.

Another problem is that many intersections have buildings near the corner, and hence no space for the circle.

 

[SteveMunro]

In the aerial illustration above, the line with the LRT on it looks to be four traffic lanes plus the LRT lanes plus the sidewalks. The circle itself is roughly five times the size in diameter. How much of the city do you plan to demolish?

Mind you, I love the intersecting boulevard with all those trees. The north-south streets in Etobicoke and Scarborough would look great, although you may have problems with road capacity and those pesky buildings.

 

[kettal]

That's some serious real estate right there. I imagine it could work well in Utah, where land is more affordable.

 

[kEiThZ]

I love this traffic circle idea. But wouldn't they have to be huge? Diameter would have to be bigger than the length of the LRT and any planned train expansion. Do we have that much land at any intersection in TO?

I guess if the stops are not in the circles. The concept is still a space/land hog though.

 

[W. K. Lis]

That's some serious real estate right there. I imagine it could work well in Utah, where land is more affordable.

Traffic circles can be of various sizes. In the above photo, the circle is small but with lights to stop the traffic for the light rail vehicle. I was thinking for Eglinton West, there is land available to use traffic circles. Even if a traffic circle is built at Jane and Finch, the only property affected would be parking lots and a gasoline station. Other locations may not have the land available to do traffic circles, but at least look at the posibility.

 

[Ansem]

LRT meeting brings out mayoral candidates

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/toronto/story.html?id=2519560


Public transit is on its way to becoming an issue in this fall's mayoral race, with five candidates for the city's top job appearing at a community meeting last night on the Eglinton Avenue light rail line.

The loudest applause was reserved for anyone who advocated for a subway instead of LRT.

Rocco Rossi said he could not promise that, but he said the "disaster" that occurred with the St. Clair right-of-way shows the plan to crisscross the city with light rails should be reviewed. "We need to put a hold on Transit City until we ask a few questions," he said, to applause. He said a recon-figured model could create bus rapid transit, subways and LRT.

George Smitherman said the popular position in the room may be to take the LRT underground, but that would cost five times the amount. "Those who propose burying it are those who propose killing it, in my opinion," he said.

TTC chairman Adam Giambrone, who is also running for mayor, defended the project. Meanwhile Giorgio Mammoliti and Sarah Thomson came out in favour of a subway along Eglinton during the meeting organized by Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby (Etobicoke Centre) in a local high school.

nalcoba@nationalpost.com

 

[junctionist]

The middle ground approach of subway and LRT would be best. Subway would build that true rapid transit high capacity backbone, with LRT funneling greater numbers of riders in the suburbs to ensure high usage of the line.