TTC: Jane (LRT) RapidTO

[adma]

Totally agree. If you're gonna dream, you might as well dream big. I would be so ecstatic if the Crossways and the Price chopper/Shoppers were pulled down to make way for some giant mall/condo-multiplex with an adjoining 8-track intercity and regional rail station. Turn the Wallace triangle into Shibuya. Booyah!

I don't know about "pulled down"; but I can see the base of the Crossways undergo a total transit-hub-minded transformation, esp. considering how it presently shows its 30+ forlorn years, at least inside...

 

[dowlingm]

No sign of a connection with St. Clair line on the Jane LRT stop diagram. Mistake - either by the graphics dude or the planner dudes.

 

[RedRocket191]

No sign of a connection with St. Clair line on the Jane LRT stop diagram. Mistake - either by the graphics dude or the planner dudes.

Asked and answered:

The St Clair Extension has its own EA and that has been on the back burners due to the problems on St Clair these past few years. It was supposed to go out in 2005.

The St Clair line will connect with the Jane LRT with provision to go further west.

The only way Jane St can work is a tunnel south of Eglinton to Bloor or Queensway without removing a lane of traffic and parking.

Take a look at St Clair and Keele and you will see there is an ROW issue that prevent having tracks separate for the LRT from GO/CP/VIA/Blue22. It will only support 4 track. South of Dupont will support 6 or more tracks. That housing complex took the extra room for more tracks.

Until you get FRA standards reduce, you will have to run battleships on Jane.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Q11) Will any lanes of traffic be removed on any streets to accommodate the LRT?
Depending on the selected design, it is possible that a lane in each direction may be removed along the southern portion of Jane Street to accommodate the LRT. This would allow more space to provide a better pedestrian and cycling environment and improved urban design.

A lane in the southern portion of Jane Street to be removed for the LRT?!?! No, don't do that. Already the traffic on Jane Street at Annette Street gets backed up with two lanes, it'll be worse with one lane in each direction. Same problem where Jane Street goes under the railway between Dundas Street West and St. Clair Avenue West. Traffic will be worse.

Jane Street requires two lanes in each direction for the traffic it carries. The south portion of the Jane Street roadway has buildings close to it. Taking a lane in each direction is NOT acceptable.

The LRT south of Alliance Avenue and Black Creek MUST enter a portal into a tunnel to travel underground to the Jane Street Subway station. The design for the LRT should have it be underground so that two lanes of traffic remain.

There should be underground stations at Woolner Avenue, St. Clair Avenue West/Dundas Street West, Annette Street and of course Bloor Street (Jane Street Subway station).

 

[dowlingm]

Asked and answered:

What does St Clair "having its own EA" have anything to do with it. Eglinton will have its own EA and it is marked. Irrespective of when St. Clair will be joined to Jane, it has implications for the junction design and traffic management and thus should be designed in from day 1. Its absence from the Jane map is a troubling indication that the TTC may be buckling to the likes of Cesar Palacio who doesn't want St Clair extended.

 

[Rainforest]

Rainforest

A lane in the southern portion of Jane Street to be removed for the LRT?!?! No, don't do that. Already the traffic on Jane Street at Annette Street gets backed up with two lanes, it'll be worse with two. Same problem where Jane Street goes under the railway between Dundas Street West and St. Clair Avenue West. Traffic will be worse.

Yeah, going down to one lane in each direction is not a good idea. In addition to jamming the traffic during normal operation, it will be a perfect trap if a car breaks down. Plus, trucks (furniture delivery, roofing, plumbing etc) cannot easily right-turn using just one lane.

But tunneling will rise the price tag even higher than the present $800m. Interestingly, even a busway might not be very cheap as space for the dedicated lanes still has to be found.

Hopefully the Weston Corridor alignment of the Jane LRT will help keeping the costs in check. But given the relatively low ridership projections for this line (1,700 - 2,200 pphpd), one has to wonder if Jane really must be part of Phase I, rather than Kipling or Islington.

In case the ridership projections for Kipling are higher ... note as well that Kipling LRT can probably run entirely on surface, and it would provide for a nice short LRT connection between the Airport and the Bloor subway.

 

[dowlingm]

Here's my question: what is the Jane LRT for? If people in the catchment want to go downtown, the subway is obviously faster - same if downtowners are going to York. What problem does a Jane LRT from Steeles to Bloor solve? I think until that question is answered it's hard to promote one route over another.

Kipling Corridor from Finch/Hwy 27 to Lake Shore I get because of the airport, the subway terminus, Humber College and no nearby N-S alternative but Jane is so close to the subway you feel it's almost inevitably sucked into being diverted to Eglinton West or St. Clair West on cost grounds, especially because the nature of the road changes from wide suburban arterial to urban.

 

[Rainforest]

Rainforest

Here's my question: what is the Jane LRT for? If people in the catchment want to go downtown, the subway is obviously faster - same if downtowners are going to York. What problem does a Jane LRT from Steeles to Bloor solve? I think until that question is answered it's hard to promote one route over another.

Kipling Corridor from Finch/Hwy 27 to Lake Shore I get because of the airport, the subway terminus, Humber College and no nearby N-S alternative but Jane is so close to the subway you feel it's almost inevitably sucked into being diverted to Eglinton West or St. Clair West on cost grounds, especially because the nature of the road changes from wide suburban arterial to urban.

The Jane line is not without merit: enhanced local service / densification, plus a shortcut between south Etobicoke and the YorkU area. The question though if it should be in Phase I given the relatively low ridership expectations and the issues around the southern part, or should wait till Phase II.

 

[unimaginative2]

I've always thought Dundas West was the coolest potential second centre, with all the infrastructure CDL mentioned. The proximity to the park makes it a pretty attractive place, too. It's kind of hilarious that the TTC's spending $50 million on a connection from the new York subway to the Bradford GO, but it's "not justified" to spend a million or two on a staircase up to Bloor station.

Maybe I'm being influenced, but I'm partial to the idea of developing an S-Bahn/RER/Regional Rail ring around central Toronto, using the North Toronto line, Don Valley, Bradford/Weston line, and the lakeshore. Stops at Union, Spadina, Bathurst/Fort York, Queen/Dufferin, Stirling, Dundas West, Dupont/Junction, Dufferin, Bathurst/Dupont station, Summerhill, Brick Works(?), Broadview Station, Queen, Cherry, and back to Union. All of the outer GO lines would feed into the ring.

It could replace part of the DRL in the west.

 

[Martin in the Junction]

A poster on The Junction neighbourhood thread threw out an idea to run the Jane LRT though the Junction and down to Dundas West.

Anybody have thoughts on the feasibility of this?

At the St.Clair/Dundas Street intersection with Jane turn east, follow the tracks through the Junction rail corridor and turn south again at the western rail corridor and onto Dundas West Station.

Stations at Runnymede, Keele and Annette.

 

[W. K. Lis]

A poster on The Junction neighbourhood thread threw out an idea to run the Jane LRT though the Junction and down to Dundas West.

Anybody have thoughts on the feasibility of this?

At the St.Clair/Dundas Street intersection with Jane turn east, follow the tracks through the Junction rail corridor and turn south again at the western rail corridor and onto Dundas West Station.

Stations at Runnymede, Keele and Annette.

And the 30 Lambton bus could still provide local service on Dundas Street West from High Park Avenue and west, with transfers with the LRT at Runnymede Road and Jane Street.

 

[ShonTron]

Yeah, the more I think of it, the more Jane appears to be as absurd as the Scarborough-Malvern route. Steve Munro pushes for the Jane to enter the Weston sub where Jane meets the railway, which leaves about 1.5 kilometres of narrow streets on the east end of Weston to deal with, but SNC-Lavalin has its paws protecting its turf (David Collenette, how your legacy lives on!). Kipling would not have been a bad choice, but Jane has the extra magic of passing through priority neighbourhoods that would otherwise be missed.

Transit Planning by the United Way.

 

[Whoaccio]

Transit Planning by the United Way.

The TTC: Without us, there would be no way.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

Here's my question: what is the Jane LRT for? If people in the catchment want to go downtown, the subway is obviously faster - same if downtowners are going to York. What problem does a Jane LRT from Steeles to Bloor solve? I think until that question is answered it's hard to promote one route over another.

We do know that a relatively small percentage of Jane bus riders are actually transferring to the subway at Jane station...I think it's safe to assume most of these transferees are beginning their trip around and south of Eglinton, and if that's the case a rail corridor alignment may not be as useful.

 

[nfitz]

We do know that a relatively small percentage of Jane bus riders are actually transferring to the subway at Jane station...I think it's safe to assume most of these transferees are beginning their trip around and south of Eglinton, and if that's the case a rail corridor alignment may not be as useful.

Though if that is the case, wouldn't these transferees be well served by a regular, short bus-route from Jane Station to an LRT station at Jane/Dundas or Jane/St. Clair? Not that I'm convinced the rail corridor is the answer - people live along Dundas, not the railway tracks.