TTC: Waterfront Transit EA

[Tulse]

Downtown Dallas already has elevated expressways and half of the rest of their "downtown" is parking lot anyway.

I don't think that anyone should want to emulate Dallas' built form, or urban "planning".

 

[Towered]

What makes you say that?

Metrolinx gave Brampton a firm deadline to declare whether they're in or out for the Hurontario LRT and if they say no then that portion of the funding will go to another transit project, so voila!

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Oh wonderful. Someone needs to find a way to distract Brampton's Council to they miss the Halloween deadline

 

[44 North]

Downtown Dallas already has elevated expressways and half of the rest of their "downtown" is parking lot anyway.

The East Bayfront has an elevated expressway and half of it is a parking lot, so I don't really see your point.

 

[drum118]

The word tonight, Cherry St Extension is dead until the 30' as well Commissioners.

Work starts on the Mouth of The Don in 2017 and will take until 2023 to place 1-2 meter of dirt on top of the existing lands as well built the mouth.

Construction for Villiers Island will start in 2023/24 for infrastructure and the first phase of buildings. Completion is around 2040.

Huge mistake to wait until the 30's for both lines and once again the car planners within the city killing transit.

 

[44 North]

The word tonight, Cherry St Extension is dead until the 30' as well Commissioners.

Work starts on the Mouth of The Don in 2017 and will take until 2023 to place 1-2 meter of dirt on top of the existing lands as well built the mouth.

Construction for Villiers Island will start in 2023/24 for infrastructure and the first phase of buildings. Completion is around 2040.

Huge mistake to wait until the 30's for both lines and once again the car planners within the city killing transit.

Interesting. I still can't rule out the possibility of an Expo bid happening in our future, so I think it's possible we could see an acceleration of development in Villiers Island if that were to happen. This is more wishful thinking on my part, but I'd support an Expo if it would expedite things.

We've also got some more info and updated cost #s from the TTC's recent Transit Expansion report:

East Bayfront LRT 2010 EA study

•East Bayfront LRT is 1.6km from Bay Street to Parliament. It forms a section of a longer Waterfront East LRT corridor
•Environmental Assessment approved by Province in 2010
•Estimated $520M capital cost (2016$) included:

–$270M for tunnelling and underground station
–$100M for surface tracks, infrastructure and rolling stock
–$150M to reconstruct Queens Quay​

•At the June 2015 City Council debate on Gardiner East EA, there was a request for a staff report on the acceleration of the East Bayfront LRT*
•Staff to report to October Executive Committee on need for:

–A “reset” on waterfront transit planning
–An acceleration and phasing strategy for East Bayfront LRT

*Waterfront Transit Report: Oct. 20 Executive Committee, Oct. 28 TTC Board​

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

These images are excellent! Thank you for sharing.

I wonder if it will take developer lobbying to finally get the ball going for transit in the Portlands. (Like currently with 3C and the Unilever site)

 

[junctionist]

These images are excellent! Thank you for sharing.

I wonder if it will take developer lobbying to finally get the ball going for transit in the Portlands. (Like currently with 3C and the Unilever site)

It probably will. There are many communities in the GTA with subpar transit. By investing in those communities, local politicians build their support. By investing in an empty area, they don't enjoy that benefit. On a higher level, though, there is political capital to be gained by investing in the Portlands.

Mayors, premiers and federal politicians can increase their support by revitalizing stagnant parts of the city and creating new economic activity, so long as the benefits are substantial enough to convince the public throughout the city and GTA that it's worth spending that money. Everyone would say "yes, do it" until they realize that a new LRT, subway line or all-day GO service in their neighbourhood would cut commute times by 10-30 minutes and raise property values. Building parks and transit in the Port Lands has to provide clear value to politicians and people in the city in general.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Remember that the previous city hall administration cut TTC service. It took the current administration, just to reinstate it back to where it was. The next step is to improve reliability of service, reduce bunching, increase frequency for all routes (especially in the far reaches of branch operations). All that require funding, especially from the province and hopefully from the federal government. That also means Mayor Tory's desire to reduce the TTC operating budget by 2% has to be ignored.

 

[dowlingm]

The 2030s should be when we see Flexity Downtown #205 arrive so the extension will be timely!

 

[Duck]

Here are a couple of examples of some interesting waterfront lines from Japan. These systems are all AGT (Automated Guideway Transit) systems, using rubber tires on an elevated concrete guideway.

I appreciate that this technology mode is probably not appropriate for Toronto, given our climate, but wanted to show an alternative and how it has been done in other places, just for the sake of discussion.

Tokyo Waterfront New Transit Line Yurikamome:

Kanazawa Seaside Line:

Kobe Port Liner:

Osaka New Tram Nanko Port Island Line:

 

[DSC]

EX9.9
ACTION

Ward:5, 6, 13, 14, 19, 20, 28, 30

Waterfront Transit "Reset"
Origin
(October 9, 2015) Report from the Deputy City Manager, Cluster B
Recommendations
The Deputy City Manager, Cluster B, recommends that:

1. City Council direct City staff, working with the Toronto Transit Commission and Waterfront Toronto, to undertake a comprehensive review of waterfront transit initiatives and options, and provide a status update to Executive Committee in Quarter 2 of 2016.

2. City Council direct City staff to fund the waterfront transit reset from the amount allocated for East Bayfront Transit in the Waterfront Revitalization Initiative capital project CWR003-10.

Details at:

http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2015.EX9.9

 

[TheTigerMaster]

A reset for waterfront transit? (Steve Munro): http://stevemunro.ca/2015/10/14/a-reset-for-waterfront-transit-plans/

 

[georgevicbell]

Looks like some funding just opened up....how long till we apply for it...should cover the current plans no?

 

[Promagstyle]

Here are a couple of examples of some interesting waterfront lines from Japan. These systems are all AGT (Automated Guideway Transit) systems, using rubber tires on an elevated concrete guideway.

I appreciate that this technology mode is probably not appropriate for Toronto, given our climate, but wanted to show an alternative and how it has been done in other places, just for the sake of discussion.

Tokyo Waterfront New Transit Line Yurikamome:

Kanazawa Seaside Line:

Kobe Port Liner:

Osaka New Tram Nanko Port Island Line:

That's a clever design, but it really looks like this sort of technology was in use for years now. It also reminds me of the Toronto Zoo Monorail Accident back in 1991. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Zoo_Domain_Ride

When I was in Xiamen, China earlier this year; the BRT was Elevated above normal traffic. Just using regular diesel buses that came in 40 Foot or 60 Foot buses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiamen_BRT

*If ridership increases in the future, the ease of converting the EA BRT into EA LRT or into a Subway would be pretty easy.