YRT/Viva Construction Thread (Rapidways, Terminals)

[taal]

For those obsessing over the width, I doubt that Eglinton, Sheppard, and Finch will be that much narrower once their LRT lines are put in.

In which case those streets will suffer the same fate !

But I'm sure the Toronto version will look 10 times worse too ; )

 

[reaperexpress]

For those obsessing over the width, I doubt that Eglinton, Sheppard, and Finch will be that much narrower once their LRT lines are put in.

They'll have 2 car lanes per direction instead of 3, so that's 7m narrower right there. I think that would make quite a big difference in how imposing the streets are. For me, it isn't the width of Hwy 7 that's the problem, it's how much of it is uninterrupted car space. I'd like to see the curb lane be used for on-street parking and right turn lanes to break things up a bit as well as provide more protection for cyclists in the buffered bike lanes.

 

[cplchanb]

One thing that has always been a positive for VIVA is that work gets done quickly. Its only been 2 years since the start of major work and the start of service. Then again I guess a major factor for this is that town planners chose to act early unlike Toronto which has been stuck in the 60s up until recently

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

One thing that has always been a positive for VIVA is that work gets done quickly. Its only been 2 years since the start of major work and the start of service. Then again I guess a major factor for this is that town planners chose to act early unlike Toronto which has been stuck in the 60s up until recently

Everyone in Toronto should take note that that Viva got the money for these rapidways at the exact same time Toronto got its Transit City money. Toronto's lack of progress to this point is almost entirely political.

That's amazing to hear the rapidway is opening already. One of the great things about BRT (at least how Viva has done it) is that it can be opened as sections are completed, piecemeal. I drove down there the other day and indeed the streetscaping etc. looks great. I suppose they could have narrowed the street in the process but it's still such a major thoroughfare (heck, this stretch is adjacent to a major intersection with the 404) it would have been a real challenge. I knew the opening was getting close when I saw the construction people were down to raking the dirt and other minor landscaping but, still didn't know it was that close.

The idea all along (with Viva and with the Big Move, generally) is that people will get it when they can see something on the ground. Hopefully that'll happen here.

Oh, and, man I'll be happy when the construction is done. It was just nasty the other week when they were paving!

 

[doady]

8 lanes of traffic per per direction plus space for bus platforms is kind of ridiculous. Keep it at 6 lanes max or don't bother. If they are too afraid even to dedicate 1/3 of the existing road to transit, then it shows their real priority. If shows they have no faith in the abilty of BRT to increase transit use and be a viable alternative to cars, so this whole thing is pointless. This is a project designed for car drivers, masquerading as a transit project.

 

[JayBeeGooner]

One thing that has always been a positive for VIVA is that work gets done quickly. Its only been 2 years since the start of major work and the start of service. Then again I guess a major factor for this is that town planners chose to act early unlike Toronto which has been stuck in the 60s up until recently

The Busway is open from Bayview to Highway 404. The portion east of 404 will not open yet.

Construction on the Hwy 7 busway started in late 2010, and while one portion is open, the busway isn't fully completed. The Davis Dr busway is no where near completion, and the scheduled opening date is 2014.

Keep in mind, had Ford and the Province not interfered in Transit City, the SELRT would be opening this year, or next.

 

[cplchanb]

The Busway is open from Bayview to Highway 404. The portion east of 404 will not open yet.

Construction on the Hwy 7 busway started in late 2010, and while one portion is open, the busway isn't fully completed. The Davis Dr busway is no where near completion, and the scheduled opening date is 2014.

Keep in mind, had Ford and the Province not interfered in Transit City, the SELRT would be opening this year, or next.

Just to stir the pot that is exactly why Toronto has been stuck in the 60s, too much partisan games and politics. At least the viva lanes are actually progressing unlike the spiraling remnants of Transit city. Take note to that had it not been for the budget cut by Ontario on transit a few years back virtually the whole vivanext program wouldve been finished in 2015

 

[ShonTron]

The Busway is open from Bayview to Highway 404. The portion east of 404 will not open yet.

Construction on the Hwy 7 busway started in late 2010, and while one portion is open, the busway isn't fully completed. The Davis Dr busway is no where near completion, and the scheduled opening date is 2014.

Keep in mind, had Ford and the Province not interfered in Transit City, the SELRT would be opening this year, or next.

I like that in celebration of the opening of the first Rapidway section, YRT will be making system-wide service cuts. And on the fancy new Rapidway, Viva Purple and Pink will each be reduced to every 16 minutes from every 15 during rush hours. (That in itself is not a big cut, though.)

 

[doady]

I like that in celebration of the opening of the first Rapidway section, YRT will be making system-wide service cuts. And on the fancy new Rapidway, Viva Purple and Pink will each be reduced to every 16 minutes from every 15 during rush hours. (That in itself is not a big cut, though.)

If this transitway makes Purple and Pink faster, even keeping it at 15 minute frequency would mean less buses in service on these routes. Either way, they will be taking buses away from these routes.

 

[Electrify]

They usually increase service in the fall, since this route is heavily used to get to and from York.

I a couple of weeks though, we will be able to point to this to call Ford's bluff. All this talk about war on the cars, streetcars, etc will mean nothing because through Beaver Creek/Commerce Valley this route will operate almost exactly like the proposed LRT lines. The added stops will create a semi-limited stop transitway, plus with signal priority and off-board payment it should be nearly exactly the same. The only difference is that one uses diesel buses, while the other uses electric trains.

 

[reaperexpress]

8 lanes of traffic per per direction plus space for bus platforms is kind of ridiculous. Keep it at 6 lanes max or don't bother. If they are too afraid even to dedicate 1/3 of the existing road to transit, then it shows their real priority. If shows they have no faith in the abilty of BRT to increase transit use and be a viable alternative to cars, so this whole thing is pointless. This is a project designed for car drivers, masquerading as a transit project.

I totally agree that widening the road to maintain 6 car lanes rather than saving boatloads of money does show their true priority. It also undermines the potential of the BRT by allowing more car trips and making the transit stops further from the edge of the road.

However, it's quite a stretch to say this is not a transit project or that the whole thing is pointless. It's a transit project where they spend incredibly large amounts of money to placate car drivers.

 

[innsertnamehere]

how much does that extra lane really cost though? Roads are widened all the time, surely it can't be that expensive.

 

[MisterF]

I live in the area, there are a lot of positives in the new transitways (I refuse to call them rapidways). The way they did the streetscape plantings is very urban, instead of the usual suburban grass boulevards. That said, wider sidewalks would have made the area much nicer to walk on. You can do a pedestrian-oriented wide boulevard. Streets like Michigan Avenue, Gran Via, and Champs Elysees show that. They tend to have much wider sidewalks, shorter blocks and better building design. Richmond Hill is still approving high rise buildings with parking in front along this stretch, so it looks like they still don't really get it. And the hydro poles stand out so much more now than they used to. All that trouble to completely rebuild the street, it's just such a waste that they didn't bury the power lines. It's like getting plastic surgery but leaving the big hairy mole.

 

[taal]

Just to stir the pot that is exactly why Toronto has been stuck in the 60s, too much partisan games and politics. At least the viva lanes are actually progressing unlike the spiraling remnants of Transit city. Take note to that had it not been for the budget cut by Ontario on transit a few years back virtually the whole vivanext program wouldve been finished in 2015

To be fair ... getting this done in the 905 is naturally much easier to almost 0 media attention ... this makes a huge difference ... not just for transit, but countless other things.

Taxes go up in Toronto, you'll see thousands upon thousands of articles, not so in the 905.

 

[taal]

If this transitway makes Purple and Pink faster, even keeping it at 15 minute frequency would mean less buses in service on these routes. Either way, they will be taking buses away from these routes.

Yea I don't think this is a big deal ... cuts on other routes though ...

The key will be ridership in the next 5 years.

Ridership (and growth) on purple and viva are actually very disappointing to date !