Toronto Eglinton Line 5 | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | Arcadis

[smallspy]

Steve Munro. blog from 2011.
"A Random Transit Rider | November 9, 2011 at 11:24 pm
Curious, what would you change about the core Transit City projects, Steve? And by core, I mean Eglinton, Sheppard, Finch West and SRT.
Steve: This really deserves a post of its own, but in brief:
Eglinton: Stop screwing around and put the line underground through Weston. This was always a budget decision, not a technical one. Run on the south side of Eglinton from Laird Station at least to the west portal at Don Mills station."

Cool. Someone posted a comment on a blog.

That does not equal the people doing that actual work that it was in their plans, which is what you are trying to conflate it with. Because it was not.

Dan

 

[TRONto]

In the long term, anything is possible, as long as it is a very long term (say 50 or 80 years).
In the short term (i.e. in our lifetimes) there are easier solutions for the Leslie intersection. Such as, close down the two left turns and replace them by U-turns on Eglinton. And close the pedestrian crossing on the west side of the intersection. The only remaining conflict with LRT would then be the pedestrian crossing on the east side, and that can easily coexist even with trains passing by every 90 seconds.

Would it be easiest to add those retractable barriers like the Calgary LRT at this intersection? Let the Eglinton LRT have free reign like a train does and do the left turns after the barriers go up?

 

[mikey7767]

Rob Ford was an idiot.

He knew sfa about transit.

He understood good transit. He knew the value of building less, but better quality. The Eglinton LRT journey could have been roughly 40 minutes or a bit under if he had his way from Kennedy and to Mount Dennis, and it would have gone to STC. It's his opponents, the Surface LRT nuts that are the backwards minded idiots.

 

[Jonathan's Junction]

He knew the value of building less, but better quality.

I think this is an important lesson. I used to see the maps circulating around comparing the many more km of light rail you can get from Transit City vs building more subways, but could you imagine how much worse it would be? It's the same reason we should remove stops from the streetcar network, sometimes it is worth it to have less so that the whole system is better.

 

[zang]

He understood good transit. He knew the value of building less, but better quality. The Eglinton LRT journey could have been roughly 40 minutes or a bit under if he had his way from Kennedy and to Mount Dennis, and it would have gone to STC. It's his opponents, the Surface LRT nuts that are the backwards minded idiots.

So why was Rob Ford's Eglinton "subway" merely Bombardier LRTs buried completely underground, and not actual subway cars like the Toronto Rocket?

 

[txlseries4]

He understood good transit. He knew the value of building less, but better quality

The guy didn’t take transit let alone understand it

 

[mikey7767]

So why was Rob Ford's Eglinton "subway" merely Bombardier LRTs buried completely underground, and not actual subway cars like the Toronto Rocket?

Because it was a deal he made with the province to bury what was already planned for the surface section and then following the Scarborough RT guideway to Scarborough Town Centre to make it one seamless grade separated line. To build the west tunnels and configure it with the Scarborough RT guideway with subway cars would have required a whole new study, design, delays, and probability of being cancelled. He tried to improve what was already on the books even though it wasn't an ideal scenario to begin with due to the initial Transit City plan. We also wouldn't have needed the Scarborough Subway if he had his way with this plan, we would have actually saved money.

 

[mikey7767]

The guy didn’t take transit let alone understand it

He took the subway a lot, especially after nights out.

 

[smallspy]

He took the subway a lot, especially after nights out.

No, he didn't. One of his buddies - who is now a bus driver for GO Transit - was his private chauffeur for much of his life.

I bet you also believe that the Ford's are the Canadian answer to the Kennedy's too, right?

Dan

 

[narduch]

He understood good transit. He knew the value of building less, but better quality. The Eglinton LRT journey could have been roughly 40 minutes or a bit under if he had his way from Kennedy and to Mount Dennis, and it would have gone to STC. It's his opponents, the Surface LRT nuts that are the backwards minded idiots.

You don't have to lie for the guy.

He legitimately had no idea what he was talking about when it came to transit.

He came in like a wrecking ball and essentially set the city back 20 years on transit build.

 

[narduch]

He took the subway a lot, especially after nights out.

Ok. Its pretty obvious you are just here to troll us.

I'm honestly shocked that anyone can defend Rob Ford on transit. It is the most disingenuous bit of revisionist history I've seen in a while

 

[zang]

Because it was a deal he made with the province to bury what was already planned for the surface section and then following the Scarborough RT guideway to Scarborough Town Centre to make it one seamless grade separated line. To build the west tunnels and configure it with the Scarborough RT guideway with subway cars would have required a whole new study, design, delays, and probability of being cancelled. He tried to improve what was already on the books even though it wasn't an ideal scenario to begin with due to the initial Transit City plan. We also wouldn't have needed the Scarborough Subway if he had his way with this plan, we would have actually saved money.

So he cancelled stuff in order to avoid Eglinton being cancelled? What a crock.

 

[mikey7767]

So he cancelled stuff in order to avoid Eglinton being cancelled? What a crock.

Such a disingenuous comment. He cancelled surface LRTs because he didn't believe they were worth the money. But you know this already. And he did it to grade separate Eglinton as well.

 

[robmausser]

So why was Rob Ford's Eglinton "subway" merely Bombardier LRTs buried completely underground, and not actual subway cars like the Toronto Rocket?

His proposal was well after the system was designed and contracts were signed for various things. It was a comprimise to not have to start over. The deals were struck for the LRT trains, and it meant they didnt have to design the existing underground portion.

Not defending Rob btw, I think burying the LRT east of Laird was a diabolically bad idea. Especially when you get into the details that we never did: the two ravines the LRT crosses from Laird to Bermondsey are super deep. It would have been an engineering feat and we'd have stations that would make the Ontario Line depths look laughable in comparison.

Considering the line from Laird to Bermondsey interacts with just 3 intersections, and all 3 could have been dealt with accordingly (put LRT tracks on south of Leslie, reconfigure DVP ramps, remove Swift Drive crossing) tunneling in this section is insane.

 

[APTA-2048]

Rob Ford didn't even know what he was talking about. Period.

He just wanted to avoid spending money.

Rob Ford was a nasty human being. Not me.

Its a joke to me that anyone can claim to be interested in urban issues and the betterment of the City yet hold up Rob Ford as an example of a good politician.

Rob Ford was the beginning of the demise of this city. John Tory helped continue the process. And now his brother is running the province into the ground while he stuffs his pockets.

Over a decade of underinvestment and later mismanagement has brought the TTC to where it is today. Those two mayors were absolutely awful for transit in this city.