I have to say, this is pretty unexpected, but good news none the less. I had grudgingly accepted the SLRT, and had hoped Metrolinx would elevate Eglinton East instead. With the subway option back on the table, elevating Eglinton East is no longer essential.
What I'd like to see is this:
-Subway extension from Kennedy to Sheppard & McCowan
-Downgrade Sheppard to a BRT and take that extra money and put it towards the subway extension
-Make up for the loss of the SRT extension by creating 3 branches of the Sheppard BRT: Don Mills to the zoo (mixed traffic after Neilson), Don Mills to Centennial via Progress (mixed traffic on Progress), Don Mills to Malvern Centre via Neilson (queue jump lanes on Neilson). This would serve a lot of trip patterns that either aren't covered in the current LRT plan, or that would be underserved with the loss of the LRT plan.
-This would also eliminate the need for the Conlins Yard, saving quite a bit of money, especially given the cost was split between the two LRT projects.
I think BRT would be sufficient on Sheppard, because it would make ridership along Sheppard multi-directional, lowering the pphpd. The current LRT plan basically has the majority of ridership going to Don Mills. With a subway terminus roughly mid-route, there would be a substantial turnover mid-route, and there would also be a peak counter flow of people coming from west of McCowan heading eastbound in the AM peak.
What I'd like to see is this:
-Subway extension from Kennedy to Sheppard & McCowan
-Downgrade Sheppard to a BRT and take that extra money and put it towards the subway extension
-Make up for the loss of the SRT extension by creating 3 branches of the Sheppard BRT: Don Mills to the zoo (mixed traffic after Neilson), Don Mills to Centennial via Progress (mixed traffic on Progress), Don Mills to Malvern Centre via Neilson (queue jump lanes on Neilson). This would serve a lot of trip patterns that either aren't covered in the current LRT plan, or that would be underserved with the loss of the LRT plan.
-This would also eliminate the need for the Conlins Yard, saving quite a bit of money, especially given the cost was split between the two LRT projects.
I think BRT would be sufficient on Sheppard, because it would make ridership along Sheppard multi-directional, lowering the pphpd. The current LRT plan basically has the majority of ridership going to Don Mills. With a subway terminus roughly mid-route, there would be a substantial turnover mid-route, and there would also be a peak counter flow of people coming from west of McCowan heading eastbound in the AM peak.
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