Danforth Line 2 Scarborough Subway Extension

[Anonymous2000]

I think this, if anything, is putting us in a spot to revive a Sheppard Subway originally envisioned in Network 2011, extended to STC. Who wants to bet its in Tory's 2018 election plan?

I have a feeling that will be the biggest transit issue alongside the Stoufville line portion of Smart track. Most likely it is to act as a compromise to either Ford or some right wing rival candidate. Let us wait and see as time unfolds

 

[Cobra]

Sheppard is now the missing link now if this plan is approved by council and Metrolinx.
Interesting that they are calling it "Sheppard Rapid Transit" instead of "Sheppard LRT" like the technology wasn't clear.
I think the Sheppard Subway to STC & Downsview will be the next controversial debate...

Once all the above is finally decided,

1-I'm hoping that DRL (Long Version) is the next project that would receive the most attention from all level of government with the Ontario government who had promised to build it.

2-I think Etobicoke is covered with GO lines, Bloor line, Eglinton LRT and Finch West LRT

3-Waterfront LRT should be a huge priority from Union via City Place and Liberty Village.

4-How about this at the Federal level?
Liberals may pay bigger portion of infrastructure projects
http://thechronicleherald.ca/canada/1334568-liberals-may-pay-bigger-portion-of-infrastructure-projects

Just hoping with don't waste this opportunity to get caught up on decades on transit expansion negligence

 

[drum118]

Scarborough transit rethink a lesson for all of us: James

 

[crs1026]

On a political level, resolving the toxic debate over the Line 2 extension may make the discussion about Sheppard much easier and more straightforward. So maybe the expensive subway is just a price we have to pay to break the deadlock, as dumb as that may be.

What is the big development boom possible at STC? When I look at Google, all I see is industrial (ie employment) land, and suburban housing. I don't see much potential for condo's. In the past, when I have argued for more commercial development out there (so Scarberians don't need to commute downtown at all) the response has been 'nobody wants to locate offices out there'. Has that changed?

EDIT: Today's Star seems to feel that world peace has been achieved. Wonder if this euphoria will continue long enough to get this passed theu Council. If it does, all that further sober second thought will achieve is another round of people trying to undo the decision...ie more spin cycle. We are probably better served by swallowing hard and getting this moving than by trying to slow it down - the opportunity cost of another two years of debate is more than the cost of a potentially unwise subway investment.

- Paul

 

[ILuvTO]

Scarborough transit rethink a lesson for all of us: James

I found James to be a little harsh in his critique of Tory. Tory could have dug his heels in (like Rob Ford) and pushed for heavy rail on the western portion of smart track. But he didn't. He realized it was a mistake and was willing to make a change and do the right thing. That's good leadership. Blaming Tory for the redundancy created by smart track and the previous Scarborough subway plan is absurd. This new plan redeploys the subway further east whcih is a win for Scarborough. I don't get what James is complaining about? Would he have been happier if smart track was never proposed and we went ahead with the previous subway proposal? Some people are never happy it seems.

 

[kEiThZ]

Why don't they use the current GO/SRT corridor {there is lots of space} and continue the Danforth north to the Hydro corridor/greenway and then follow it NE to McCowan and then tunnel {as elevation is not an option along that section of McCowan} north to STC?

I'm going to say because:

1) they want to keep the current SRT running till the subway opens. People forget that shutting down the LRT was a huge political liability which prompted the subway rethink.
2) Smart Track is going to need some room. And this corridor will provide it.
3) This routing gives them flexibility to add stations later. I have no doubt in my mind that more stations are coming. Just not at launch.

 

[kEiThZ]

Scarborough transit rethink a lesson for all of us: James

Where's the criticsm of the original Transit City which was just as much a political exercise (LRT in every ward)?

What critics like James and quite a few left-leaning transit advocates often forget (and then get surprised by....when Ford types get elected) is that the public is just as fed up with long commutes on transit, as they are with the lack of transit. Transit does them no good when it takes 2 hrs to get somewhere. That's how long for example, it takes my mother to get to her downtown job (near Union) from the reaches of Scarborough (Neilson/Finch). 4 hrs per day commuting. And people wonder why folks like her don't show up to transit consultations. She'd take GO if she could afford the double fare. But she can't. She'd live closer to the core, if my dad's business wasn't in Scarboorough and my parent could afford it. They can't So she's commuting 2 hrs each way. Every day.

Now, she never voted for Ford. But lots of people like her did. In my books, Tory at least understand the palpable frustration these voters/commuters/transit users have. And he's doing something to try and address it. That's a lot more than can be said for most of the chattering classes in this city who seem to have utter contempt that people like her won't just accept the LRT that'll save them 15 mins....

 

[kEiThZ]

For the most part I think the new transit plan is an improvement, but one thing I can't quite get over is the absurd distance from Kennedy to Scarborough Centre that will not have any stations in between. So instead of having the subway follow the roads, why not at least have it take the shortest possible route to Scarborough Centre? It might even save enough money on tunnelling costs to put a station at Lawrence & Brimley.

There's a few houses in the way of your diagonal route.....

 

[kEiThZ]

Would he have been happier if smart track was never proposed and we went ahead with the previous subway proposal? Some people are never happy it seems.

Fighting battles after the fact. He'll never be happy till Tory completely adopts Chow's (or really Miller's) transit plan.

That whole mandate from the voters thing is something a lot of people don't really like all that much, when the voters don't vote for their preferred candidate, or the winning candidate doesn't pivot to their desired position. How dare Tory not completely ignore his mandate and adopt all of Chow's ideas?

 

[sixrings]

Fighting battles after the fact. He'll never be happy till Tory completely adopts Chow's (or really Miller's) transit plan.

Actually go back far enough and James did not support Millers Tranist City "Streetcar like" plan either. In fact I think he made it sound like Rob Fords "Subway Subway Subway" mantra made sense right before Ford got elected. I love Christopher Hume but James flip flops so much on stuff he should have enough data to make a intelligent decision on that I wanted to and eventually cancelled my Star subscription.

 

[pman]

There's a few houses in the way of your diagonal route.....

Isn't the standard Toronto argument against diagonal subway alignments that, while they're the norm in other cities, we couldn't possibly do them here because the deeper tunnels lead to station costs that are way too high. Perhaps the new, improved Scarborough subway is different, since there would be no stations between Warden and Scarborough Town Centre. It at least makes sense to consider the possibility that not every tunnelled RT line needs to follow our grid street system.

 

[bobbob911]

I honestly don't see how this enables development of STC - You still need a reason to go there coming from the south west.

However, this new plan is a massive win for anyone who parks at STC to jump on the subway. A straight shot from STC to Kennedy should be well under 10 minutes (maybe approaching 5-6 minutes if they dig a deep straight tunnel). How long does it take to ride the RT end to end right now? (excluding the transfer at Kennedy)

 

[ILuvTO]

The way all of this has played out makes me think Tory has been in cahoots with Metrolinx going back to before the election. Why Tory cares about people in Markham/Unionville/Mississauga is not something I really understand as the east and west portion of smart track have no direct benefit to Toronto voters. It appears that Tory has bought into the amalgamated 416/905 transit vision and is leveraging his mayoral mandate to help move it along. With that said, it is an overall win for Toronto residents as they get more transit bang for their buck, obvious issues aside (like the lack of Lawrence stop).

 

[raptor]

Executive Agenda Item posted:
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2016.EX11.5

 

[44 North]

For the most part I think the new transit plan is an improvement, but one thing I can't quite get over is the absurd distance from Kennedy to Scarborough Centre that will not have any stations in between. So instead of having the subway follow the roads, why not at least have it take the shortest possible route to Scarborough Centre? It might even save enough money on tunnelling costs to put a station at Lawrence & Brimley.

View attachment 64540

I'd support this, and I would love if the city gave this as a routing option for us to weigh its benefits. In case you weren't aware this alignment actually is a former rail line (Canadian Northern Railway). One issue though is that since it was obliterated and developed decades ago, the City/TTC would have to obtain subsurface property rights from all the homeowners along the route. However, since the subway would only travel under the backyards, and not the buildings themselves, this could be possible I think. So yeah, the alignment is there, and it's a straight shot from Kennedy Stn to McCowan. It should be looked at imo.