News   Apr 29, 2024
 235     0 
News   Apr 26, 2024
 2.8K     5 
News   Apr 26, 2024
 789     0 

GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

Practically speaking, what might grade separation works in Streetsville actually look like? I’m counting four at-grade crossings: Mississauga Road, Thomas, Tannery, and Ontario St.

Are we talking tunnelling? An overpass? There’s not a lot of distance between the GO platform and Mississauga Rd, nor Thomas.
Mississauga Road will be tricky and expensive, as it's a pretty busy North-South street and the track is on a curve as it intersects with the road. There will likely need to be property acquisition and track realignments.
Thomas Street won't be cheap either but it's a pretty straight stretch of track and should be fairly straightforward.
As for Tannery and Ontario, I'm pretty sure grade separations aren't necessary for these crossings. I'm skeptical (as a nearby resident) that Tannery has the traffic necessary to warrant a grade separation, especially if we're talking just 1 train per hour.
Ontario shouldn't be grade separated, there's only 23 houses on the other side of the tracks, it would be cheaper to literally give each property owner a million dollars than it would be to do a grade separation. I could see a pedestrian bridge for Dolphin PS students with the crossing closed for vehicles like the plans for some LSW grade crossings in Lakeview.
 
Mississauga Road will be tricky and expensive, as it's a pretty busy North-South street and the track is on a curve as it intersects with the road. There will likely need to be property acquisition and track realignments.
Thomas Street won't be cheap either but it's a pretty straight stretch of track and should be fairly straightforward.
As for Tannery and Ontario, I'm pretty sure grade separations aren't necessary for these crossings. I'm skeptical (as a nearby resident) that Tannery has the traffic necessary to warrant a grade separation, especially if we're talking just 1 train per hour.
Ontario shouldn't be grade separated, there's only 23 houses on the other side of the tracks, it would be cheaper to literally give each property owner a million dollars than it would be to do a grade separation. I could see a pedestrian bridge for Dolphin PS students with the crossing closed for vehicles like the plans for some LSW grade crossings in Lakeview.

If the plan is only hourly service, then I agree with your comments. But if indeed the line is to have 2WAD at 15 minute or better headways, with freight as well, and up to 4 tracks to cross, we are getting closer to Weston 2.0.
I'm not saying we should go there but I expect the community may have things to say.

- Paul
 
If the plan is only hourly service, then I agree with your comments. But if indeed the line is to have 2WAD at 15 minute or better headways, with freight as well, and up to 4 tracks to cross, we are getting closer to Weston 2.0.
I'm not saying we should go there but I expect the community may have things to say.

- Paul
I'm very much expecting Streetsville GO as well as Lisgar to be included in the TOC program with the absolutely gargantuan surface parking lots at stations. I have literally never once seen the Streetsville lot more than half-full, and this was when I was in the Cadet program, when the lot was being used for the Bread & Honey Festival as well as Santa Claus Parade. I think the platforms should be located closer to Thomas Street, but that would entail new pedestrian tunnels etc. so probably not happening.
The Streetsville Centre Plaza is being redeveloped with a massive amount of new density, so I would hope that the developers would have some sense and negotiate with the community to pick up some of the tab for grade separations required, especially if Tannery is included.
I still don't see a scenario where Metrolinx agrees to grade separate Ontario Street though, I would be very surprised if that crossing sees more than 100 vehicles per day. I do think a pedestrian bridge would be a good idea as students would need to cross the tracks, but vehicle access through Tannery should be sufficient, if not popular.
 
Is this commitment to the Milton Line money for building the "missing middle" via Brampton allowing GO to own the entire Milton/MidTown Line or just adding tracks to the Milton Line to allow for more GO service?
 
Is this commitment to the Milton Line money for building the "missing middle" via Brampton allowing GO to own the entire Milton/MidTown Line or just adding tracks to the Milton Line to allow for more GO service?

Adding tracks to the existing Milton Line corridor. No indication is very unlikely it would be a freight by-pass between Bramalea and Milton.
 
I'm very much expecting Streetsville GO as well as Lisgar to be included in the TOC program with the absolutely gargantuan surface parking lots at stations. I have literally never once seen the Streetsville lot more than half-full, and this was when I was in the Cadet program, when the lot was being used for the Bread & Honey Festival as well as Santa Claus Parade. I think the platforms should be located closer to Thomas Street, but that would entail new pedestrian tunnels etc. so probably not happening.
The Streetsville Centre Plaza is being redeveloped with a massive amount of new density, so I would hope that the developers would have some sense and negotiate with the community to pick up some of the tab for grade separations required, especially if Tannery is included.
I still don't see a scenario where Metrolinx agrees to grade separate Ontario Street though, I would be very surprised if that crossing sees more than 100 vehicles per day. I do think a pedestrian bridge would be a good idea as students would need to cross the tracks, but vehicle access through Tannery should be sufficient, if not popular.
If this is subbing for a prospective Mississauga subway, I think we should be willing to spend to relocate stations/access to future-proof as much as possible and streamline integration with transit on major streets. Cooksville and Erindale are already well-located. Dixie GO could stand to have the platforms moved closer to Dixie. Add a stop at Cawthra, protect for one at Mavis (though the area is quite industrial), a stop near Eglinton, protect for a station at Britannia, move Meadowvale closer to Derry (there is a self-storage business that could be redeveloped as part of a TOC), relocate Lisgar to Winston Churchill, add a stop at Ninth Line. We should try to align the GO stations with arterials that can be used to funnel bus passengers onto the line to make transfers quicker and have buses spend less time diverting. I expect Mississauga will be developing a BRT/BRT lite network on many of these arterials.

While we're spending $6B, and before a lot of redevelopment happens, is probably the right time to align the stations to support future growth.
 
If this is subbing for a prospective Mississauga subway, I think we should be willing to spend to relocate stations/access to future-proof as much as possible and streamline integration with transit on major streets. Cooksville and Erindale are already well-located. Dixie GO could stand to have the platforms moved closer to Dixie. Add a stop at Cawthra, protect for one at Mavis (though the area is quite industrial), a stop near Eglinton, protect for a station at Britannia, move Meadowvale closer to Derry (there is a self-storage business that could be redeveloped as part of a TOC), relocate Lisgar to Winston Churchill, add a stop at Ninth Line. We should try to align the GO stations with arterials that can be used to funnel bus passengers onto the line to make transfers quicker and have buses spend less time diverting. I expect Mississauga will be developing a BRT/BRT lite network on many of these arterials.

While we're spending $6B, and before a lot of redevelopment happens, is probably the right time to align the stations to support future growth.
If cooksville was further south and closer to Dundas I would say it’s in a good location or if cooksville was further north and closer to burnamthorpe I would say it’s in a good location. Yes it’s on hurontario but it’s neither here nor there. It’s not the best location.
 
If cooksville was further south and closer to Dundas I would say it’s in a good location or if cooksville was further north and closer to burnamthorpe I would say it’s in a good location. Yes it’s on hurontario but it’s neither here nor there. It’s not the best location.
The tweaks are all well and good, but I think it’s probably more important to make a decision early and definitely as to whether an MCC diversion is intended, on the table now or not.
 
If cooksville was further south and closer to Dundas I would say it’s in a good location or if cooksville was further north and closer to burnamthorpe I would say it’s in a good location. Yes it’s on hurontario but it’s neither here nor there. It’s not the best location.
I'm assuming a diversion from the CP corridor is not in the cards. At least, not for a $6B price tag.
 
Hold on!

6.2B; for a line with no tunnels, no elevated structure except for bridges over roads; arguably no new rolling stock required, and only a smidge of land acquisition at one or two pinch points.

You must be kidding me!

Seriously, I won't throw around an accusation of grift without evidence but I'll be damned if I can think of any other explanation. That estimate better include a tunnel to Square One!
If you consider the approx $30 billion price tag for GO RER early works and on-corr project, that comes about to $6 billion per line. Granted some of the amount is for Union expansion and not for the lines themselves. If Milton line is being electrified with 2WAD with addition of two new tracks and maybe some payments to CP, then $6.2 billion doesn't sound off.

For the other 5 lines, GO already owns most of the track and they are not adding 2 new tracks across the entire length of these corridors.
 
Well, the Federal government isn’t gonna pony up, so no one needs to concern themselves too much about this :p
They'll probably pony up when they sense a Federal election is about to be called and by that time they'll "pledge" money. Then they'll go and get defeated in the election, a new party will come to office and the promise will magically go away.

It's the same song and dance, so i'm not holding my breath anything happens with the Milton Line asides from minor improvements.
 

Back
Top