King Street (Streetcar Transit Priority)

[Juan_Lennon416]

No King streetcars during TIFF so move on. Even a left-wing Council and Mayor would agree to that.

 

[steveintoronto]

What is considered "majority wish" is not always the right thing.

"Let them eat cake..."

There is no "Left Wing Council" save from the viewpoint of right wing radicals and Genghis Kant.(sic)

As to the "Left Wing" in general...seems you're out of luck there too:

https://www.blogto.com/city/2017/09/toronto-complaints-tiff-king-west-ttc/

 

[Juan_Lennon416]

"Let them eat cake..."

Nope, nope...Nope!

 

[drum118]

I don't support the closing of King for a few movie goers or star watching, since there more transit riders using this area than for the movie folks. If you are doing the pilot project correct, then do it right!!! The restaurant next to the eastbound stop at Bathurst is sitting up a patio in the curb lane.

May 17
I found I shot a photo of that motorcyclist driver who was getting a ticket with 4464 passing him as I get near the end of photos I shot that day. Could have more officers on site and still miss drivers with cars going illegal in both direction for this location.

 

[steveintoronto]

^When I was down there Friday, more cars were going through the lights than not. And not a cop to be seen. Enforcement and compliance are in abatement it seems. Until the Breakfast at TIFFany's Festival opens. Then they'll be everywhere, making sure no dang commuting common-types can get through.

The G20 was just a warm-up...Who do these citizens think they are? "This isn't Canada anymore".

"Now Mr Perks, what kind of Champagne do you prefer?"

 

[TransitBart]

Re TIFF. The planning process which allowed the TIFF Bell Lightbox overlookred the need for a large outdoor space adjacent to the building. That such a space is a large (closed) urban thoroughfare is ridiculous. The only solution is building the festival yet another home in a location with space not on King. East Harbour on Smart Track route, anyone?

 

[steveintoronto]

The only solution is building the festival yet another home in a location with space not on King. East Harbour on Smart Track route, anyone?

I don't see why. That's what they want you to think.

Let's review the history:

Evolution of the Entertainment District

By CHRISTOPHER HUMEStar Columnist
Fri., Aug. 26, 2011

[...]
Which brings us to the John Street Cultural Corridor, a scheme that would pedestrianize John from Grange Park and the Art Gallery of Ontario south to the Rogers Centre and beyond that to the waterfront.

Though the silence has been deafening, the president of the Entertainment District Business Improvement Association, Janice Solomon, says the project is alive and well.

“You have to go through the boring stuff first,” she insists. “It’s halfway through the environmental assessment and we hope it will go to city council this fall. It will be a destination street that links all the different elements.”

As for the arrival of TIFF, Solomon says it’s still too early to tell exactly how the changes will play out.

“It’s only coming up a year,” she notes. “Having TIFF headquartered here is good not just for the neighbourhood but for the whole city. The cultural side of things encompasses everybody, not just young people who gravitate to the area on Friday and Saturday night. But part of our effort is to keep a nightlife. We’re emerging as a 24/7 centre.”

As for that most elusive of factors, glamour, it, alas, cannot be planned or manufactured, let alone guaranteed. Otherwise, why would Yorkville ever have been considered glamorous? And yet it was, and still is. Could it be that one element of glamour is a touch of tackiness? Yorkville certainly has enough of that, too. By contrast, the Entertainment District was always more gritty than glamorous. That has changed, of course. Yorkville may be hot, but King and John is cool.

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2011/08/26/evolution_of_the_entertainment_district.html

The original intention was always to put the festival on John, not King. Greedy liddle fugs don't just want their desserts, they want everybody else's too.

There's no shortage of articles with even the locals highly upset about this:

King Street West closure: was it the right decision?
TTC 'had concerns' about diverting busy 504 King streetcar for Toronto International Film Festival
CBC News · Posted: Sep 05, 2014 9:12 AM ET | Last Updated: September 5, 2014

The Toronto International Film Festival has closed a section of King Street West to traffic from University Avenue to Peter Street. Streetcars will divert around this section of King during the closure, which ends on Monday. (Charlsie Agro/CBC)
[...]
Here's what some people were saying on Twitter about the closure:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/king-street-west-closure-was-it-the-right-decision-1.2756634

Notice something peculiar about the street layout in the pic posted above? It looks almost exactly like what the Transit Mall was intended to be, save for a few inches too close to the tracks.

There is absolutely no reason that TIFF Festival can't be held in the current space with streetcars still running and John Street be closed and used for any events needing to use road space not suffice on King.

Edit to Add: Too rushed to detail further at this time, but here's the Bait and Switch:

John Street Corridor Improvements – City of Toronto
https://www.toronto.ca › ... › Ongoing Infrastructure & Construction Projects
The City of Toronto is working to transform John Street into a “cultural corridor” by redesigning the streetscape between Front Street and Stephanie Street.
John Street Cultural Corridor - Update - Councillor Joe Cressy - Ward 20
www.joecressy.com/john_street_cultural_corridor_update
John Street Cultural Corridor - Update. posted by Joe Cressy on March 24, 2017. Downtown communities like ours face unique challenges and countless ...
John Street Cultural Corridor project gains $40M in funding | The Star
https://www.thestar.com › News › GTA
Apr 17, 2017 - The John Street Cultural Corridor project was a decade in the making. The consultations and designs have been completed, and formal ...
john street cultural corridor | Urban Toronto
urbantoronto.ca/news/tags/john-street-cultural-corridor
The John Street sidewalk outside of the Festival Tower condominium atop the TIFF Bell Lightbox now looks a lot more complete with the installation of a ...
John Street pedestrian corridor project secures $40M in funding ...
https://www.cp24.com/.../john-street-pedestrian-corridor-project-secures-40m-in-fundin...
Apr 18, 2017 - Plans for a new pedestrian-friendly promenade along John Street are expected to move forward now ... John Street, Cultural corridor project.
City of Toronto's plans to turn John Street into a "Cultural Corridor ...
dailyhive.com/toronto/toronto-john-street-redevelopment-2017
Apr 19, 2017 - The City of Toronto is set to move forward on a plan to turn John Street into a "cultural corridor" – a move that's been 10 years in the making.

[...]The proposal stretches from Rogers Centre to the south (Front St.) to the AGO to the north (Stephanie St.). Other cultural institutions along John include the CBC building at Wellington, Metro Hall at King and the Bell Media building at Queen.

The John Street Corridor project would widen sidewalks and boulevards, install new public art, add additional trees and lighting and introduce innovative road design to calm traffic. The aim is to create a street that can easily host cultural events throughout the year.

The plan would also reduce traffic to one lane each way, and Cressy knows there will be objections.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...al-corridor-project-gains-40m-in-funding.html

 

[dowlingm]

I try to get bidirecitonals, but the Chair of TTC had no use for them back in 2005.

Not only would they work for TIFF, but other issues where you can end up with a convoy of 10 plus sitting dead in the water for hours. There should be crossovers every X distance to deal with shut down of the line.

The LFs have rear controls to deal with your second scenario - presumably is possible to reverse now on the panto routes. I agree that there are some advantages in being able to create non-loop terminals though.

 

[dowlingm]

TTC does not want it but the Revenue Services Department of the City of Toronto does. Guess who wins that battle unfortunately?

What does this even mean? The diversion is going to cost TTC in fares lost and in extra running time on the 504/514. Maybe the answer is this: intermix the 504/514/503/502 similar to what is contemplated* for the Broadview works:

504A Dundas West-King-divert-Queen-divert back-King-Cherry (LF)
504B Springhurst Loop-Queen/Dufferin-divert-King-Broadview (LF)
504C/502 Springhurst Loop-Queen/Dufferin-Bingham Loop (bus?)
503 Spadina Loop-Bingham Loop (CLRV)

(* See Steve Munro's blog post on the 504A/B/C proposed for the Broadview Avenue works after the June 24 board change: https://stevemunro.ca/2018/05/20/ttc-service-changes-effective-sunday-june-24-2018/)

 

[DSC]

Re TIFF. The planning process which allowed the TIFF Bell Lightbox overlookred the need for a large outdoor space adjacent to the building. That such a space is a large (closed) urban thoroughfare is ridiculous. The only solution is building the festival yet another home in a location with space not on King. East Harbour on Smart Track route, anyone?

What on earth are you talking about? The TIFF site is where it is because the site was donated (or sold at low cost?) by the Reitman family. It is the kind of place that needs to be right downtown so moving it to East Harbour really makes no sense. That's not to say that I think they should be allowed to close King to all transit for the festival. At least on weekdays King should be open to transit ONLY during both morning and afternoon rush-hours.

 

[TransitBart]

That is my point. King should be open. It's kinda dopey to be closing a major transit artery for something that while grand and special in Toronto is still a tiny niche event in most people's lives.

 

[W. K. Lis]

If they just let ONLY the streetcars through during TIFF, as a test of how the King Street pilot should be done.

 

[pman]

Much as I love Melbourne, I’m amazed at how slowly their trams run, even though they’re on their own rights of way.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Much as I love Melbourne, I’m amazed at how slowly their trams run, even though they’re on their own rights of way.

It's because Melbourne is like the TTC, they are too cautious. Just like New York City's MTA is too cautious with its subway trains. See link.

The intentional slowing of trains is traced back to a 1995 J train crash that killed the a conductor and injured dozens more. After that, Gordon writes, the MTA hit the brakes. Maximum train speeds were reduced from around 55 mph to 40 mph. Speed limits were also introduced, along with consequences for breaking them. In some cases, if speeds limits aren’t met, a train’s brakes are automatically tripped. Recovering from that can take one to ten minutes, Gordon writes, and the transgression is noted in a conductor’s performance file.

That affects not just the conductors that have to sit in time-out for going too fast, but those who intentionally go very slow to avoid the punishment. Speed regulations around track work are also more stringent than they used to be, the report notes, requiring trains to move at a glacial speed as they near a work site.

Safety over-rides speed. Even if they could do so safely.

 

[TheKingEast]

That is my point. King should be open. It's kinda dopey to be closing a major transit artery for something that while grand and special in Toronto is still a tiny niche event in most people's lives.

This is what Toronto does. They close down major streets and highways for all kinds of reasons. For a city that is so terrible when it comes to transit, you why they would do such a thing?