That brings up the question though at what point in the project is it appropriate to say "don't touch it!"?
Eglinton has been planned for years, environmental assessments done, design has been done, financing is in place and real work is slated to start in the new year. Touching it significantly will add large delays and likely extra costs. But is it still appropriate to change things?
Sheppard has done all of the above and is actually building something. Is that an appropriate time to still change things?
What if we were another year into Sheppard work, would that still be an appropriate time to change things?
Basically my question is, how late is too late to change things?
The three big questions are:
1) How will these changes impact the overall timeline of the project?
2) How will these changes impact the TMP at large?
3) Are these changes a modification, or a complete re-do?
If the changes don't significantly affect the timeline of the project (ie chopping off at-grade Eglinton East), don't have a devastating impact on the transit plan at-large (ie keeping transit on the same corridor), and are changes that don't require a complete re-do (ie running BRT instead of LRT in an in-median corridor, it doesn't significantly change the current plan), then I think the "too late" is still quite a ways away.
Is it possible to build the Eglinton tunnel and to scrap the surface section without significantly altering the project timeline? Absolutely. Is it possible to convert the SELRT to a BRT corridor in order to shift funds around to a different part of the project? Absolutely.
Realistically, a BRT along Sheppard can operate while the delay in getting the subway extension to VP is being worked out. The subway is not a prerequisite for the BRT being operational. Same thing with the SRT. It can be in operation while the subway is being built (whether it will last that long is a different debate, but with some repairs it can be stretched to 2018ish).
If the proposed changes answer the questions above with "barely", "barely", and "modification", then I see no reason why these changes are "too late".