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jazz/rap fusion...Toronto music scene in the 80's...interesting to say the least. They used that tune as the theme for the original "Speaker's Corner".

Makes ya wanna here Mark Dailey say..."This is CityTv....EVERYWHERE!!" just one more time.

Ok, nostalgia officially kicking in.
 
Big Daddy said:
OK so making the street 20 to 40 feet wider improves the street experience? And adding the streetcar "bump" in the middle of the dtreet is of no consequence? Then why is it that the shop owners and people who live in the area hate it? I mean, really, what do they know?
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Umm... what? I live on Spadina and I think it's great. I can get anywhere on the Spadina streetcar when necessary quite quickly and never have to worry about traffic.
 
Big Daddy said:
OK so making the street 20 to 40 feet wider improves the street experience? And adding the streetcar "bump" in the middle of the dtreet is of no consequence? Then why is it that the shop owners and people who live in the area hate it? I mean, really, what do they know?
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It's not as though they widened the street by pushing the buildings further apart. What they did is provide some relief to the 6 lane freeway that Spadina used to be, while improving transit, vehicular traffic, and the pedestrian realm.
 
Big Daddy's was such a ridiculous statement to make.

I live on Spadina and LOVE the streetcar. Everyone I've ever met who lives or works in Spadina or in the vicinity loves it as well. Frankly I wouldn't have moved where I did if that streetcar didn't run where it does.

The big problem with Spadina is not Spadina itself but the fact that the streets directly east and west of it south of Queen are pedestrian and bike unfriendly arterials.

Biking down Peter or John streets is a nightmare, and I have to do so almost every day. Does anyone know a non-dangerous biking route from Beverly to Front St.?
 
RC8 said:
Big Daddy's was such a ridiculous statement to make.

I live on Spadina and LOVE the streetcar. Everyone I've ever met who lives or works in Spadina or in the vicinity loves it as well. Frankly I wouldn't have moved where I did if that streetcar didn't run where it does.

The big problem with Spadina is not Spadina itself but the fact that the streets directly east and west of it south of Queen are pedestrian and bike unfriendly arterials.

Biking down Peter or John streets is a nightmare, and I have to do so almost every day. Does anyone know a non-dangerous biking route from Beverly to Front St.?
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I live on Spadina and don't like the streetcar, but not for the reasons big daddy mentioned. Mine has to do with the efficiency of the route. Way too many stops, too close together and too many red lights. The short turns at King are also a pain in the bum since I live south of King.

PS. Portland Street would be good to bike down.
 
RC8 said:
Biking down Peter or John streets is a nightmare, and I have to do so almost every day. Does anyone know a non-dangerous biking route from Beverly to Front St.?
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nightmare? it's not that bad. if you'd like to experience nightmarish cycling try biking to brampton.
 
ProjectEnd said:
Two days and no response from the Biggest Daddy. I'd say its safe to assume he's dining on some tasty Corvus.
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Wow, two days?? Imagine, not spending all your free time on UT.

Frankly I didn't expect such a ruckus over a comment on streetcars. "Corvus"? really?

I happen to believe that major transit lines should be underground and not in the middle of the street. My point was that perhaps the road allowance could have been reduced if the line was underground and Spadina Ave could be a little narrower and more intimate and not resemble a runway for the A380.
 
The funny thing is, the least urban and intimate part of the route is where the roadway and traffic is the highest speed - and that has nothing to do with the streetcar ROW.

AoD
 
I happen to believe that major transit lines should be underground and not in the middle of the street. My point was that perhaps the road allowance could have been reduced if the line was underground and Spadina Ave could be a little narrower and more intimate and not resemble a runway for the A380.
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Spadina isn't a "major transit line"....it's a short LRT line. Putting LRT underground isn't cost effective. We're lucky they spent the $105 million to put in what we got. Surely you aren't suggesting that Spadina should have built as a heavy rail subway (even if we had a $billion to do it)?

The problem with Spadina, is they accommodated cars too much. They should have NEVER built the left-hand turn lanes with delayed greens. They should have killed one lane each way, and widened the sidewalks and installed bike lanes. Spadina is a prime example where cars should have had their asses kicked. But hey, this city is still not prepared to face that reality, so it was what we got...or nothing. I'll take what we got.

A lot of the problems on Spadina is an unavoidable fact of logistics on such a busy downtown corridor. Spacing stops further apart won't help anything....traffic light priority won't work either. What Spadina needs is those big new streetcars.
 
freshcutgrass said:
Spadina isn't a "major transit line"....it's a short LRT line. Putting LRT underground isn't cost effective. We're lucky they spent the $105 million to put in what we got. Surely you aren't suggesting that Spadina should have built as a heavy rail subway (even if we had a $billion to do it)?

The problem with Spadina, is they accommodated cars too much. They should have NEVER built the left-hand turn lanes with delayed greens. They should have killed one lane each way, and widened the sidewalks and installed bike lanes. Spadina is a prime example where cars should have had their asses kicked. But hey, this city is still not prepared to face that reality, so it was what we got...or nothing. I'll take what we got.

A lot of the problems on Spadina is an unavoidable fact of logistics on such a busy downtown corridor. Spacing stops further apart won't help anything....traffic light priority won't work either. What Spadina needs is those big new streetcars.
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Big new streetcars wont make a difference if you are stoping at every light and every 2 blocks for a station.
 
a0th said:
nightmare? it's not that bad. if you'd like to experience nightmarish cycling try biking to brampton.
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It's clearly not THAT bad if I do it on a semi-daily basis, but I've almost gotten killed three times by speeding cab drivers or irresponsible drivers.

Portland might be marginally better, but I need to cross the railways. Can't wait til the new bridge opens, then I can give it a serious try.
 
Big new streetcars wont make a difference if you are stoping at every light and every 2 blocks for a station.
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Higher capacity vehicles will mean less bunching and lower dwell times because of better loading/unloading design (more doors, low floor). Larger vehicles will allow for longer headways, which may allow them to start using signal priority. It will also make the line a bit more cost-efficient too, as fewer vehicles (operators) will be needed for the same or increased capacity. This may also allow them to increase service south of King.

This won't solve all the problems, but it will make a noticeable improvement. Every bit helps.
 
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