LAz
Active Member
It's not an issue of keeping it elevated or not. Most of the SRT is not elevated today. The issue is capacity. The SRT is over-crowded leaving STC. That's the second station. In such a scenario it makes sense to extend the subway to bring capacity to STC.
Also, by elevating the extension, it's forced the planners to skip very important intersections like Bellamy, Markham and Milner. Markham has one of the busiest bus routes in Scarborough. Milner is one of the busiest bus routes out of Malvern and the corridor intersects Milner at Milner Business Court, a potential major trip generator and possible site for TOD. Elevating the line isn't a problem per se. It's only an issue when that choice impacts service and forces the line to skip major trip generators.
Correct moi if moi is wrong...
but the RT has its own right of way, does not stop and does not impede auto traffic along its route.
With the huge costs of tunneling, I think that it would be best to maintain a metro at ground level and elevated level. This would in effect bring the metro to scarborough without tunneling.
Like I mentioned before, the Chicago brown line uderwent a long "capacity expansion program". I don't see why the RT could not do the same - it would be much cheaper than to tunnel. That money is needed elsewhere, to extend the sheppard line for example.
If the line is extended beyond McCowan, it could then go underground. The thing is that the RT is above ground already, and so why spend so much money to move what we have underground? Just fix it up a bit instead.