Really, there is nothing in the way??? What do you call that tower at the west end of the trail tracks as well what going to be built next to the Corridor beyond that tower and how do you get around them?
You know TTC cannot build in CP corridor nor will be allow to have an elevated line in it? You know also, CP hasn't sold the corridor to Metrolinx nor plan on doing so.
You do know that there isn't a business case for the line from Cloverdale to Sherway, other than politics. The idea of the line going to Dixie was based on CP allowing TTC to do so that die in 2006 when Metrolinx was formed as well never having a leg to stand on in the first place.
With TTC planning on built a new yard complex to replace Greenwood on the south of CP corridor and Hydro Ontario Lands, that the extension to it from Kipling will have to be by a tunnel.
A subway station at Cloverdale solves all TTC problems at Kipling as well for all the transit systems using Kipling today. It does add another GO station to the line, but no big deal as there should be a few more in Toronto for that line.
The Cloverdale station saves everyone time and money. It eliminates all the deadheading to/from Kipling for all transit system to the point a bus or 2 can be remove per route to adding more service at the same cost today. For riders, it gets them to/from where they want to go to in the first place a lot faster. Land is already sit a side for a subway station as well a transit hub.
An LRT is the best option for the Queensway, but both TTC and the City keep shooting it down. Same for Kipling itself.
Based on ridership and future development on Dundas in Mississauga, and LRT is all you are going to need starting with an BRT. An LRT will only work from Kipling if it is underground as Hydro Ontario doesn't want it under their wires.
Having 2way/all day on the Milton Line will have an impact how people will use transit with good quality of service as well go hand in hand with subway as both service different markets though they may run side by side for a short distance.
Because Etobicoke is low density, the best you will see for it is buses and LRT.
There is no business case for Line 2 to go south to Long Branch. Browns Line is a line between 2 cities that low density on both sides of the city line as well on the Lake Shore as well.
If one looks at Frankfurt Metro System, it more an LRT system than a subway. We watch Line 4 & 7 that ends on the surface at a transit hub for sometime and ridership was low as well for the first few stations before going underground. There is a huge major shopping mall only 2 blocks away. Service is every 10 minutes for each line.
You are right, building a subway traditionally to Sherway would not be worth the cost. The primary point I am trying to convey is that
burying a Line 2 extension West should not be considered except perhaps at the mall terminus- take your pick of which. Note firstly though that I don't see a huge functional difference between Sherway, Cloverdale, etc- these are primarily suburban mall trip generators, each with their own connectivity merits. Cloverdale as you mentioned could relieve some buses at Kipling, and that is a point in its favor. You could stop there, but my premise revolves around the cost-effective options for extending in this area- going all the way to Sherway should be doable in the CP corridor and/or hydro corridor with minimal grade separations.
I should clarify some of my assumptions. I am aware they cannot build in the CP corridor to a significant degree, but the existing Line 2 does exactly this, and there are constant ruminations of adding trackage for GO in some far-off AD2W Milton line. Thus I cannot foresee it being a problem for another few kms before it splits off towards Sherway. Also, I assumed the hydro corridor was originally reserved for Line 2 many moons ago. Whether or not that is the case now with Hydro One there, it is not an impossible task to bury the hydro lines for the short section to Sherway if need be. Every time burying hydro lines is discussed, it is usually about the big hydro corridors like Finch that are significantly larger and important to the overall system (feel free to correct me here, but this is obviously a smaller segment). Ie, the cost of burying
those is high, but a smaller segment like this should be more palatable. The headache of working with these other stakeholders should be worth it, e
specially as opposed to the alternative, which is obviously going to be a bored tunnel. Really it could be built cut-and-cover to Cloverdale, Sherway or even Long Branch, but that is not the Toronto way.
Now, my point of a Sherway extension hinges upon any form of Queensway RT. This should help remind us that this is effectively fantasy talk. In regards to Long Branch, this is a discussion directly concerning connecting different transit lines in southern Etobicoke and has little to do with how transit supportive the community is (which it is very, given its prewar density). I precisely said that is not worth the cost, only that it offers connectivity benefits. That connectivity would be better served by LRT, or as you mentioned, BRT- hence my point that LRTs would be better for closing the n/s gaps in Southern Etobicoke. I will reiterate that any connection would primarily serve the network benefits of connecting Kipling, Lakeshore W, and the WWLRT even if the population present doesn't merit it. This is Toronto for crying out loud- strong connectivity is the entire reason we have suburban subways.
Oh, and maybe it's just me, but I do try to keep in mind that there is going to eventually be some kind of 427-Pearson link to Kipling. Somehow, the Ontario Line will close this gap (I would be shocked if it didn't). Any buildout of this should contemplate extending Line 2 if Sherway or Cloverdale if they present themselves as a better transfer point on a cost basis or otherwise.