Metrolinx holding first of 4 public meetings on Ontario Line

[canada-man]

Metrolinx officials will be holding their first of four public meetings on the proposed Ontario Line.

The first meeting will be held at the Ontario Science Centre, the proposed end of the 15-stop transit line, on Thursday night.

The provincial government announced plans for the new transit project while the City of Toronto was still planning a separate downtown relief line.

Back in October, the city agreed to support the Ontario Line if the province stopped their push to take ownership of the subway.

The Ontario Line would run 16 kilometres from Ontario Place to the Science Centre, with connections to Line 1 of the TTC at Osgoode and Queen and Line 2 at Pape station. It also includes stops in the densely populated areas of Queen and Spadina and King and Bathurst intersections.

The transit project is expected to cost $11 billion and the Ontario government said they believe it will take 8 years to complete.

Residents in the area are invited to participate in the public meetings to learn more and ask questions.

The other three will be held next week at Ryerson University’s Tecumseh Auditorium on Monday, the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto’s Social Hall on Tuesday and Exhibition Place’s Beanfield Centre Wednesday. All the sessions will run from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Those who can’t make the public sessions are also able to email ontarioline@metrolinx.com.


https://www.680news.com/2020/01/23/metrolinx-public-meetings-ontario-line/

 

[2big2frail]

Smoke and mirrors. This thing isn't going to get built. The thing is completely useless since it will be nearly at capacity once it opens. Bring back the fucking relief subway you asshats!

 

[Grimnul]

This sort of shit really frustrates me because Toronto desperately needs a better subway system. What we had was ok 30 years ago when the city was much smaller, but it hasn’t kept up with the city’s growth and these idiot council members keep shutting down new subway projects because they’re too expensive, opting instead for bandaid solutions like more streetcars or LRT that will be completely inadequate and need to be replaced in a couple years. Seems to me like if they just bit the bullet and put in the subway expansions that we actually need, it’d probably be way cheaper in the long run than building stuff we don’t really need every few years in a vain attempt to pick up the slack.

Our subway is so completely inadequate compared to basically every other major city in the world. Tokyo has a subway with over a dozen lines, plus above ground trains with another dozen or so lines. You’re literally within a couple blocks of a train or subway station at all times. Here, we essentially just have an X and Y axis, plus a few little offshoots that don’t really go anywhere terribly important. If you need to go anywhere else in the city, you have to take a train, transfer to a bus, and then maybe transfer to another bus after that. It’s insane. It’s like being back in the 80s.

 

[black booty lover]

Our subway is so completely inadequate compared to basically every other major city in the world. .

Your probably right, but there are some exceptions. Try traveling by public transit in L.A

 

[Boober69]

This sort of shit really frustrates me because Toronto desperately needs a better subway system. What we had was ok 30 years ago when the city was much smaller, but it hasn’t kept up with the city’s growth and these idiot council members keep shutting down new subway projects because they’re too expensive, opting instead for bandaid solutions like more streetcars or LRT that will be completely inadequate and need to be replaced in a couple years. Seems to me like if they just bit the bullet and put in the subway expansions that we actually need, it’d probably be way cheaper in the long run than building stuff we don’t really need every few years in a vain attempt to pick up the slack.

Our subway is so completely inadequate compared to basically every other major city in the world. Tokyo has a subway with over a dozen lines, plus above ground trains with another dozen or so lines. You’re literally within a couple blocks of a train or subway station at all times. Here, we essentially just have an X and Y axis, plus a few little offshoots that don’t really go anywhere terribly important. If you need to go anywhere else in the city, you have to take a train, transfer to a bus, and then maybe transfer to another bus after that. It’s insane. It’s like being back in the 80s.

I agree.
The unfortunate part is that when Rob Ford was pushing for subways, people hated him so much that they overlooked the fact that subways would be the right way to go for a city like Toronto.
Now what do we have? Nothing.
Where did all the money go for transit over the past 30-40 years?

What is being built now are streetcars sold as "The Crosstown" to mask the fact that it's old style public transportation not suitable for the climate in Toronto. (that's why the tracks and supporting concrete need to be replaced so often).

And then rather than putting the tracks along side the curb, they put them in the middle lanes so that traffic in the curb lanes also has to stop whenever the streetcar does, effectively creating a traffic nightmare on those routes.
It's sad.

 

[explorerzip]

This sort of shit really frustrates me because Toronto desperately needs a better subway system. What we had was ok 30 years ago when the city was much smaller, but it hasn’t kept up with the city’s growth and these idiot council members keep shutting down new subway projects because they’re too expensive, opting instead for bandaid solutions like more streetcars or LRT that will be completely inadequate and need to be replaced in a couple years. Seems to me like if they just bit the bullet and put in the subway expansions that we actually need, it’d probably be way cheaper in the long run than building stuff we don’t really need every few years in a vain attempt to pick up the slack.

Our subway is so completely inadequate compared to basically every other major city in the world. Tokyo has a subway with over a dozen lines, plus above ground trains with another dozen or so lines. You’re literally within a couple blocks of a train or subway station at all times. Here, we essentially just have an X and Y axis, plus a few little offshoots that don’t really go anywhere terribly important. If you need to go anywhere else in the city, you have to take a train, transfer to a bus, and then maybe transfer to another bus after that. It’s insane. It’s like being back in the 80s.

The transit system in 1990 (30 years ago) wasn't so great either. Sadly, us voters are to blame for it. We prioritized low property taxes over maintaining the system let alone expand it. We're so badly far behind that all new projects are going to be extremely expensive.

I think we need to stop comparing Toronto's system to other cities. Fact is many cities are either designed around transit or have high population density to support it. Much of Toronto outside downtown has neither.

 

[explorerzip]

I agree.
The unfortunate part is that when Rob Ford was pushing for subways, people hated him so much that they overlooked the fact that subways would be the right way to go for a city like Toronto.
Now what do we have? Nothing.
Where did all the money go for transit over the past 30-40 years?

What is being built now are streetcars sold as "The Crosstown" to mask the fact that it's old style public transportation not suitable for the climate in Toronto. (that's why the tracks and supporting concrete need to be replaced so often).

And then rather than putting the tracks along side the curb, they put them in the middle lanes so that traffic in the curb lanes also has to stop whenever the streetcar does, effectively creating a traffic nightmare on those routes.
It's sad.

Seems to me that many people want subways everywhere yet when the construction starts next to their house then it's no longer acceptable. Same when their property tax bill goes up or when the idea of tolls comes up.

You do realize that the climate has actually become warmer in Toronto for the last few decades? We've had only 1 major snow storm last weekend and most of it is already gone. Besides, if our climate really was so unsuitable for transit lines outside then the subway would be 100% underground, which it is obviously not.

I agree that having streetcars operate in mixed traffic is a problem. Our so-called dedicated right of ways along Spadina and St Clair don't do much to alleviate traffic and bunching is still a problem. The only right of way that works IMO is the section of The Queensway between Humber Loop and Roncesvalles. It only works because there are few intersections along that route.

But putting streetcar tracks next to the curb makes no sense at all because you'd have to re-do all of the sewers because roads are slightly lower on the curb lane. I think the bigger problem is allowing street parking along major transit routes bus or streetcar. There should not be any parking allowed in those areas since it just creates unnecessary bottle necks.

 

[kbiii2]

Could use an expressway from the 407 to the QEW slightly to the west of downtown.

Will Queen be torn up for the new subway like Eglinton has been for the LRT? Don't want that. Queen is one of the coolest shopping and entertainment streets to be found anywhere.

 

[explorerzip]

Could use an expressway from the 407 to the QEW slightly to the west of downtown.

Will Queen be torn up for the new subway like Eglinton has been for the LRT? Don't want that. Queen is one of the coolest shopping and entertainment streets to be found anywhere.

The 427 in Etobicoke (slightly west of downtown) already runs from the 407 to the QEW.

There was an idea to build streetcar tunnels beneath Queen Street decades ago, but it never went anywhere. They did build a very small part of a tunnel beneath in the existing Queen station. If anything, the downtown core especially beneath Queen / King desperately need a subway since there has been huge population growth in those areas and the streetcars no longer can accommodate the pressure.