Mark Dowling sent in the following note in response to the item on Park Lawn Loop:
Where do you stand on a Queensway ROW west of Humber Loop? I know ridership on 80 is dismal but so is the service. The street is wide and to my mind screams for LRVs or Citadis 302s bombing along between Roncesvalles and Sherway at 2x bus stop lengths with all the toys – next-car displays, signal priority and the like – giving a real “subway-like” service as opposed to the joke our Mayor cracked in relation to St Clair.
The residential developments at Sherway and along the Queensway would, I believe, generate a decent ridership if decent service was offered. Who knows, it might even pull in some park and ride traffic from the Gardiner?
Steve: First off, The Queensway as far as Kipling is an “Avenue” in the Official Plan, and it is also shown as a Transit Priority corridor all the way to Brown’s Line (as is Lake Shore). You would never know this from the sort of service offered in that part of the world or the total absence of planning for improvements as part of the TTC’s LRT studies.
Southern Etobicoke has a huge amount of redevelopable land — old industrial property, strip malls, parking lots — and there are also big possibilities up at the Six Points. However, if we keep pumping out the message that this part of the world won’t be developed soon, if ever, from our own Planning Department, transit will continue to ignore this part of the world as well.
To answer your question, yes, an LRT service along The Queensway would be a great addition to the network, assuming redevelopment to support it.
What effect this would have on the Gardiner is another matter. I think that the car traffic comes from further afield in the 905, and the benefit of new transit services will be to allow growth in population without overwhelming the road system. However, we must have the will to “invest” in the future of this part of the city just as we hope to do in the eastern waterfront.
Steve Munro 
I have this vision of an LRT running from Sherway to the Humber along the hydro right-of-way that parallels the Queensway, then continuing along the western lakeshore to downtown. But using a hydro right-of-way would never happen here in Toronto, unless we get true transit-movers in the top positions of government.
Steve: The problem with rights-of-way is that people don’t live on them, and it’s very hard to serve new transit-oriented development (along the Queensway, for example) if the trunk route isn’t in the middle of the street. There is a similar problem with the Finch hydro corridor that would be great for long trips from Agincourt or Rexdale to Yonge, but lousy for all of the people who get on and off everywhere in between.
If you want to get from western Etobicoke to downtown, the real solution is better service on the GO train and fare integration with the TTC. Meanwhile, all of those local riders (and former riders) along the Lake Shore itself deserve better and more reliable service.
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No more expansion!
People move to Etobicoke because it’s EASY to get around by CAR!
Leave this area of Toronto to the Car! IF you want to transit yourself around move somewhere else!
Steve: I take the completely opposite approach. No more roads! If you want to get around by car, move to Barrie. Meanwhile, people in Etobicoke (and Mississauga and many other cities) deserve to have good transit as an alternative to the four-car garage.
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This seems way late to add a comment to this thread but whatever! After my recent visits to the south Etobicoke area; where in the past I had spent very little time, I thought the area could do with some improved transit.
I travelled on both the Queensway as far west as Sherway and on the lakeshore over as far as Long Branch by car that is…
After seeing the potential fare traffic on Queensway I wondered why in the hell there was no streetcar route or LRT when the quiet, single family home dotted Lakeshore West had a route. Even more interesting the Queensway was undergoing upgrading of its median and lighting infrastructure. A perfect opportunity for in traffic or ROW LRT development. A loop servicing south etobicoke (Humber loop (interchange) along Lakeshore west to Brown’s Line, north to Sherway (ROW or tunnel under 427/QEW) to Queensway and east across the Queensway to the Humber Interchange) seems like a resonable way to connect a large residential and commercial/industrial population. A loop connecting to the 501 at the Humber loop I would boost growth in the area and tighten the south etobicoke neighbourhoods.
That is all…steve, keep up the good work.
Steve: Oddly enough, bus service on The Queensway never seems to attract a lot of riders, although I know that others have proposed much improved service in that corridor. Mind you, I would prefer to see the build up done with buses first to prove that the market exists.
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