Toronto Council has approved the transit plan for Toronto featuring Mayor John Tory’s SmartTrack line and the Scarborough Subway after a long debate on July 14, 2016. Notwithstanding severe problems with financial pressures and the blind faith needed to expect that the entire package can actually be funded, Council added a few pet projects that never quite fade from view thanks to the efforts of individual members.
LRT proposals for Eglinton East and West survived the vote largely because they are part of larger packages – SmartTrack in the west, and the Scarborough Subway Extension in the east. The subway debate has so polarized camps that “LRT” is synonymous with third class transit simply because it was the heart of the “non subway” option. Without the bitterness of the SSE that required subway advocates to paint LRT in the worst possible light, its potential role in Toronto’s future network might not have been so poisoned while other cities embrace this mode.
Staff recommendations in the report were amended in some respects, and a few new clauses were added, notably one asking for City staff to pursue a co-fare arrangement with GO Transit.
The Waterfront Transit Reset report is a separate agenda item and, at the time of writing, Council has not yet dealt with it.
The Finch West and Eglinton Crosstown LRT projects are under Metrolinx, and they are already underway to varying degrees.
SmartTrack & Eglinton West LRT
The report’s recommendations were amended to include additional studies (see underscored text below):
- on a motion by Councillor John Campbell (carried 11-32) for additional grade separations at Royal York and at Islington, and
- on a motion by Councillor Holyday (carried 38-5) for commuter parking on the LRT.
1. City Council approve the following components which comprise the SmartTrack project scope, and request the Province of Ontario and Metrolinx to partner with the City of Toronto and the Toronto Transit Commission, to complete the remaining technical and planning analysis and undertake any required Environmental Assessment/Transit Project Assessment Process:
a. SmartTrack/Regional Express Rail (RER) Integration scenario with up to six new stations located at Finch, Lawrence, Gerrard and Unilever on the Stouffville/Lakeshore East GO corridors and Liberty Village and St. Clair West on the Kitchener GO corridor; and
b. Eglinton West LRT extension with between 8 to 12 stops between Mount Dennis and Renforth Gateway, and potential grade separations located at Martin Grove Road, Kipling Avenue and the Eglinton Flats as well as the potential grade separations at Islington Avenue and Royal York Road and a review of their associated costs.
2. City Council request the City Planning Division and the Toronto Transit Commission, in partnership with Metrolinx, the City of Mississauga and the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) to further develop options for extending the Eglinton West LRT between Renforth Gateway and Pearson International Airport and examine opportunities to provide commuter parking for the LRT.
Scarborough Transit Network
Councillor Josh Matlow moved to replace the SSE with the Scarborough LRT, and to redirect funding from both the Scarborough Subway tax and the Federal contribution earmarked for the SSE to the Eglinton East LRT (lost 27-16).
Councillor Gord Perks moved that work continue on design for the Scarborough LRT in parallel with work on the SSE so that comparison of the projects could be made on an equal footing with up-to-date, contemporary cost estimates (lost 27-16).
Councillor John Campbell moved that a cost estimate for a subway on the SRT alignment be prepared. See clause 3.c below. (Carried 29-14.)
3. City Council request the City Manager and the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission to remove from consideration the 3-stop McCowan Scarborough Subway Extension (SSE) and continue to develop an SSE Express option, by conducting the following:
a. retaining the services of a third-party rail transit construction and cost-estimation expert to undertake a risk assessment and detailed review of the TTC’s 5 percent design cost estimates for the McCowan corridor and other possible express subway alignment options; and
b. prepare the Environmental Project Report for the SSE express subway and issue the Notice of Commencement for the Transit Project Assessment Process (TPAP) once ready to proceed.
c. preparing a cost estimate for Scarborough Subway Extension Option 2C (Express subway- SRT corridor alignment to Scarborough Centre (with partial at-grade)) that specifically reviews and assesses the current SRT surface route alignment, and which would route the subway track on surface or above ground, from a point just south of Lawrence Avenue East.
4. City Council request the City Manager and the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission, in partnership with Metrolinx, and in consultation with the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), to undertake further technical and planning analysis with respect to an Eglinton East LRT extension to the UTSC, including:
a. advancing the Eglinton East LRT to a minimum of 5 percent design;
b. assessing the interface at Kennedy Station of the Eglinton East LRT, Metrolinx Eglinton Crosstown project, and the preferred Scarborough Subway Extension (SSE) option as a result of the analysis requested in recommendation 3;
c. assessing the potential realignment of Military Trail through UTSC; and
d. identifying the requirements for the next phase of the Eglinton East LRT extension to Malvern.
5. City Council request the City Manager and the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission, in consultation with Metrolinx, to develop a business case analysis for the Scarborough Transit Network solution, and include the following components in the network scenarios:
a. Express Scarborough Subway Extension (SSE), subject to the additional analysis outlined in recommendation 3; and
b. Eglinton East LRT extension based on the additional analysis outlined in recommendation 4.
6. City Council request the Province of Ontario to confirm the timing for delivering the approved Sheppard East LRT extension, with committed funding under the Building Canada Fund and the Toronto-Metrolinx Light Rail Transit Master Agreement signed in 2012, in order to inform transit network planning and business case analysis for Scarborough’s future transit network.
Councillor Glenn DeBaeremaeker moved to protect the woodlot at the southeast corner of STC from damage by the SSE project (carried 39-4).
That City Council direct staff to rule out any further consideration of locating the work site for the Scarborough Subway Extension in the Frank Faubert Woodlot.
Relief Line
When the report was at Executive Committee, the section on the Relief Line had been amended to include a request to report on an alternative alignment roughly between Gerrard and Queen Streets via Carlaw rather than via Pape. This was part of the recommendations before Council.
Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon moved that provision for this study be deleted, and the original staff recommendation including only the Pape alignment be restored. Her motion lost on a vote of 35-8. Study of the Carlaw option will, therefore, proceed at an estimated cost of $520,000.
7. City Council approve the Pape-Eastern-Queen alignment for the Relief Line, subject to the determination of a specific alignment in Part 7b below, and authorize the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission to:
a. work in partnership with Metrolinx to confirm station locations for optimal connections between the Relief Line and SmartTrack/Regional Express Rail, including future extensions of the Relief Line; and
b. undertake an additional assessment of an alignment west of Pape Avenue, starting immediately north of the GO tracks on Pape Avenue to south of Queen Street, with a station box at Queen Street and Carlaw Avenue and:
1. prepare an Outreach Plan in consultation with the local Councillor to review these option(s) with stakeholders, including the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, and the public, including local residents; and
2. bring back a recommendation to Council, through Executive Committee, prior to commencing the formal Transit Project Assessment Process; and
c. prepare the Environmental Project Report for the Relief Line and issue the Notice of Commencement for the Transit Project Assessment Process once ready to proceed.
8. City Council authorize the City Manager in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission to develop a Terms of Reference with the Province of Ontario and Metrolinx to advance the next phases of planning and design for the Relief Line, including extensions of the Relief Line north to Sheppard Avenue and west to the Bloor subway line.
9. City Council request the Toronto Transit Commission and the City Planning Division to assess potential impacts associated with tunnelling and station construction during the detailed design phase of the project, and identify mitigation measures for private property owners, and conduct further public consultation where impacts to residential areas are identified.
Cost Sharing & Funding
The recommendations include explicit funding for more detailed design work on the Eglinton East LRT (see clause 13 below) because this is not as far advanced as other parts of the network proposal. Eglinton West received more study up front as part of the review of SmartTrack and the decision already taken by Council to substitute it for the ST heavy rail branch westward from Mount Dennis.
10. City Council authorize the City Manager to undertake the following and report to City Council for its consideration:
a. negotiate cost sharing and intergovernmental fundings arrangements with the Province of Ontario for shared costs associated with:
1. implementing SmartTrack within the Regional Express Rail program;
2. extending an LRT along Eglinton West;
3. extending an LRT along Eglinton East;
4. operating and maintaining Metrolinx Toronto LRT projects;
5. municipal utility and infrastructure within Metrolinx-owned rail corridors; and
6. any other outstanding transit related matter.
b. review and report back on governance implications and arrangements to be put in place to effectively carry out the intergovernmental funding and cost share arrangements; and
c. negotiate and enter into a funding agreement with the Government of Canada for the federal contribution towards the incremental costs associated with implementing the SmartTrack components within the Regional Express Rail program, per recommendation 1, and the Scarborough Transit Network per recommendation 3.
11. City Council request the City Manager and the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer to report to City Council on the funding implications to the City associated with the proposed terms of cost-sharing arrangements provided for pursuant to recommendation 10.
12. City Council authorize the City Manager to include additional planning and design work for SmartTrack, Eglinton West LRT, Scarborough Subway Extension, Eglinton East LRT and Relief Line, as part of the priority list of projects to be submitted to the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario under phase one of the Federal Public Transit Infrastructure Fund.
13. City Council approve the creation of an Eglinton East LRT capital sub-project within the Corporate Initiatives Capital Program’s Transit Expansion Initiatives project, with approval for a 2016 cash flow of $3 million and a 2017 cash flow of $4 million for a total of $7 million, for the purpose of advancing the Eglinton East LRT design work to 5 percent, fully funded from the Capital Financing Reserve Fund (XQ0011).
14. City Council request the City Manager in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission, the Deputy City Manager, Cluster B and the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer to report through the budget process on the feasibility of establishing dedicated and properly resourced functions for the coordination, analysis and implementation of the City’s multi-billion dollar transit expansion initatives.
Hope Springs Eternal
Despite the fact that three transit projects have been studied and prioritized before and never make the cut, they have local defenders: extensions east and west of the Sheppard Subway to STC and Downsview, and a western extension of the Bloor Subway to Sherway Gardens.
The motion below regarding the Sheppard East subway extension conflicts with clause 6 regarding the Sheppard East LRT.
The Sherway and Downsview extensions are already part of the set of transit proposals under review by City Planning.
In the Feeling Congested study, the Sheppard East LRT consistently ranks among the top 5 routes through a variety of evaluation filters, but the Sheppard West and Bloor extensions fall below the top 5 in all cases. (Background Materials Scroll down to “Transit Maps”)
The real question here will be whether Mayor Tory will exert the same behind-the-scenes influence to gerrymander priorities to pay off political debts incurred to achieve support of his transit plan, or if we will actually see a fair comparison of these schemes against other proposals. There is a point at which the “integrity” of the planning process and staff could become meaningless.
The following motions put the three subway proposals back on the table for another round.
Councillor Justin J. Di Ciano moved that staff include the proposed Bloor West Subway Extension to Sherway Gardens in their ongoing studies (carried 32-11).
That City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to include in the previously requested report to Executive Committee in the first quarter of 2017 on the second phase of Toronto’s long term transit network plan, a review and consideration of potential alignments and costs for an extension of the Bloor Danforth line from Kipling Avenue to Sherway Gardens.
Councillor Jim Karygiannis moved that staff include the proposed Sheppard East Subway Extension to STC in their ongoing studies (carried 24-19).
That City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to include in the previously requested report to Executive Committee in the first quarter of 2017 on the second phase of Toronto’s long term transit network plan, a review and consideration of potential alignments and costs for an extension of the Sheppard Subway east of Don Mills to join the extension of the Bloor Danforth line.
Councillor James Pasternak moved that staff include the proposed Sheppard West Subway Extension to Downsview in their ongoing studies (carried 28-15).
That City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to include in the previously requested report to Executive Committee in the first quarter of 2017 on the second phase of Toronto’s long term transit network plan, a review and consideration of the construction of a subway link between Downsview station and the Yonge and Sheppard interchange.
GO Transit
Councillor Vincent Crisanti moved that a Woodbine GO Station be studied for the KW corridor (carried 38-5). Note that this station would lie beyond the currently proposed scope of SmartTrack, but there was no discussion of examining a revised service design to extend ST service beyond Mount Dennis.
That City Council direct the City Manager and the Deputy City Manager, Cluster B to work with Metrolinx to consider further the feasibility of a Woodbine GO Station on the Kitchener GO Corridor to coincide and support potential future development in the vicinity, including development of more than 700 acres at Woodbine, and to report back to Council as appropriate, including the identification of potential contributions for a new station from private partners.
Councillor Mike Layton moved a request for GO co-fares to be extended into Toronto (carried unanimously).
That City Council direct the City Manager to negotiate a co-fare system with Metrolinx, similar to that current in place for other GTA municipalities, for existing GO Transit routes currently operating in Toronto.
Councillor Ana Bailão moved that staff report on a potential connection from the proposed new station on the Barrie GO corridor at Bloor Street to Lansdowne subway station (carried 41-2).
That City Council request the City Manager and the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission, to report to the Executive Committee in the fourth quarter of 2016 on the financial and logistical conditions imposed by Metrolinx that the City “provide accessible, weather-protected, pedestrian connection to Lansdowne Subway Station” and on the potential solutions to finance the investment needed to make this connection, as outlined in the City’s Official Plan.
Councillor Ana Bailão moved that staff report on potential changes to regulations governing trains to reduce the noise from GO services (carried 41-2).
That City Council direct the City Manager to initiate discussions with Metrolinx and Transport Canada to identify best practices and possible solutions that avoids the use of train bells and/or whistles for trains entering and exiting passenger rail stations, and to provide a progress report to the Executive Committee by the end of 2016 on the status of those discussions and to include any steps or legislative requests which City Council can take in order to eliminate the use of bells and/or whistles at existing GO Train stations.
Vote on the Item as Amended
- SmartTrack:
- Clauses 1.a and 2 carried unanimously.
- Clause 1.b carried 42-1.
- Scarborough Network:
- Clause 3 carried 28-15.
- Clause 4 carried unanimously.
- Clause 5 carried 36-7.
- All remaining clauses carried 41-2.
This is by no means the end of debate as many more reports will be required with further details on project options, cost estimates and funding schemes.
Steve Munro 
It was said, well before the recent cost estimate increase of the SSE, that each Toronto household would be paying an additional $1400 over the years as a surtax to pay for the SSE. Afterwards, the cost estimate increased by $1 billion, and now I hear that that is not necessarily the end of it, costs could be increasing by a substantial amount once construction actually starts. Mind you, this is for tunneling, not cut & cover.
It is said that the people get the government that they deserve. Citizens of Toronto elected Rob Ford and John Tory. “You can fool some of the people all of the time … ” Abraham Lincoln (1864).
Steve, do you have the stats on how the councillors voted?
Steve: You can see all of the votes in the item on the City’s website. Scroll down (a lot), They start just after the long list of emails. Note that the motions are in a different order than I presented them as I grouped things to keep like items together for simplicity.
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A family has to survive financially by running their affairs on a budget and borrowing as little as possible, much the same as the City of Toronto is supposed to stay within its spending limits.
I’ve probably said this before but if a family is in need of transportation and a Dodge van will do, they do not go out and buy a 40 passenger bus. They would both do the job of transporting but the difference in costs for buying, maintaining, operating and storage would be considerably different. The family cannot just pull money out of their pocket that they do not have. The City of Toronto, however, with their majority of irresponsible politicians and planners, just raises the taxes and promise “whatever” frills to get votes. The reality of it is that they don’t give a damn for the transit rider if they are out of the Ward that they represent. It appears to me that the majority of the councillors don’t care if there is not a network of higher-order transit lines serving “ALL” the City, they don’t care to put subways in where needed, they don’t care to treat city-wide transit as it should be treated. There seems to be little interest in doing what’s right for the taxpayer; just as long as they can save face, tell their voters that they are really doing something great and above all, that they are Number One!
Transit for moving a city is a big expensive necessity and this is why this City should be building what is needed, not what some individual thinks they need, not what some individual thinks is fair or unfair, not because someone thinks it’s too costly or too cheap, or because someone else has something and they want it. The solution for that would be to listen to the transit experts and “BUILD WHAT IS REQUIRED”!
A councillor is elected to his or her Ward as their representative for local matters. When a councillor is then appointed or selected for a position on a board or committee that deals with things that effect “ALL” the City Of Toronto, then these councillors should do much more research on issues, have more respect and understanding for all the taxpayers, not just where their votes come from.
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Following up on David Cavlovic’s comment:
Could we not repurpose the elevated section of the SRT for Swan Boats?
Steve: As a tourist attraction this has real possibilities, although why anyone would want to “tour” from McCowan to Midland Station is beyond me. The delightful aromas of the paper recycling plant, offset by occasional brurst from the cookie factory? It is a paradise just waiting to be discovered.
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Steve! I know you answer was humourous. Who will feed the ponies? Simply, oats are much much cheaper than gasoline. And there have always been horse thieves, so I rather doubt that ponies would be wandering free-range through Scarborough very long.
I posted here about horse-drawn streetcars a few years back. Just to recap, I had a ride in a horse-drawn carriage in eastern Latvia during the gasoline shortage. The big black stallion trotted at 60+ kmh, we travelled 25 km faster than any car could on Hwy 401 in rush hour, never mind local streets. Side note, my host spoke better French than I.
Never mind ponies, use horses. There was a glut of race horses recently in Ontario, maybe 200k head, due to cancellation of Ontario Lottery programs.
As for swan boats. At one time I thought that this was just a joke. Apparently not. If you check out Toronto’s history, swan boats were an important mode of transportation at the turn of the century, not this one, the previous one. Nothing to do with swans per se, a swan head was just a decoration. These boats carried maybe 20 or more people each, went everywhere, and the fares were reasonable, comparable to a streetcar. It is time that Toronto re-aquainted with swan boats.
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Oh, wow, I just thought of more reasons to go to a horse-drawn transit system : We know about the new technology of self-driving cars. Well, horses have been doing it for tens of thousands of years already. Proven fail-safe technology! Today’s computer systems do not work on snow-covered roads, but the horse system works great in snow & storms. If you have been pubbing and are drunk as a skunk, your horse will take you home. You are not driving, he is. Never ever heard of a horse charged with impaired driving.
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Well Steve, advocacy is your specialty and so while you could have advocated for a better subway, you spent all these years fighting any Scarborough subway at all. But just like you are willing to accept a DRL that goes no further north than Danforth during Phase 1, we can accept a Scarborough subway that goes no further north than STC in Phase 1 and in Phase 2, we hope to have it extended to Sheppard or perhaps even Steeles but if we demand that a subway go to Steeles in Scarborough right now, then we might not get anything at all. Steve, you can still advocate for a Lawrence station, etc to make the Scarborough subway better. I believe that Joe M and John T (mayor) have both done an excellent job with regards to advocating for a better transit network in Scarborough.
Steve: As usual, you are misrepresenting what I said.
First, my point about an alternative subway was that what was proposed was not the best that could have been as a subway proposal. It was a deal arranged to give the impression that money would be left over to pay for the Eglinton East LRT, something we now know to be false. I don’t believe that a subway is the correct “solution” for Scarborough, but if you’re going to build one, do it right. The “one stop subway” is a joke and it short-changes Scarborough residents.
Second, I have never been willing to accept a DRL only to Danforth. It must go further north to relieve pressure at least from Eglinton south, preferably to Sheppard. I have written this many times.
I believe that SmartTrack is a sham, and the function it would provide at Lawrence East Station is a third-rate “solution” to the problem of subway costs. In the process riders who now connect with the SRT at Lawrence face longer bus journeys either north to STC or south to Kennedy, or a longer wait and likely higher fare for ST service.
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One drawback of Swanboats: poop biohazard.
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See, Dean. You identified one problem but not the only one & that’s why we are here. Politicians like Miller, Matlow, Perks, etc. haven’t concerned themselves with the details necessary to provide fair integration into the current network. It’s all about cost savings, with a one infrastructure will solve all problems type of solution. The realization is we need ALOT of money period. Cutting corners or not paying attention to details should not be acceptable. And that is what was attempted here. These councilors don’t care if we create and extra transfer on Sheppard for no good reason, they don’t care about SCC as a Growth center and it’s connectivity to the City’s main transit artery. That’s not their concern.
Those same Politicians would rather fight to the death to stop a more detailed conceptual plan that integrated into their infrastructure & prevent this type of plan from gaining traction. Why so militant? Even after Scarborough has been screaming during election to do better? Why has the media turned a blind eye to these concerns?
I can only guess it’s to save funds for the DRL & other local projects instead of dealing with the bigger issue of taxation. Taxation is a problem for ALL Politicians of any stripe. We haven’t been saving for this type of growth in an effective manner and its all coming to a head. To me its much better to do build it right from the start or don’t do it at all. We can argue what is fair and what is not. But I think that’s done hopefully.
Steve: Your argument runs aground when you state that the reason Miller, etc., want LRT in Scarborough is to save money for a DRL. I can say from personal conversations with all of them over the years, that is not true. The whole “poor Scarborough” myth comes unglued where it shifts from talking about how Scarborough might grow to impugning the motives of LRT proponents. For what it’s worth, the DRL wasn’t even on anyone’s radar when all of this started.
The cost of integration may not be cheap but it doesn’t have to be excessive either if we put our heads into making it a priority.
1) I see no reason why Sheppard stubway shouldn’t be converted to LRT. Than LRT can be used on Sheppard EAST, west and possibly connect to Finch. Make sense from a connectivity design point of view and ends the subway debate on Sheppard. And will connect right around to Eglinton. Would be Great.
2) I see no reason the SSE can run on surface. Will it cost more than the LRT yes. But having a seamless run up to Sheppard on subway is much more effective from a connectivity stand point & anywhere we can avoid tunneling should provide savings.
Steve: Actually, converting the Sheppard line to LRT has already been considered, but there are big structural problems in making this work. As for a surface SSE, that option was rejected by Council. There is no point in your pushing for an SSE implementation that isn’t going to happen and claiming its benefits as if they were real.
It’s the right thing to do to connect the City as a whole when we are spending this type of money to begin with & what infrastructure already exists. We need to stop fighting within, we need to pay attention to detail in the design because it does matter. Taxes need to be raised & both upper levels of Government need to step up further as Toronto is a major key to the Province and Country’s future.
It certainly shows the reality of the divided Politics in this City. Politicians in areas that “have” existing good infrastructure in the City don’t care about the details elsewhere, Politicians that don’t “have” good infrastructure don’t care to hear about the costs associate with providing some type of fair integration.
The ideas from both side have been extremely Polarizing although neither side wants to see the others sides view. A compromise is important & it seems we are headed that way.
Steve: As long as you claim that the problems lie with the “have” politicians, your argument will fall on deaf ears. Remember that there are “have” wards in North York, East York and Etobicoke, not just Toronto.
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The really sad part about Jim Karygiannis’ push for extending the Sheppard subway is that he would have had a lot more success if he was pushing for an extension to Victoria Park rather than to STC. With the delay with the start of construction of the LRT, switching to the subway to VP and LRT east of there proposal may actually make sense now if the funds can be found without raiding something else and if the city could start the extension first.
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Absurd to say Steve’s expertise is advocacy, in the sense Mike means. This is obviously a technical blog. Advocate for more technically informed policy, maybe?
As for Sheppard extension. I’m agnostic about the underlying technology myself. But rapid-transit extension along Sheppard is critical regardless, and building out a fully grade separated extension along Sheppard to STC seems like the direction we should be looking. The one stop Bloor-Danforth extension is just silly. An expert politician and/or advocate (John Tory?) might see an opportunity to pivot on this 🙂
Regarding grade separation. There are those proposals around the Eglinton West LRT (aka Smart Track?!?! :P) that are considering burial at arterial crossings only. I’d love to see Steve expand on this!
Steve: The question is how often do the “dips” under cross streets occur, and what does this do to station designs? Originally there were only two (Kipling and Martin Grove), but Cllr Campbell wants them to look at two more (Royal York and Islington). This is also related to the volume of turning traffic, the frequency of LRT service and the ease of pedestrian access to the platforms. What is really funny here is that I suspect that if the proposal were for BRT, this wouldn’t be happening. There is something about rail proposals that triggers a desire to make them as difficult to implement as possible.
Obviously burying anything costs money. The arterial with the LRT would presumably become barriered, with no left turns except at crossing arterials, and lots of U-turns at those locations too. Barriered arterials aren’t common in Toronto, but I’ve seen them in lots of mid size US cities (large ones too? I don’t spend any time in those). It works fine for car traffic. It does raise huge questions for pedestrians and cyclists though! Would you put lots of pedestrian refuge islands between the LRT tracks? It appears to have great promise for transit speed and reliability.
Steve: The new LRT lines will use double-ended cars with doors on both sides. This makes centre platforms possible and there are already a few of these planned on the portion of the LRT network that is under construction. St. Clair is different because it runs with single-ended streetcars.
Maybe eliminating a few signaled intersections along St. Clair, and adjusting parking to aid U-turns, could improve things a lot? Of course proper transit priority signaling should be tried first.
Steve: Which signals would you propose for elimination? The design that is there is the result of a lot of compromise between competing factions.
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Saw this coming. Let’s hope all the Scarborough subways get built so we could move on.
Steve: Subways plural? You really have high hopes!
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Good decision taken by council to approve the already approved subway to Scarborough. One bad decision taken this week was by the TTC to require children to have Presto Cards just to ride free because people will just borrow their children’s Presto Card to enter the subway system for free or at least I know that I will.
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Certainly this would mean a system where we do not squander all our capital and waste operating subsidies for years to come on an unneeded subway built to meet a populist storm created by a misguided Mayor. I ask again, how will this waste of public funds help a transit rider at Jane and Finch, or Thistledown, or Malvern. These are not “downtown elites”. These are hard working Torontonians with inadequate transit and travel times that interfere with their lives. They are getting the (continuing) “short end of the stick” – much more so than someone who would have had to take an LRT to Scarborough Town Centre. (Or, horror of horrors, have to make a transfer.) It is bad enough to squander the capital budget on a white elephant instead of investing in infrastructure that could help these communities. It is even worse to waste operating budget and provide enormous subsidies for a project that will serve only a very few “Scarborough elite”. This money could be spent on improving the lousy bus service that these communities “enjoy”.
On another (related) topic, as interest grows in the DRL, which is actually needed, let’s hope there is not a by-election in Richmond Hill or the Sherway Gardens area of Etobicoke. (Ever notice how rich developers seem to benefit – just by accident I am sure – by the expenditure of public funds.)
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If Toronto is so desperate for subways, we really have to start looking into above ground alignments. The reason many other cities have such extensive networks is because it is mostly elevated outside of the core.
The DRL for example, could be above ground north of Eglinton – definitely around York Mills, probably have to expropriate some parking lots around Shops of Don Mills and Fairview.
If we were to rebuild Kennedy to use the rail corridor for an extension to STC, part of the funding could come from the redevelopment of the current station – move the station closer to Kennedy Road, and build some towers on the current site.
I’m all for the Sheppard Subway extension (eventually, after DRL, etc.). Once it passes Agincourt GO, I’m sure there is room to run it elevated to STC. I’ve imagined that the Sheppard Subway could be useful if it runs elevated through STC to U of T Scarborough, and maybe even Port Union or Whites/Pickering GO, creating an express northern route that connect Durham, UofT Scarborough, STC, Agincourt, North York Centre and Downsview.
Elevated lines wouldn’t cost much more than LRT.
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The Globe and Mail identifies the lunacy of the SSE plan in this editorial.
Finally, the Single Stop Subway reminds me of the old joke about a 4 engine airplane that lost an engine. The captain announces that “we only have 3 engines and our flight will take an extra half hour. However, we are perfectly safe so don’t worry”. This continues with the loss of a second and third engine with similar announcements about additional delays and reassurances about safety. Then (someone who the joke teller wants to ridicule) says, “I hope the fourth engine doesn’t quit or we will take forever getting there.
Having eliminated all the other stations in order to make a project that is not viable appear to be viable – what if we eliminated all the stations…..
Steve: It is a well known statistic that the primary reason for delay on transit routes is stopping to serve passengers.
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One big question Steve … what happens if another party gets elected federally or provincially, who decides a la Mike Harris, to cancel everything??? As I point out, it’s happened before. It’s the one thing that has stuck with me through all of these debates.
Steve: Yes, that’s a big problem. Federally, I think the Liberals are in place for at least a few terms. Provincially, it’s a harder call and will depend as much on the collapse of NDP support as on any recovery of Liberal popularity. This issue came up briefly during the debate at Council when the Deputy City Manager warned Council not to create another round of endless delay lest the political convergence of transit support disappears again.
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I expect that the DRL cost would increase so much that much like the SSE, we would be forced a shorter route from Broadview with few far away stops if it’s built at all.
Steve: Broadview is a bad location for the DRL because it makes for a much worse entry into downtown and almost certainly would miss the Great Gulf site. It looks better only in the context of the “short J” Danforth to downtown, but is much worse for the extension northward because it is further west.
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I think this is a terrible idea.
Currently the plans for the RL include a Phase 3 that will extend it to Sheppard via Don Mills, and this may become important to further reduce overcrowding on the Yonge line. If the LRT is built out from Don Mills Station with the planned transfer, anyone commuting from the east will arrive at the station, and have to transfer either to the Line 4 or to the RL, (with RL being a less simple transfer). On the other hand, if the subway is extended to VP, the route for someone from the east wanting to use the RL would be LRT to VP, transfer to Line 4, ride one stop to Don Mills, and transfer again to the RL. This second transfer would likely greatly reduce the number of downtown commuters who would use the RL rather than Lines 4 + 1.
Yes, it ends up being the same number of transfers, but people tend to avoid transfers, and will prefer to wait until the transfer is forced on them.
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@RyanM:
Have you been to Chicago, Vancouver, parts of NYC where EL alignments still exist (Brooklyn, Harlem etc)? The noise of above-ground subways can be deafening and many people find them unsightly. This is why original EL lines in Manhattan were torn down.
I don’t think your idea is a bad one (would support more use of this in principle) but it costs a lot of political capital – Honolulu is building an elevated mass transit rail system right now and you can see designs here. Debate between underground and EL alignment for portion of route was more vicious than recent SSE debate apparently. Use of EL alignment vs subway also partly killed “N” train extension project to La Guardia in NYC under Rudi Giuliani. In SSE debate, use of subway alignment vs anything else (including EL heavy rail) seems like it has become a question of dogmatism and political face-saving rather than good sense.
@Joe M:
OK, let’s say we you’re right and the LRT option for SRT replacement is truly dead. When this network is costed and the cost/benefits weighed vs other competing options for funding leading up to 2031 build-out (SmartTrack stations, Crosstown east/west, DRL, waterfront LRT), how are you going to justify this versus the other options on the table? As mentioned by Steve and others, the budget debate has yet to happen and is this not the lardiest component by far? With “SmartTrack” going in and the Crosstown East, you might ask why bother with this at all ?
Steve – as design work moves forward on SSE do you know if will there be any further demand modelling accounting for new fare structures proposed by Metrolinx ? If it costs as much as a GO/SmartTrack ride to take SSE from STC to downtown it stands to reason the ridership will suffer even more no?
Steve: I don’t know about modelling, although that is an obvious requirement. We are still waiting for updates to the numbers released in January showing models based on the network we will actually be building.
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The residents won’t be happy, for sure. On the other hand, Vancouver used cut and cover for a section of Canada Line route fairly recently, over all objections.
Steve: Actually, it was tendered as bored tunnel, but the contractor discovered that they could go cut-and-cover, save money, and the contract didn’t prohibit the choice.
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The opposition to cut and cover construction reminds me of the recent news articles about people in an uproar over the notices about possible land expropriations that turned up in their mail a couple of months ago. If going to cut and cover construction is what’s required to make the Scarborough subway extension fit within the available budget, so be it. The construction’s temporary and if Scarborough really, truly wants and deserves a subway, the people living in Scarborough need to be fully prepared to accept what it takes to get it, land expropriations and construction disruptions, and all. Either happily accept it as a necessary part of getting a subway or go with another plan, and since the other plan’s been more than thoroughly rejected, accept the reality of what it’s going to take a subway. The politics that have been whipped up around this is a disgusting morass.
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If the City switches from a McCowen to a Midland alignment for the SSE, then presumably the line would curve eastwards north of Ellesmere and follow the SRT route through STC. If one preserves the SLRT ROW to Malvern, one could extend the SSE there on the surface someday in the distant future. With no residences north of Ellesmere, could one use elevated structures or cut-and-cover there instead of expensive boring? I wonder if cut-and-cover could be used on Midland north of Lawrence as there are no residences facing the street and there is tall fencing separating back yards from the street.
Maybe a Midland alignment could mitigate a bad political decision.
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Actually, the extension to Sheppard is probably Phase 4. Once the DRL reaches Eglinton, it’s likely attention will shift to completing the U in part to solve the transit problems of Liberty Village and Humber Bay.
Now, considering that it’s not unrealistic to expect that the portion of the DRL between Eglinton and Sheppard won’t be completed for at least 30 years, it’s ridiculous to force the preservation of that transfer. Seeing as by that time the LRT will be undergoing hardware renewal and the Don Mills to VP portion is expected to have decent utilization from day one, population growth alone will have made the case for that chunk of the LRT to be replaced by a subway extension by then.
All I’m simply pointing out is that with Metrolinx dragging their heels with the Sheppard East LRT and that the subway extension to VP as part of the LRT plan for Sheppard East was the runner up to what was approved, pushing for that extension is more likely to succeed than trying to restart the entire debate on what to build on Sheppard.
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The cut and cover method not only brings down the cost of tunnelling but also reduces the cost of stations significantly because those stations are much shallower than stations required for TBM method. It won’t take more than 1b to make SSE with cut and cover and probably another 1b to extend Sheppard subway to STC. Midland is dead enough and Sheppard is wide enough to handle cut and cover tunnelling.
Steve: I agree that technically cut and cover is possible, but the political realities are that it’s not going to happen. After all, why destroy the myth that only LRT tears up streets?
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Nothing could ever be “fully dead” in Toronto’s insane political transit planning. But yes barring some Politicians deciding to cause a new level of insufferable chaos in this debate the subway is pretty much firm to move forward. In all likelihood it will be designed more efficiently, and hopefully at a reduced cost.
I’m not naïve enough to think the funding debate is not going to start another mud slinging s#!t storm at City Hall. It should have been going on decades ago. But my hope is that sooner than later, cooler heads prevail and we start doing what’s necessary to fund all these projects and have a long term plan moving forward.
Steve: Typically it is the pro-subway pols who are also anti-taxes, and this will make for an interesting debate when it comes to talking about networks rather than one line to solve every problem. Remember, by the way, that’s what SmartTrack was supposed to do until Tory got subway religion. Leading to your next comment …
If we are going to be forced to once again start pitting one priority plan against another instead of dealing with proper taxation to build the network we are going to have a bigger problem than just SSE vs..XXX. All these projects are necessary. And it’s not my “project is more important” so we cut corners or don’t build one. That type of Politics is going to slam the brakes hard on any chance of moving forward.
I do ask that question often, which is why I feel strongly about doing it right the first time. It’s going to cost a Mother load of dollars no matter what to build this transit network in the end. Possibly $15-20 Billion (before the knives come out I leave accurate number to the gurus here. Just ball parking) more near term in Toronto alone is required? I’m not trying or wanting to open up the nauseating SSE technology debate again with this next comment but If we can’t bother to put a high priority on integration in Toronto in this network when we are talking that type of money, I do ask why bother? If you’re spending $25 Billion or $30 Billion, it better be a great network which pays attention to details. In the end for that kind of money all that will matter is we did it right.
Now if we hit that “holy $^%, we-can’t-do-this-at-all” moment: A couple Billion extra to connect Scarborough better into Toronto’s current network (converting Sheppard to LRT & extending the subway to “Growth Centre” of SCC) in the grand scheme is not going to be the reason we couldn’t do this. And I’ll reserve my thoughts and ideas to move forward if that day ever comes because I hope it doesn’t as it would also be nice to have LRT’s in specific areas of Toronto’s suburbs and the GTA.
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Sincere thanks for sharing. For the Sheppard conversion I was aware of the consideration long ago but wasn’t aware that is was something that was “impossible” Can you elaborate on what the cost to fix the structural issue and what it may be? As it could be the key to preventing the subway debate and leave us with a line that loops almost the entire City.
Steve: Where the line operates in box tunnel rather than a bore, typically at the approaches to stations, there is not enough vertical clearance.
For the SSE I was aware the motion (by Matlow I believe) was turned down. But with the latest costs out which weren’t available then & a new motion of a 3rd party to explore alternatives. I imagine that means look at “everything”. I may be wrong but have a hard time believing a third party wouldn’t be necessary to review the chosen routes in the latest report. That seems like a waste. But it’s City Hall so who knows.
As for the benefits comment. I can’t say without numbers what the difference is for the Surface subway compared to SLRT. I like to see it explored. But as far as attractiveness, convenience, & integration for SCC there’s no questioning the benefit between the two plans.
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Regarding cut-and-cover, although the technology sounds old fashioned, there have been advancements since the Yonge and Bloor lines were built. The primary item being precast concrete. I see a 60m long continuous operation that moves along the closed street at maybe 10m per day. There would be 10m of excavation, 10m bedding, 10m laying segments, 10m laying precast tunnel, 10m backfill, 10m paving. Although it does result in a closure, it is almost a rolling closure with access still maintained for all but the through traffic.
The station construction which occurs at the intersections, is what really impacts the street and neighbourhood in terms of noise and traffic disruption. By being so much shallower, I could see the station construction time being reduced in half. I think a real argument can be made that cut-and-cover is less disruptive than tunneling.
Steve: You are missing an important component — utility relocations. You cannot just charge down a street digging a trench into which you will drop your tunnel segments without first moving all of the utilities out of the way. This cannot be done 10m at a time. I agree that cut-and-cover is cheaper, especially with the shallower stations, but you will never get this through Council. It is important to remember that most proposed subway lines have stations further apart than the old BD and YUS lines downtown where much of the structure would be stations and their approaches.
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I kinda wish Joe M would ‘park his balls’ somewhere else. In the end, you can assign whatever value you want to the SSE, but if it eats up just about all the available funds for anything else for decades then any points you make about funding a network are moot and silly. Anyone can say that blanketing the city in higher order transit has merit, but who will fund it? Do you honestly believe the politicians, or the people who elect them, would ever agree to the taxation necessary to generate 15-20 Billion dollars? Get real.
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When my Mum came to Toronto, from England, in 1950, she arrived at Union Station. Her first impression was how strange we Canadians were, with “wooden streets”.
Until recently, as a result of reading this blog, I never realised why there are all those convenient strip parking lots just north of Bloor. I didn’t realise that these spaces all were the result of expropriations for cut and cover. Now we have major neighbourhood upset over building second (fire) exits that involve nominal disruption – except of course for the relatively few people who lose their homes. For them it is life changing disruption.
I think Steve is correct – cut and cover is a thing of the past in an urban setting.
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When the Sheppard Subway was built, they roughed in at least one extra station – at Willowdale, but didn’t complete it as a cost saving measure. In effect, the current sheppard Subway is not complete.
It seems insane to run a subway under Lawrence without having a station there. Ellesmere is close to Scarborough Town Centre so the lack of one at Ellesmere is no so bad.
So, are they at least going to rough in a station at Lawrence as part of the one-stop plan, or at some point in future, are we going to have to spend money to rip out part of the tunnel and build one from scratch?
Steve: This question has already come up. There are very great difficulties at Lawrence due to the geology of the area including Highland Creek. The station, if one were built, would be very deep and expensive, and the cost of a “rough in” is estimated to be about 2/3 of the cost of actually building it because of changes and provisions that must be made to the line either side of Lawrence in anticipation.
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Thanks for the hateful comments. It’s only allowed one way in this forum. I’ll do my best to keep it civil.
Anyhow if we want DRL, Eglinton LRT’s, Waterfront LRT, Sheppard extensions then yes we are looking at 15-20Billion no matter what we do with the SSE & it doesn’t completely stop there. It’s real whether politicians approve a plan to fund or not is another debate to be seen.
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Could we take two lanes for a long stretch, and move all the utilities, then cut and fill in sections closing the whole section?
Steve: Not so simple as the location of utilities varies from street to street. Sometimes in the middle, sometimes in curb lanes, and there are also links across streets. Sounds easy, but it’s not. Just look at the work Metrolinx is doing in anticipation of station construction.
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I will accept cut and cover in Scarborough if you can explain to me why cut and cover was not used in the gold plated Forest Hill portion of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. There too, we got the crappy middle of the street LRT in Scarborough while the richer areas to the west got underground and NOT cut and cover that is being now forced upon Scarborough. It’s time for all of us to unite behind the plan that councillors, MPPs, and MPs from all over Toronto approved and NOT just those from Scarborough.
Steve: You are not getting cut and cover in Scarborough, so stop kvetching.
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@TBMs for Scarborough
The Eglinton Crosstown does have cut-and-cover work at each underground station to build the station structure. There are many lane closures along the route and retailers have complained, sometimes bitterly. (I witnessed one tirade.) A Metrolinx person said the construction mess will be worse along the tunneled section than on the surface section.
Scarborough would avoid much of this mess because there are no intermediate stations along the 6 kilometre line. The only new station is in the parking lot of STC. There would, however, be construction of several emergency exits along the route and these will likely result in temporary lane closures or relocation.
Steve: Anyone who has watched the construction of the emergency exits for the Eglinton line will know that this is not a trivial undertaking. Not as big a job as a full-sized station, but not a few weeks’ work either.
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Cut-and-cover was not used in the Forest Hill portion for the same reason it was not used in other, poorer, neighbourhoods along Eglinton: topography.
Simply put: the hills along Eglinton (east of Keele, east of Bathurst, and west of Bayview) are too steep for the grade of the LRT tunnel to follow the grade of the road. Thus, very deep (ie very expensive) excavations would be required, making bored tunnels the economical choice.
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After the Scarborough subway was approved by the previous council, one of the hopes that was expressed was that the new council by then yet to be elected in Oct 2014 would undo the project and I am glad that the new one has done the right thing as well. LRT is short-term thinking but as the late mayor Ford said, “I am thinking 500 to 600 years from now” as only subway can survive for that long.
Steve: There are century old LRT lines running all over the world.
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Yes but by then demand would outstrip the capacity LRT can provide as climate change would lead to equatorial regions being too hot and dry to be habitable by humans who would all move to cooler places like Scarborough.
Steve: We could also presume that many cities now extant will no longer exist and therefore we should not build any new transit lines there. Imagine the conversation back in 1516. Only cathedrals were built to last centuries, and a lot of them didn’t make it. Mind you, the Romans built some fine roads, although none to Scarborough. You will have to complain to the appropriate authorities.
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The Mayor and (half of) Council’s approach on this has been incredibly disappointing. The “fiscal conservatives” are saying today that money is no object for subways that will poorly serve Torontonians, but when it comes time to pay for the network I expect we’ll see everything but the 1-stop cancelled with the same crying poor that has gutted City services. *end frustrated rant*
On a more forward-looking note, Council has committed to spending an indeterminate (unlimited?) amount of money to get a subway train to near STC. They’ve also passed a resolution directing staff to look at the RT route again, which was previously ruled out in comparison to a 3-stop McCowan route due to tight curves, additional projected cost to get up to Sheppard, the alignment of existing Kennedy Station, and the need to spend money on RT replacement service.
With the escalating cost of the McCowan alignment, receding start date, and dwindling number of stations, has that cost-benefit analysis changed?
Against the RT alignment:
1. Tight curves – still an issue
2. Sheppard – irrelevant as the McCowan route isn’t going to Sheppard anymore
3. Kennedy Station – still an issue, but would a replacement station on the north side of Eglinton fit in the budget?
4. RT replacement service – we either need to spend millions keeping the RT running until a subway opens in the late 2020s, or buy buses and build a bus garage which will be needed for future service growth anyways
For the RT alignment:
5. More stations – I’m sure there’ll be a push to add mid-route stations back to the McCowan alignment, but the RT alignment provides more stations as it currently stands
6. STC station location – actually in STC instead of beside a woodlot
7. Potentially less disruption for drivers/residents during construction
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It seems to me that the only way demand would outstrip the capacity of LRT in areas like Scarborough would be if all those who scream the loudest about needing subways where they are not warranted will suddenly keep their mouths shut and allow large blocks of high rises in their back yards to be built.
Not going to happen.
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@Calvin Henry-Cotnam
Please feel free to visit the areas being discussed for subway stops before you go off on such a ridiculous demand tangent. High rises are not an issue in these locations. Scarborough is a big place with many different types of areas.
Steve: While Joe M and I do not agree on some things, I have to concur that density at subway stations is not a pre-requisite for high demand. It is the density in the area served by those stations through feeder services that matters. That, plus a network that actually takes would-be riders where they want to go.
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