[T3G]

Considering the very wealthy peoples homes that were expropriated for the Ontario Line tunnel exit out over the Don Valley, I think this would have been doable in the much less politically influential neighbourhoods of North Etobicoke

Why do we want this?

Elevated transit can have its place in limited circumstances, but many comments on this forum seem completely to gloss over the negatives, i.e. in the fact that the area underneath the guideway will be permanently in shade. I would have thought a better solution for our suburbs would be to redesign them to be more livable, not make being in them even less unpleasant for the poor bastards who have to live there. Can you imagine if we tried to solve the issues with the streetcar network by elevating their lines? No one would hang out on the streets where they run.

Personally, I would gladly accept the trivially decreased reliability of a grade integrated LRT line rather than see ugly concrete guideways thrown about all over the place. Transit is meant to serve cities, not the other way around.

 

[duty free]

Not very wide at all. Just past Commercial-Broadway, the Skytrain follows a back alley paralleling Commercial Dr.

It's more the curve into Humber that's way too tight for a Skytrain. The Skytrain (not the Canada Line) does high speed curves really well, probably better than any other system in the country. But nothing comes close to that sharp. I'm not sure there's enough space to make the curve the train would need without expropriating a fair number of homes on the southeast corner

Seems like Line 5 & Line 6 would've been better off being built like this. Same goes for any future potential LRT on Eglinton East or Jane too.

 

[asher__jo]

Why do we want this?

Elevated transit can have its place in limited circumstances, but many comments on this forum seem completely to gloss over the negatives, i.e. in the fact that the area underneath the guideway will be permanently in shade. I would have thought a better solution for our suburbs would be to redesign them to be more livable, not make being in them even less unpleasant for the poor bastards who have to live there. Can you imagine if we tried to solve the issues with the streetcar network by elevating their lines? No one would hang out on the streets where they run.

Personally, I would gladly accept the trivially decreased reliability of a grade integrated LRT line rather than see ugly concrete guideways thrown about all over the place. Transit is meant to serve cities, not the other way around.

Permanent shade is an odd drawback to reference. We are able to build high rises and able to mitigate shadows, and the same can definitely be done with other elevated structures.

 

[T3G]

Permanent shade is an odd drawback to reference. We are able to build high rises and able to mitigate shadows, and the same can definitely be done with other elevated structures.

There is no such thing as mitigating shadows generated by physical structures, it is physically impossible. All you can decide is where to build the structure, and whether the shade generated by it will be less of an inconvenience than if it had been dropped in another spot.

 

[Aplus23]

There is no such thing as mitigating shadows generated by physical structures, it is physically impossible. All you can decide is where to build the structure, and whether the shade generated by it will be less of an inconvenience than if it had been dropped in another spot.

You're worrying about shadows on the road? If the guideway is in the middle of the road, why would shadows be a big deal?

 

[Kyle Campbell]

Why do we want this?

Elevated transit can have its place in limited circumstances, but many comments on this forum seem completely to gloss over the negatives, i.e. in the fact that the area underneath the guideway will be permanently in shade. I would have thought a better solution for our suburbs would be to redesign them to be more livable, not make being in them even less unpleasant for the poor bastards who have to live there. Can you imagine if we tried to solve the issues with the streetcar network by elevating their lines? No one would hang out on the streets where they run.

Personally, I would gladly accept the trivially decreased reliability of a grade integrated LRT line rather than see ugly concrete guideways thrown about all over the place. Transit is meant to serve cities, not the other way around.

Seems like Line 5 & Line 6 would've been better off being built like this. Same goes for any future potential LRT on Eglinton East or Jane too.

Looking at how Vancouver did it, they generally run the Skytrain down old rail rights-of-way, at-grade-expressways like the Lougheed Highway, or down back alleys one street back from the main road. They actually try to avoid running it in the middle of a pedestrianized road when possible. Finch itself is debatable, but if they ever wanted to extend Line 6 further down Highway 27 to Woodbine elevated would be fine.

 

[T3G]

You're worrying about shadows on the road? If the guideway is in the middle of the road, why would shadows be a big deal?

This is a comment about guideways generally, not specifically about this project.

 

[APTA-2048]

Looking at how Vancouver did it, they generally run the Skytrain down old rail rights-of-way, at-grade-expressways like the Lougheed Highway, or down back alleys one street back from the main road. They actually try to avoid running it in the middle of a pedestrianized road when possible. Finch itself is debatable, but if they ever wanted to extend Line 6 further down Highway 27 to Woodbine elevated would be fine.

Wouldn’t it just make more sense to continue in the trench instead?

 

[jmi22]

Why do we want this?

Elevated transit can have its place in limited circumstances, but many comments on this forum seem completely to gloss over the negatives, i.e. in the fact that the area underneath the guideway will be permanently in shade. I would have thought a better solution for our suburbs would be to redesign them to be more livable, not make being in them even less unpleasant for the poor bastards who have to live there. Can you imagine if we tried to solve the issues with the streetcar network by elevating their lines? No one would hang out on the streets where they run.

Personally, I would gladly accept the trivially decreased reliability of a grade integrated LRT line rather than see ugly concrete guideways thrown about all over the place. Transit is meant to serve cities, not the other way around.

To be clear everyone, this is the beautiful public realm that @T3G is so deeply concerned about scarring. Do you often sun bath in road medians? Does this look like a place lacking sunlight? Your post verges on trolling with its complete detachment from the realities of what we are discussing.

 

[jmi22]

Wouldn’t it just make more sense to continue in the trench instead?

Would not be a terrible solution, but is much more expensive while also not gaining the maintenance perks of an enclosed right of way. Riders also don't get views which is minor but still a perk of elevated running.

 

[Mind_the_gap]

It should be built for the full length of Finch, not to Yonge.

I'm kind of annoyed people who've never lived in the gap between Keele and Yonge, have such strong stances...

As someone who spent half my life in an apartment on the SW corner of Bathurst/Finch growing up there, and relying daily on either the 36 or the 7/160 [...].

I am really peeved about the general push on this forum to extend the Finch West LRT any further east before Line 4. I would’ve much rather taken a Bathurst bus south to a Sheppard West extension station, that would reach McCowan (or STC), not to mention the flexibility it would provide the TTC with the Yonge North extension now. Finch west of Wilmington to Keele is all commercial/industrial - Sheppard between the Allen and Yonge is all residential, and has much more redevelopment potential.

I just think it’s ridiculous to be pushing any Line 6 extension east of Keele, until the missing Western gap on Sheppard is built, and yes, I would like to see redundancy (as in both).

[...]

This was my solution:

This is fantasy, but I don’t even see the need for a separate Line 4 station at Sheppard West (Downsview). They could connect the Line 4 tracks to the Line 1 tracks heading NW, and turn Downsview Park (GO) into the transfer station for southbound Line 1 passengers, and then Line 4 trains could interline upto at least Finch West to provide the easy Line 6 connection.

The 939B is a major improvement.

 

[Kyle Campbell]

Wouldn’t it just make more sense to continue in the trench instead?

Probably, it was just a thought exercise.

 

[T3G]

To be clear everyone, this is the beautiful public realm that @T3G is so deeply concerned about scarring. Do you often sun bath in road medians? Does this look like a place lacking sunlight? Your post verges on trolling with its complete detachment from the realities of what we are discussing.

The only person here verging on trolling is you. If you had bothered to read the discussion in its entirety before responding, you would have obviously noticed that I already said the concern was not about Finch, specifically, but about the precedent that elevated lines set. Posts above yours have already made reference to a possible Jane LRT in this form - you are aware, I trust, that Jane at its southern end doesn't remotely resemble the photo you sent - and it is similar visually to Dufferin and Roncesvalles, both of which have been speculated at large on this forum as being possible routes for an Ontario line western extension. I do not find it remotely desirable for there to be elevated structures along any of these mentioned streets, or any other streets whose character is similar.

And furthermore to your previous post I'm not sure why we should just wave away problems of expropriation because the people of Northern Etobicoke are politically impotent... expropriation is a dramatic, traumatic experience, and it's a tool that should be used only as a last resort, not willynilly just because we want to cosplay as Vancouver. Again, the transit system is there to serve the city, not the other way around. I know that I would much rather take a marginally less reliable grade-integrated LRT system, coupled with the obvious benefits of job creation that a lack of grade separation would generate, rather than to have my house demolished. If that makes me a NIMBY, so be it.

And I'll thank you, in future, to read the discussion in full before accusing me of trolling.

N. B. a project to beautify suburban arterials would also not go amiss.

 

[smallspy]

Considering the very wealthy peoples homes that were expropriated for the Ontario Line tunnel exit out over the Don Valley, I think this would have been doable in the much less politically influential neighbourhoods of North Etobicoke

What makes you think that those people were very wealthy, or even just "wealthy"?

Dan

 

[crs1026]

I had an appointment on Finch today so I drove the line all the way in both directions. I saw one bit of "active" construction - a construction tent sitting on the north (westbound) track west of Albion. Didn't see any workers around, but there was a heater hooked up and working. I would guess some concrete curing. This tent was right on the turnout so likely a bit of rework of the crossovers.

There was evidence (well, lack of evidence - ie the rails were shiny and clear of snow) that one or more trams had travelled from the MSF to the xovers east of Kipling and back today - but not west of there (the work I mentioned had flag protection ) or east of the MSF. Snow on the rails in those areas - the amount of snow in the duckunder to the subway station was considerable, suggesting that cars had not been in there in a while.

Signs at the stations were lit and working with time and date. One or two had a test message indicating closures on Line 1 - not sure if these were test (fake) messages or in real time, but they hint that the signs will provide useful information when the line opens.

Ticket machines were powered up but Presto readers didn't seem to be - who wants to contribute $3 to TTC to be the first to tap on to Line 6 ahead of opening day?

I don't know what the sticking point with Mosaic is, but in other respects the line looked to be effectively finished. Only thing missing - the duckunder at Highway 27 has high security fencing over the west portal, but nothing over the east portal. A bit inconsistent, and personally I didn't see the need for the overbuilt fencing. Nobody is going to be cutting a (cheaper) chain link fence - and if one portal doesn't need it at all.....

My only complaint is that it's already obvious that there should be refuge islands on both sides of the LRT at the intersections - pedestrians were seen crossing the tracks only to find there is no island on the other side. That's OK for now, but when the line opens, it will be a hazard.

- Paul