[44 North]

Ah yes. Does anyone know if Mlinx gave any other info about canceling this proposed addendum? Perhaps on the technical side, like any difficulties of tunneling under the Don?

As well, I think meeting the residents halfway with proposing a hollowed-out station shell could've been a good alternative. It's clear that the density and land use doesn't really justify an underground station in the near-mid term. But the potential of a future station along the CP corridor may've been enough justification for a future Crosstown underground station carved out south of the Leslie/Eglinton intersection. Though I guess the costs and complexity of building just a station box would've detracted from the benefits of this addendum.

 

[salsa]

It was originally to be above grade, then (I believe in late 2012) Metrolinx proposed tunnelling from Don Mills (under the Don River) so that it could be grade separated all the way from Mount Dennis to Don Mills which is a major hub. If they were to keep the Leslie stop it would now have to a full underground station and they said the low ridership numbers couldn't justify the $100 million plus for a full station so they proposed eliminating Leslie and having no stops between Laird and Don Mills which was always to be underground. Metrolinx got too cute by half though, and tried to sell the change at public meetings as being necessary because they COULDN'T build the launch shaft at Brentcliffe. They said it was too narrow and to close to Scenic condos south of Eglinton and digging might disrupt the condos' foundations. Of course, as we've seen, that is pure bull as they have built the launch shaft there but perhaps it took longer in order to protect the slope from collapsing. Metrolinx needed the public meetings because the proposed change would need an EA amendment. They thought they could just slide it through quickly and they'd be away. The Leslie condo YIMBY's fought loud and hard (all 12 of them) and with LPOA's and especially Robinson's voices they put up such a stink that Metrolinx said they couldn't wait any more. In spring 2013 they reverted to the original plan. By not being honest, Metrolinx lost all credibility and so therefore lost the chance to build a much superior tunnel to Don Mills. At one of the few meetings where actual engineers attended, a Metrolinx engineer told me he was disgusted that they weren't launching at Don Mills. It would have created much less chaos on Eglinton between Leslie and Brentcliffe, would have been easier to build as there is a lot more room for a shaft at the Science Centre lot and in the long run would have created a much better LRT line with full grade separation through to Don Mills (and maybe someday a relief line interchange there).

Because of headway differences between the in-median and underground portions of the LRT, every second train will short-turn at Laird even though it won't have near the riders that Don Mills will. Ironically, the Leslie condo dwellers will probably be far better off bussing to Laird station with twice the frequency of trains then waiting twice as long, after a longer walk, in the elements, for a train at their hard-won Leslie stop.

Ridiculous.

Why didn't Metrolinx consider a south-side surface alignment instead of a tunnel?

I never liked Jay Robinson to begin with, especially after her pathetic Gardiner expressway press conference. Her meddling with the Crosstown is just another legacy of her stupid politics.

 

[Ozman]

Why didn't Metrolinx consider a south-side surface alignment instead of a tunnel?

That of course would have been the logical thing to do, and probably would have been acceptable by almost everyone. When the first EA meetings were held (2010 or 2011?- I can't remember) a few of us asked about a south-side alignment. Metrolinx repeatedly told us that there was plenty of time to refine the plan and that it was too early to get into that much detail. Then in 2012 they come out with the revised plan of tunnelling from Don Mills which a lot of us saw as overkill, but we liked it because it moved the launch shaft to Don Mills and most importantly didn't mess up the intersection at Leslie and Eglinton which now will slow down traffic and the LRT. When the condo types fought to save Leslie stop a bunch of people again screamed for a south side surface alignment which could have an at-grade Leslie stop and it would not interfere with the Leslie-Eglinton intersection. But now Metrolinx was saying that a launch shaft at Brentcliffe was technically IMPOSSIBLE (!!!) so they'd have to tunnel to Don Mills. When they reverted to the original EA plan in 2013 we were told that they'd wasted too much time and that the "powers-that-be" wanted to get things started to try and stay on schedule. A south side alignment would still require an EA adjustment and they'd wasted 6 months fighting (unsuccessfully) for a tunnel to Don Mills. They were going back to the original EA which miraculously was once again technically do-able and it was too late to consider a south-side alignment.

So in 2010 -too early for south-side; 2012 they wasted 6 months fighting to change EA for a tunnel (when they could have used that time to change for a south-side alignment) and by 2013 we're back to square one. Launch shaft could be (and subsequently has been) built at Brentcliffe and a south-side alignment would have given the YIMBY's their stop while giving everyone full grade-separation and ATC through to Don Mills.

What a farce!

 

[rbt]

If a statio is to named NOT after an intersection or place of interest, we might end up with nonsense station names.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious next station. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

At least it's not Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis station.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

For those who don't think the station at Eglinton and Bayview should be called "South Bayview",

I took this photo today, this is one block south of Eglinton at Soudan and Bayview. Note the neighbourhood name on the street sign!

South Bayview is an accurate yet neutral name as neither the people of Leaside or the Davisville-Eglinton neighbourhoods 'own' it. It's much better than either Leaside (that only borders the station) or Sunnybrook (which is pretty far away from the neighbourhood)

 

[Johnny Au]

That would make a world of difference, as the sign states.

 

[someMidTowner]

Another TBM update!

Unfortunately no movement on the eastern leg

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Damn, the blue TBM is moving quickly.

Does anyone know why the pace of the TBMs are so non-uniform? Some weeks they don't move at all, other weeks they take huge jumps.

 

[crs1026]

Damn, the blue TBM is moving quickly.

Its name is Dennis, and it's the good one.

Does anyone know why the pace of the TBMs are so non-uniform? Some weeks they don't move at all, other weeks they take huge jumps.

The obvious reasons for non-movement would be planned maintenance and breakdowns. Don't they also have to stop periodically to add another length to the conveyer belt system? I wonder if the cutting heads jam or need to be replaced at irregular intervals. I suspect the boring production schedule has periods of planned non-movement, or just plain float.

I have wondered about the sudden jumps, and suspect that's just delays in passing the data to the web person. I don't know how often the contractor has to provide data to Metrolinx, or how often the ML web people get updates from the ML project people. If a clerk takes a day or week off, does someone worry about keeping the data updated while they are away? Is the web maintained by a contract PR firm, which charges for each update? (I have seen the latter) I suspect the updates are pretty low priority. Only we junkies who need our constant TBM fixes notice. Crosstown is updating a lot more regularly than TYSSE did, and that's one thing they should get kudos for.

- Paul

 

[ehlow]

Wow it was at Spadina Rd about a week ago?

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

I think they also said the soil in that part of the city is a lot softer and easier to tunnel through then the other parts were/ are

 

[howl]

Its name is Dennis, and it's the good one.



The obvious reasons for non-movement would be planned maintenance and breakdowns. Don't they also have to stop periodically to add another length to the conveyer belt system? I wonder if the cutting heads jam or need to be replaced at irregular intervals. I suspect the boring production schedule has periods of planned non-movement, or just plain float.

I have wondered about the sudden jumps, and suspect that's just delays in passing the data to the web person. I don't know how often the contractor has to provide data to Metrolinx, or how often the ML web people get updates from the ML project people. If a clerk takes a day or week off, does someone worry about keeping the data updated while they are away? Is the web maintained by a contract PR firm, which charges for each update? (I have seen the latter) I suspect the updates are pretty low priority. Only we junkies who need our constant TBM fixes notice. Crosstown is updating a lot more regularly than TYSSE did, and that's one thing they should get kudos for.

- Paul

You mean GPS doesn't work underground?

 

[jcam]

Its name is Dennis, and it's the good one.



The obvious reasons for non-movement would be planned maintenance and breakdowns. Don't they also have to stop periodically to add another length to the conveyer belt system? I wonder if the cutting heads jam or need to be replaced at irregular intervals. I suspect the boring production schedule has periods of planned non-movement, or just plain float.

I have wondered about the sudden jumps, and suspect that's just delays in passing the data to the web person. I don't know how often the contractor has to provide data to Metrolinx, or how often the ML web people get updates from the ML project people. If a clerk takes a day or week off, does someone worry about keeping the data updated while they are away? Is the web maintained by a contract PR firm, which charges for each update? (I have seen the latter) I suspect the updates are pretty low priority. Only we junkies who need our constant TBM fixes notice. Crosstown is updating a lot more regularly than TYSSE did, and that's one thing they should get kudos for.

- Paul

You've got in on most of those accounts. The TBMs take a while to get out of the launch shafts, which is why they are slow out of the gates. You have to piece by piece get the 80m long machine put together as you launch.

As for in-stream, regular maintenance is needed. If they have the continuous conveyor in the tunnel, then those sections need to be added on, although typically you can do stuff like that on a night or weekend maintenance shift (I'm not sure if they're mining 24/7, but I wouldn't think so).

Longest downtime can be for seal or cutting-head teeth issues. These are EPB machines with an airlock, so depending on the ground pressure, that maintenance has to be done under compressed air....that takes time to set up, and then do the actual maintenance. Typically they'd change rippers and cutters out before they knew they were going into rougher terrain. I don't remember what the geo profile looked like on the alignment (it was too many years ago that I worked on the designs), but because the segment between Bathurst and Spadina essentially cut through a hill, they may have been going through rockier soil, and may have stopped ahead to make sure the tools were in good enough shape to get through the tough stuff.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

For the stations that will be mined, there is one company that has good references:

 

[CharmAlarm]

Looks like we have some movement on the eastern front - updated today according to the tracker:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zp6aHc1dQc3U.k7Dw3Xx4O5iI