[sixrings]

Speed limits impact travel time, and there is a real and not-negligible chance that Eglinton would have its speed limit reduced (despite your characterization as "fearmongering" and "fake bullshit".) Especially since City planning has this bizarre vision of Eglinton west as being "just like St. Clair", speed limits will likely be reduced to improve the pedestrian experience.

Lower speed limits part of Toronto plan to reduce pedestrian deaths
(this is targeted at specific arterials across the city, not a blanket limit, but the fact that a center-right car-centric mayor proposes this shows what could happen if we get a more downtown left-wing mayor)

Reduced speed limits part of Tory's 'master plan' to improve road safety

Lower Toronto speed limits by 10 to 20 km/h to protect pedestrians, chief medical officer says
Dr. David McKeown advocates a 30 km/h speed limit on residential streets and a citywide speed limit of 40 km/h on all other streets

Life in the not-so-fast lane: Montreal to reduce speed limits by 2019
Montreal drivers are going to have to hit the brakes as Mayor Denis Coderre announced plans to reduce speed limits on many of the city’s streets.

The new limits will be:

• 30 km-per-hour on residential streets, in school zones, in front of playgrounds and on commercial streets with one lane in each direction.
• 30 km-per-hour in Old Montreal, with some roads having a limit of 20 km-per-hour.
• 40 km-per-hour in industrial areas and on the main arteries of the city centre.
• 50 km-per-hour on the main arteries of sectors outside the city centre

CITY OF MONTREAL MULLS OVER REDUCING SPEED LIMITS ACROSS THE ISLAND

However, I don't think the reduced top speed would have as much of an impact on travel times as all the red lights that it needs to stop at.

Elevated sections are not unusual for LRTs. For instance, here is Calgary's "new" (2012) west LRT :

OMG you are soooo right.. we better cancel finch west and eglinton east as well. Its great to hear from people who have been out of this province to see real transit at work. Virtual high five....

 

[aquateam]

OMG you are soooo right.. we better cancel finch west and eglinton east as well. Its great to hear from people who have been out of this province to see real transit at work. Virtual high five....

Almost as great as it is to hear from transit enthusiasts engaging in sincere, reasoned debate about the trade-offs between different technology options

 

[smallspy]

A high top speed is only good if the equipment can make use of it.

The Toronto subway is completely grade separated, and is rated for a maximum of 80km/h. There are maybe 2 locations on the entire system where a train can reach that speed.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[innsertnamehere]

I imagine they will make that speed on the way to STC should the extension ever be built? That could mean a 6 minute trip between STC and Kennedy.

 

[smallspy]

I imagine they will make that speed on the way to STC should the extension ever be built? That could mean a 6 minute trip between STC and Kennedy.

Doubtful. As powerful as a subway train is it needs a lot more to overcome the drag of running in a confined space, and there aren't likely to be substantial grades to help.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[RyanM12]

For that matter, I can't believe east of Don Mills is not grade separated. What a waste. Eglinton could've become the most important transit corridor.

 

[Voltz]

For that matter, I can't believe east of Don Mills is not grade separated. What a waste. Eglinton could've become the most important transit corridor.

It does not need to be, there is already a subway and a GO line to Kennedy Station, and the travel time savings would be only a few minutes. It should have been separated at Leslie of course, and it would have been worth while to examine an underpass at Victoria Park, but beyond that it is not worth while.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

For that matter, I can't believe east of Don Mills is not grade separated. What a waste. Eglinton could've become the most important transit corridor.

The Leslie intersection is the most egregious of Eglinton planning.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

The Leslie intersection is the most egregious of Eglinton planning.

The could "hold" leslie quietly while moving things to the southside of Eglinton can't they? Or are we past that point?

 

[Cobra]

The could "hold" leslie quietly while moving things to the southside of Eglinton can't they? Or are we past that point?

We can already see the portal east of Laird

 

[amnesiajune]

Speed limits impact travel time, and there is a real and not-negligible chance that Eglinton would have its speed limit reduced (despite your characterization as "fearmongering" and "fake bullshit".) Especially since City planning has this bizarre vision of Eglinton west as being "just like St. Clair", speed limits will likely be reduced to improve the pedestrian experience.

St. Clair has the unsigned default speed limit of 50 the last time I checked. Eglinton's is 60 but it's probably going to be dropped to 50, like the city is doing on a lot of the arterial roads in North York and Scarborough.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

We can already see the portal east of Laird

smh... turning trains back at Laird whether the line stops at Kennedy or UTSC is a bad idea...

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

smh... turning trains back at Laird whether the line stops at Kennedy or UTSC is a bad idea...

If the Relief Line is built to Don Mills, it makes little sense to turn back half of trains at Laird too.

Ideally, if you are travelling east-bound on Eglinton to Don Mills, you don't want to worry about your train turning back at Laird.

 

[BurlOak]

The Leslie intersection is the most egregious of Eglinton planning.

But the decision was made at a time that the entire point of transit planning was to defeat Ford.
That still is an overarching theme now - 5+ years later.

 

[Rainforest]

... one thing I'm interested in, and how it relates to the line as a whole, is speed limits. If the City ever decides to lower speed limits on roads like Eglinton, will the Crosstown follow suit? Considering it's part of the traffic system and is only segregated by a small concrete curb I believe it would. With VisionZero I wouldn't be surprised to see a lowering. In effect the entire Crosstown West could see its max speed drop by 20% (60kmh->50kmh).

I estimated the difference in travel time with the 50kph limit vs 60kph limit.

Mt Dennis to Martin Grove is about 6 km. For a vehicle that doesn't make any stops, the difference in travel time is 90 seconds.

Stops make the difference even smaller, as parts of the route are covered when the train accelerates/decelerates and therefore is below the speed limit. With 8 stops in between (and maximum acceleration 2 m/s^2), the difference in travel times comes to 70 seconds.

That difference is hardly consequential. Just one poorly timed traffic signal at a major arterial can cause a longer delay than the speed limit change along the whole route.

(I didn't consider the section west of Martin Grove, that will mostly go through the highway ramps and likely not in the street median.)