[Monarch Butterfly]

Dufferin Station
Preliminary Design
Display Panels
can be downloaded in PDF form at this link. It's 43 pages long.

The website for the Dufferin Station is at this link.

Noticed they might be eliminating the two traffic islands (north-west corner and south-east corner) at Dufferin and Eglinton. The Esso gasoline station could be replaced by with the main entrance and the secondary entrance will be just east of the Shoppers Drug Mart and over the current right turn lane.

 

[Tulse]

He just can't help himself.

Money quote:

Said one member of Ford’s inner circle: “Basically, we all acknowledge the subway plan was a big mistake. It was unrealistic. And we’re just trying to get (Ford) out of this without having egg all over his face.”

But alas, he's not helping with that...

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I think council needs to stage a coup. The vindictive side of me would be quite happy to see an egg on his face and say "I told you so" but governing for the good of the city demands more than petty vindictiveness.

AoD

 

[Tulse]

I think council needs to stage a coup.

I think they effectively are. My understanding is that in Toronto city government, the mayor doesn't have much more actual power than an individual councillor -- the political clout of the position is largely that of persuasion, and once the mayor loses the ability to persuade other councillors, he or she is pretty much toast at driving the agenda.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Yes, but he can still throw wrenches - and for the sake of good governance that has got to stop. Plus not having his agenda is one thing; not having agenda at all is another, and that's a pretty big risk.

AoD

 

[GraphicMatt]

The issue right now is finding a way to get a transit-related item on the council agenda. To avoid going through the committee process -- where any item can get deferred forever --, an item needs 2/3s support from councillors. While the mayor absolutely does not have a majority on his side, he may still have enough friends to prevent council from getting the 30 votes it needs.

Right now, it seems like councillors are seizing on Gordon Chong's Sheppard Subway report (due to come to council in February) as a chance to make significant changes to overall transit plans. This might be a good play, though it's possible the Chair will rule motions that go beyond the scope of the report (ie. private funding for the Sheppard subway) as out-of-order.

 

[jeffreym]

This might be a good play, though it's possible the Chair will rule motions that go beyond the scope of the report (ie. private funding for the Sheppard subway) as out-of-order.

Could the chair not just be overruled?

 

[ssiguy2]

You mean Toronto should get the same deal as every other municipality in Ontario, who has to cover at least 1/3 of their transit infrastructure costs? Blasphemy!

There are 2 rules in Ontario.........one for Toronto and one for everyone else. Torontonians don't seem to realize that there is a place named Ontario where not everybody lives in the GTA. Most Torontonians would faint if you told them that less than half of all Ontarians live in the GTA.
I have always found it amazing how Torontonians constantly manage to bitch at senior levels of government about not getting enough infrastructure funds but absolutely refuse to chip in one nickel themselves. Even the idea of having to come up with one third the cost of transit infrastructure like in the rest of the province is heresy. Torontonians feel they are incredibly hard done by and the rest of Ontario can afford their one third because they don't have Toronto's problems. I know for a fact that my home town of London has decided to abolish all taxes from here on in as all those WASPs have gobs of money to spare.
Toronto bitches but have no idea how good they have it. Any city on this whole planet would gleefully give their left nut to have a senior level government build them a $8.2 mass transit line and not ask for the city itself to chip in anything.
If Sheppard and the DRL don't get done it is 100% Toronto's fault not Queen's Park.

 

[Paleo]

There are 2 rules in Ontario.........one for Toronto and one for everyone else. Torontonians don't seem to realize that there is a place named Ontario where not everybody lives in the GTA. Most Torontonians would faint if you told them that less than half of all Ontarians live in the GTA.
I have always found it amazing how Torontonians constantly manage to bitch at senior levels of government about not getting enough infrastructure funds but absolutely refuse to chip in one nickel themselves. Even the idea of having to come up with one third the cost of transit infrastructure like in the rest of the province is heresy. Torontonians feel they are incredibly hard done by and the rest of Ontario can afford their one third because they don't have Toronto's problems. I know for a fact that my home town of London has decided to abolish all taxes from here on in as all those WASPs have gobs of money to spare.
Toronto bitches but have no idea how good they have it. Any city on this whole planet would gleefully give their left nut to have a senior level government build them a $8.2 mass transit line and not ask for the city itself to chip in anything.
If Sheppard and the DRL don't get done it is 100% Toronto's fault not Queen's Park.

Go back to BC. You have no clue where the tax dollars come from.

BTW it's $8 billion over 8 years. $1 billion per year. Toronto sends out far more tax dollars per year than it gets back.

 

[sixrings]

There are 2 rules in Ontario.........one for Toronto and one for everyone else. Torontonians don't seem to realize that there is a place named Ontario where not everybody lives in the GTA. Most Torontonians would faint if you told them that less than half of all Ontarians live in the GTA.
I have always found it amazing how Torontonians constantly manage to bitch at senior levels of government about not getting enough infrastructure funds but absolutely refuse to chip in one nickel themselves. Even the idea of having to come up with one third the cost of transit infrastructure like in the rest of the province is heresy. Torontonians feel they are incredibly hard done by and the rest of Ontario can afford their one third because they don't have Toronto's problems. I know for a fact that my home town of London has decided to abolish all taxes from here on in as all those WASPs have gobs of money to spare.
Toronto bitches but have no idea how good they have it. Any city on this whole planet would gleefully give their left nut to have a senior level government build them a $8.2 mass transit line and not ask for the city itself to chip in anything.
If Sheppard and the DRL don't get done it is 100% Toronto's fault not Queen's Park.

yw for the olympics btw

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

There are 2 rules in Ontario.........one for Toronto and one for everyone else. Torontonians don't seem to realize that there is a place named Ontario where not everybody lives in the GTA. Most Torontonians would faint if you told them that less than half of all Ontarians live in the GTA.
I have always found it amazing how Torontonians constantly manage to bitch at senior levels of government about not getting enough infrastructure funds but absolutely refuse to chip in one nickel themselves. Even the idea of having to come up with one third the cost of transit infrastructure like in the rest of the province is heresy. Torontonians feel they are incredibly hard done by and the rest of Ontario can afford their one third because they don't have Toronto's problems. I know for a fact that my home town of London has decided to abolish all taxes from here on in as all those WASPs have gobs of money to spare.
Toronto bitches but have no idea how good they have it. Any city on this whole planet would gleefully give their left nut to have a senior level government build them a $8.2 mass transit line and not ask for the city itself to chip in anything.
If Sheppard and the DRL don't get done it is 100% Toronto's fault not Queen's Park.

Very True. It's the city council that has ruined this again for all of us. Time for tolls.

 

[gweed123]

Go back to BC. You have no clue where the tax dollars come from.

BTW it's $8 billion over 8 years. $1 billion per year. Toronto sends out far more tax dollars per year than it gets back.

Toronto: 2.5 million people, $7.9 billion in Provincial funding (subtract the Federal funding for Sheppard). Works out to $3,160 in Provincial funding for every person in Toronto.

Ottawa: 900,000 people. $600 million in Provincial funding. $666 per person.

Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge: 480,000 people. $300 million from the Province. $625 per person.

Hamilton: Haven't even gotten a funding commitment from the Provincial government.

Toronto may send out more tax dollars than it gets back, but it definitely doesn't send out nearly 5x what it gets back, which is what it would need to be in order for the amount of transit dollars it gets compared to other municipalities to be fair.

 

[k10ery]

The issue right now is finding a way to get a transit-related item on the council agenda. To avoid going through the committee process -- where any item can get deferred forever --, an item needs 2/3s support from councillors. While the mayor absolutely does not have a majority on his side, he may still have enough friends to prevent council from getting the 30 votes it needs.

Right now, it seems like councillors are seizing on Gordon Chong's Sheppard Subway report (due to come to council in February) as a chance to make significant changes to overall transit plans. This might be a good play, though it's possible the Chair will rule motions that go beyond the scope of the report (ie. private funding for the Sheppard subway) as out-of-order.

If Ford shunted a specific resolution on Eglinton/Shepaprd to committee instead of voting on it, I think there would be hell to pay. The provincial government is already on record saying (was it Wynne? Chiarelli?) that Council should vote on the MOU. If Ford just outright filibusters I think he'll be in an untenable position. (Untenable even for Ford.)

 

[k10ery]

Toronto: 2.5 million people, $7.9 billion in Provincial funding (subtract the Federal funding for Sheppard). Works out to $3,160 in Provincial funding for every person in Toronto.

Ottawa: 900,000 people. $600 million in Provincial funding. $666 per person.

Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge: 480,000 people. $300 million from the Province. $625 per person.

Hamilton: Haven't even gotten a funding commitment from the Provincial government.

Toronto may send out more tax dollars than it gets back, but it definitely doesn't send out nearly 5x what it gets back, which is what it would need to be in order for the amount of transit dollars it gets compared to other municipalities to be fair.

Divide by ridership and it starts to make sense.

GRT: 14 million
OC Transpo: 100 million
TTC: 500 million

Ottawa's deal still looks a bit chintzy. But put in matching funding from the feds and it's similar too.

 

[Eug]

Dufferin Station
Preliminary Design
Display Panels
can be downloaded in PDF form at this link. It's 43 pages long.

The website for the Dufferin Station is at this link.

Noticed they might be eliminating the two traffic islands (north-west corner and south-east corner) at Dufferin and Eglinton. The Esso gasoline station could be replaced by with the main entrance and the secondary entrance will be just east of the Shoppers Drug Mart and over the current right turn lane.

Thanks for the link. Good to see the plans.

However, somehow all of a sudden it seems anticlimactic. I just hope the City Council don't screw us all over yet again. Just frickin' build the thing dammit!