denfromoakvillemilton
Senior Member
Just bite the bullet on Sheppard and Scarborough and let's move on. Extend Bloor to Square if you have to. Just get this done, there is more important issues to be fighting about like RER
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Just bite the bullet on Sheppard and Scarborough and let's move on. Extend Bloor to Square if you have to. Just get this done, there is more important issues to be fighting about like RER
That's another matter; Agincourt could be turned into a decent hub. Local space may be a problem, but I guess some buildings surrounding it could be taken and demolished in order to make room for transit connections and for highrises.
However in this case the toy is so big and the parents so poor that the kid can wave goodbye to going to college after this one purchase.
Local space is definitely not an issue. Pretty much everything along the Sheppard corridor from Markham Road to Vic Park can be demolished and rebuilt to higher density. Most of it are ugly generic strip malls with a sea of parking that's barely half full at the best of times. Also, all the surrounding areas are pretty much SFHs, with pockets of apartments here and there.
The only issue is political will. The SFH lots in the area are huge (especially for such a prime location), and we are looking into demolishing a SFH to build a pair of semis (it'll fit quite generously .. bigger lot size than even the SFH new builds up in the 905) to downsize. But the zoning is so ridiculously stringent, that it looks like it'll be next to impossible to get approval for it.
In this case the parents are quite wealthy - the richest city in Canada - and the toy is modest in size and cost compared to the shopping list (of transit projects) the parents already sketched.
More like the parents have agreed to buy a birthday present, then changed their mind and are trying to get out of their previous commitment by throwing a tantrum on their own.
Wow that’s a totally inaccurate reflection of reality.
First, the long term capital budget for the TTC is not the definition of “wealthy”. It is chronically underfunded.
https://torontoist.com/2017/09/ttc-budget-woes-deepen/
“Toronto ignores the growing backlog of transit repairs and renewal at its peril—not to mention the $2.8-billion hole in the plan”
Secondly, the cost of the SSE is not “modest” compared to other proposed transit lines, save for the RL which everyone acknowledges is the most critically needed and transformative transit line for this city.
https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/ne...9194407/?ref=https://www.theglobeandmail.com&
Go through each of those lines and tell me how $3B+ is “modest” compared to most of those proposals which are in the $hundreds of millions. Then there is the value-for-money proposition: how a line with one stop provides high value, is on its face laughable.
We can't talk about the SSE not being a modest expenditure in the same breath as extolling the virtues of something like the DRL phase 1, which will cost over twice as much as SSE to build for roughly the same amount of trackbed. General hyperinflation of tunnel construction is the bigger issue/culprit here, not whether SSE - with a projected 36 million riders per year - is worth the endeavour.
Being so frustrated about all the arguing that you conclude screw it here's a blank check is no different than being a parent and shutting your crying kid up by buying them a toy they likely will never use for more than a day. However in this case the toy is so big and the parents so poor that the kid can wave goodbye to going to college after this one purchase.
Even if the Relief Line was a zero stop subway extension (just tunnel and new platforms), it is still more useful than the SSE with 3 stops.And we can't compare the DRL with the SSE without discussing need, density and return on investment.
The DRL is not going to be just a one stop extension, and it's desperately needed to relieve pressure on an already over-capacity Yonge Line.
The SSE is a one stop vanity project because people in Scarborough apparently shouldn't have to make transfers like TTC riders across the rest of the city.
I think it's quite obvious why one is being considered a worthwhile and necessary investment, and the other a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Even if the Relief Line was a zero stop subway extension (just tunnel and new platforms), it is still more useful than the SSE with 3 stops.
I don't think this point can be stressed enough.Even if the Relief Line was a zero stop subway extension (just tunnel and new platforms), it is still more useful than the SSE with 3 stops.