[rbt]

This is true, too.
And what if Toronto doesnt agree to this? The council wont agree to this without some operational subsidy.

If Toronto council doesn't agree then I assume the province will say "yes you do" and that'll be that; Toronto will add a "Provincially mandated funding" line to the tax bill or something.

 

[Rainforest]

Eglinton East cannot be built grade-separated if the portion from Kennedy to Don Mills is not.

Technically it can if they are not through-running, although that would be a weird solution.

Either Kennedy to Don Mills is fixed, or EELRT is abandoned (and left to the City if they want to proceed).

We never abandon anything. We postpone, postpone, postpone.

If the province mandates EELRT to be fully grade-separate, and clearly has lots of more pressing priorities, then the natural outcome is the line being postponed for a long time.

 

[Streety McCarface]

When people say Eglinton should have been a Subway do they mean grade-separated LRT or full on Subway like Line 1 and 2? The latter was terrible idea in the 1990's and is a terrible idea today; it would have made the Sheppard Line look like a gold mine. Guarantee it would have been shut down in the early 2000 during the TTC's budget crisis like the Sheppard Line almost was. It would have run at such a deficit I could see it nearly bankrupting the TTC it that was possible.

It's not a terrible idea, the current Eglinton crosstown (Mt Dennis to Kennedy) is projected to have more than 300,000 daily riders by the end of 2021. For a 20 km line, this is ridership similar to the Bloor-Danforth line, and that line has some of the highest ridership in the world. It may not have the peak ridership requirements, but it really doesn't need them, especially since running a subway train is cheaper than running an underground LRT (This is true because subway cars are lighter than LRVs, so a 4 car LRT uses more electricity than a 4 car subway train).

The whole point of LRT is saving on the construction costs and operating costs with cheaper at-grade sections. If we believe that the passenger volume can be comfortably handled by the line that partly runs at grade, then the current design is correct and shouldn't be changed.

The problem is that it may not. The line is projected to have 300,000 daily riders by 2031, meaning the line will pretty much be at capacity. The problem is that Metrolinx is cheaping out on lines that actually may need relief not so far into the future instead of building something that suits the needs of the city right now.

I don't believe the Eglinton East LRT cost estimates are anywhere near $5 billion!

I think he was referring to the Eglinton Crosstown, not the EELRT. If 1 billion of that is for the surface section and another half a billion is for rolling stock, 10 km of subway was built for 3.5 billion dollars, doesn't seem that unreasonable.

 

[skylyte]

In the case of a grade separated EELRT, what would happen to the plans for the Morningside Crossing (Lawrence/Morningside) station? It has the potential to be a "mini Kennedy" for that area, handling the northbound trains to UTSC and Malvern Town Centre, as well as for any Durham buses using Highway 2. The Guildwood stop would also be great at handling the all day electrified GO traffic.

The potential development on that strip from Markham to Morningside could be huge. I remember that plaza with the Metro at Markham and Eglinton being tapped for a condo some years back.

 

[Rainforest]

The problem is that it may not. The line is projected to have 300,000 daily riders by 2031, meaning the line will pretty much be at capacity. The problem is that Metrolinx is cheaping out on lines that actually may need relief not so far into the future instead of building something that suits the needs of the city right now.

Capacity should be sized against the peak-point demand. Daily ridership correlates with the peak-point demand to some extent, but there may be large variations dependent on the travel patterns.

If a lot of riders take short rides to the closest subway station and leave the LRT there, then they count into daily ridership but might not affect the peak-point demand. Counter-peak and off-peak riders always contribute to daily ridership but almost never to peak-point demand.

Projections I've seen for Eglinton so far, are up to 7,000 pphpd at most; that volume can be handled by the current design.

Furthermore, if those projections are wrong and we actually made a mistake building LRT, then we are already stuck with this mistake due to the central tunnel and stations design. Grade-separating the Golden Mile section will not fix the mistake; on the contrary, it will exacerbate the situation because a faster line will attract more riders who would use parallel lines otherwise.

The right way to deal with Eglinton capacity, assuming that capacity is a problem, is to build connecting lines that can skim off some riders: DRL East, SmartTrack West, and perhaps Lawrence LRT.

 

[JSF-1]

We can also say with certainty that the most heavily used section of the line will be between Science Centre and Eglinton since that section of Eglinton is already inundated with Bus Routes (5 to be exact). It just so happens that section is also underground so ridership won't be a problem there. Out side of that section I don't see ridership deviating all that much from what currently exists on the 32 and 34.

 

[Rainforest]

We can also say with certainty that the most heavily used section of the line will be between Science Centre and Eglinton since that section of Eglinton is already inundated with Bus Routes (5 to be exact). It just so happens that section is also underground so ridership won't be a problem there. Out side of that section I don't see ridership deviating all that much from what currently exists on the 32 and 34.

Well unfortunately we didn't extend the grade-separated section to Science Centre, even though Metrolinx was promoting that option at some point. The line will emerge at Brentcliffe and stop at the Leslie traffic light, before going into the tunnel again approaching the Don Mills station. That's the section I would happily put underground or, better yet, shift to the south side of Eglinton to bypass the Leslie traffic light.

However if we build Relief Line East to Eglinton, then a lot of downtown-bound riders will transfer from the Eglinton and Lawrence routes at Science Centre, reducing the volume west of Don Mills. Then we should be fine.

 

[WislaHD]

To me, the design flaws on Eglinton not being fully grade separated point to the obviousness of building the Relief Line up to Sheppard, not in spending billions in backtracking the design of Eglinton while its under construction.

The exception I'll make is that portion between Laird and Don Mills. Grade separating Leslie will vastly improve service and operations for the entire line, especially if there is to be a future interchange at Don Mills and Eglinton.

 

[Leo_Chan]

To me, the design flaws on Eglinton not being fully grade separated point to the obviousness of building the Relief Line up to Sheppard, not in spending billions in backtracking the design of Eglinton while its under construction.

The exception I'll make is that portion between Laird and Don Mills. Grade separating Leslie will vastly improve service and operations for the entire line, especially if there is to be a future interchange at Don Mills and Eglinton.

Don't forget a potential interchange with Midtown GO at Leslie.

One solution might be to remove the traffic light at Leslie and Eglinton and create and underpass for cars to go/come to/from the opposite side of street, removing the need for the LRT to stop at the light (can still have a station but lights for pedestrian crossing only) and have a dedicated uninterrupted 1 km above ground ROW. Basically, copy the interchange to the east of Leslie.

 

[raptor]

Upcoming Community Pop-up Bus Consultations
The Eglinton East LRT team will be visiting several Scarborough communities… on a TTC bus! On July 18th and 25th. On these days we will be parking a TTC bus in key areas along the LRT route in hopes of meeting members of the community, sharing ideas and shaping the future of the line. The dates and locations of the Community Consultation Bus are listed below.
Day One Wednesday July 18th

Midland and Eglinton Plaza 12:30 – 2pm (times are approximate)
2480 Eglinton Ave E (Southeast corner of parking lot)

Markington Square 3:30 – 5 pm (times are approximate)
3221 Eglinton Ave E (Northwest corner of parking lot)

Day Two Wednesday July 25th

Malvern Town Centre 12:00 – 1:30 pm (times are approximate)
31 Tapscott Rd, Scarborough (Southwest parking lot)

UTSC Farmers Market 3:00 – 4:30pm (times are approximate)
1265 Military Trail (Scarborough Circle close to the Child Care Centre)

Kingston Square 5:30 – 7pm (times are approximate)
4435-4479 Kingston Road (Northeast parking lot)

 

[Amare]

Upcoming Community Pop-up Bus Consultations
The Eglinton East LRT team will be visiting several Scarborough communities… on a TTC bus! On July 18th and 25th. On these days we will be parking a TTC bus in key areas along the LRT route in hopes of meeting members of the community, sharing ideas and shaping the future of the line. The dates and locations of the Community Consultation Bus are listed below.

This is a very smart idea to spread the word about what this project is truly all about. Especially due to the fact that 70% of the people living in this city have no idea what's going on, which is really their own fault. But the more we can get people informed, the less instances we'll have of foolish politicians being elected and the thoughts of LRT=streetcars.

 

[Leo_Chan]

This is a very smart idea to spread the word about what this project is truly all about. Especially due to the fact that 70% of the people living in this city have no idea what's going on, which is really their own fault. But the more we can get people informed, the less instances we'll have of foolish politicians being elected and the thoughts of LRT=streetcars.

Just hope the politicians don't go to these public consultations or meetings and screw with the facts.

 

[Allandale25]

I received this email.

Dear Community Member,

You are invited to attend a community drop-in focused on the future planning opportunities along the Eglinton East LRT corridor in Scarborough. This community drop-in will include an interactive drawing event and optional walking tour where you will be able to provide input on the planning directions and priorities of the Eglinton East LRT project.

We are undertaking a planning study as part of the broader Eglinton East Light Rail Transit (LRT) project. The Eglinton East LRT will run east from Kennedy Station, along Eglinton Avenue East, Kingston Road, Morningside Avenue, Sheppard Avenue and Neilson Road to connect to Malvern Town Centre. The planning study will focus on developing a vision for the LRT route, improving public spaces, supporting the growth of local businesses, and strengthening travel connections to surrounding communities.

If you would like to attend a community drop-in in the area that interests you most, please RSVP at least 24-hours in advance to EglintonEastLRT@toronto.ca.

The four opportunities to get involved are as follows:

Eglinton Avenue East and Midland Avenue area: September 5th from 6:00-8:30pm at Don Montgomery Community Centre, 2467 Eglinton Avenue East, focusing on the area of Eglinton Ave between Midland and McCowan.

Malvern area: September 10th from 6:00-8:30pm at Malvern Town Centre, 31 Tapscott Road, focusing on the area of Malvern Centre

Kingston Road, Lawrence Avenue East and Morningside Avenue area: September 13th from 6:00-8:30pm at Centre for Connected Communities, 4218 Lawrence Avenue East, focusing on the area of Kingston Road-between Galloway/Lawrence and Morningside

Eglinton Avenue East and Kingston Road area: September 18th from 6:00-8:30pm at Scarborough Village Community Centre, 3600 Kingston Road, focusing on the area of Eglinton Ave between Markham Road and Kingston Road.

**If you are a business owner or operator in the area, please take our Community Business Survey. Completing the survey will help us better understand how we can support business development in the community through the planning process.

For further information, please contact the project team at eglintoneastlrt@toronto.ca or on 416-338-2848.

 

[hw621]

I tried to view their official website, but was unable to connect. Is this project dead?

 

[raptor]

I tried to view their official website, but was unable to connect. Is this project dead?

works for me
https://eglintoneastlrt.ca/

thanks for the bump