M II A II R II K
Senior Member
Gordon Chong: A complete transit plan for Toronto must include a Queen Street subway
August 27, 2014
By Gordon Joseph Chong
Read More: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com...r-toronto-must-include-a-queen-street-subway/
Over the last few decades, all of the efforts aimed at improving Toronto’s congested road and transit networks have been informed primarily by short-term electoral interests. What’s needed is something different: big, far-sighted investment that proceeds according to a 100-year time horizon. It will be expensive, and not for the faint of heart. But our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and future migrants to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) will be grateful for the legacy we leave.
- Rather than allowing Toronto’s existing Sheppard “stubway†to languish because it goes nowhere (and thus attracts poor ridership), it should be extended east immediately to meet the proposed Downtown Relief Line. Eventually, it also should be extended west to meet the University/Spadina subway being extended up into Vaughan to close the loop and create a larger network. --- This is what engineers call “essential redundancyâ€: It provides an alternative during the inevitable breakdowns and closures for scheduled maintenance. But more would be needed. The under-construction Eglinton Crosstown LRT — along with an LRT on Steeles — would create an efficient cross-linked transit system to serve the central GTA for decades to come.
- Looking beyond John Tory’s SmartTrack proposal to electrify an existing GO Transit Corridor, and provide east-west service to Union Station, city planners should consider the benefits of a completely new east-west subway line under Queen Street. This idea was proposed by the Toronto Transit Commission in the 1960s, along with a streetcar elimination program. However, a vocal and well-organized group known as “Streetcars for Toronto†managed to kill the idea. These hippies are responsible for much of today’s mobility challenges and downtown traffic chaos.
- Transit lines could be located more uniformly between Bloor and the waterfront, decongest current flow patterns and deconcentrate the current development in the financial district to locations north of the existing core. A Queen line would better serve the retail, healthcare (four major hospitals are located between Queen Street and College Street) and the university district. Farther along Queen at Bathurst, Toronto Western Hospital is located at Dundas and Bathurst. A Queen line extending farther east and west could take the pressure off both the Yonge/University/Spadina line and the Bloor/Danforth line.
- Queen Street between Bay Street and York could be closed, and the existing Nathan Philips Square could be extended to encompass Queen Street and create a large, friendly, attractive urban meeting place. The Queen subway stations extending west from Yonge and east from University could be connected by an underground tunnel and mall with an iconic pavilion in front of City Hall. Bringing light down into the station and connection would create an engaging, people-friendly space above and below ground similar to the transit pavilion at the new World Trade Centre in New York.
- The Queen line should be extended east to Woodbine/Kingston Rd. and then up Victoria Park to meet the Sheppard East extension. The Queen line also should be extended west to the Queensway through Parkdale and up Keele St. Thus, a continuous subway loop would be created (once Sheppard is extended west), which in turn would act as the anchor and link for the other lines — similar to systems in Paris and other European cities.
- The controversial extension of the Bloor/Danforth subway, if the subway option prevails, should be extended from Kennedy Station to McCowan Road. The subway would then extend up McCowan to the Scarborough Town Centre, run parallel to Highway 401 to Centennial College, then up McCowan Road to a terminal station at Steeles Avenue, where it would connect with the Steeles LRT line. This alignment would allow continued operation of the current Scarborough Rapid Transit system during periods of construction, and integrate well with the proposed subway line along Victoria Park to provide acceptable transit coverage to Scarborough.
.....
August 27, 2014
By Gordon Joseph Chong
Read More: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com...r-toronto-must-include-a-queen-street-subway/
Over the last few decades, all of the efforts aimed at improving Toronto’s congested road and transit networks have been informed primarily by short-term electoral interests. What’s needed is something different: big, far-sighted investment that proceeds according to a 100-year time horizon. It will be expensive, and not for the faint of heart. But our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and future migrants to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) will be grateful for the legacy we leave.
- Rather than allowing Toronto’s existing Sheppard “stubway†to languish because it goes nowhere (and thus attracts poor ridership), it should be extended east immediately to meet the proposed Downtown Relief Line. Eventually, it also should be extended west to meet the University/Spadina subway being extended up into Vaughan to close the loop and create a larger network. --- This is what engineers call “essential redundancyâ€: It provides an alternative during the inevitable breakdowns and closures for scheduled maintenance. But more would be needed. The under-construction Eglinton Crosstown LRT — along with an LRT on Steeles — would create an efficient cross-linked transit system to serve the central GTA for decades to come.
- Looking beyond John Tory’s SmartTrack proposal to electrify an existing GO Transit Corridor, and provide east-west service to Union Station, city planners should consider the benefits of a completely new east-west subway line under Queen Street. This idea was proposed by the Toronto Transit Commission in the 1960s, along with a streetcar elimination program. However, a vocal and well-organized group known as “Streetcars for Toronto†managed to kill the idea. These hippies are responsible for much of today’s mobility challenges and downtown traffic chaos.
- Transit lines could be located more uniformly between Bloor and the waterfront, decongest current flow patterns and deconcentrate the current development in the financial district to locations north of the existing core. A Queen line would better serve the retail, healthcare (four major hospitals are located between Queen Street and College Street) and the university district. Farther along Queen at Bathurst, Toronto Western Hospital is located at Dundas and Bathurst. A Queen line extending farther east and west could take the pressure off both the Yonge/University/Spadina line and the Bloor/Danforth line.
- Queen Street between Bay Street and York could be closed, and the existing Nathan Philips Square could be extended to encompass Queen Street and create a large, friendly, attractive urban meeting place. The Queen subway stations extending west from Yonge and east from University could be connected by an underground tunnel and mall with an iconic pavilion in front of City Hall. Bringing light down into the station and connection would create an engaging, people-friendly space above and below ground similar to the transit pavilion at the new World Trade Centre in New York.
- The Queen line should be extended east to Woodbine/Kingston Rd. and then up Victoria Park to meet the Sheppard East extension. The Queen line also should be extended west to the Queensway through Parkdale and up Keele St. Thus, a continuous subway loop would be created (once Sheppard is extended west), which in turn would act as the anchor and link for the other lines — similar to systems in Paris and other European cities.
- The controversial extension of the Bloor/Danforth subway, if the subway option prevails, should be extended from Kennedy Station to McCowan Road. The subway would then extend up McCowan to the Scarborough Town Centre, run parallel to Highway 401 to Centennial College, then up McCowan Road to a terminal station at Steeles Avenue, where it would connect with the Steeles LRT line. This alignment would allow continued operation of the current Scarborough Rapid Transit system during periods of construction, and integrate well with the proposed subway line along Victoria Park to provide acceptable transit coverage to Scarborough.
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![streetcar_lkp_014.png](http://wpmedia.fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/08/streetcar_lkp_014.png?w=620)