[DavidH]

Im curious as to what the RT in the Eglinton Crosstown line refers to...

"Rapid transit". It's a generic Metrolinx term that covers both ART (existing Scarborough RT) and LRT technologies. The implication being that a final decision has not been made.

 

[Tuscani01]

I like seeing that Metrolinx will be involved in each of the projects. "Cost will be determined by Metrolinx and the City of Toronto". Maybe the decisions on which lines would get funding were based on the actual benefit that each line would produce?

 

[lordmandeep]

You see Mcgunity knows in the next election he will be against a very conservative yet very populist Tory leader who will advocating lower taxes, lower taxes and lower taxes.

That means Dalton will have do everything to show he is the leader of the people or the leader of the centre. Meaning Dalton will have to say, I am building Transit lines they want to lower taxes for the rich and all of that. That is why he wants projects that start before the next election.

That look even in such hard times I am building transit, remember the dark days of Mike Harris !!!

 

[DavidH]

I like seeing that Metrolinx will be involved in each of the projects. "Cost will be determined by Metrolinx and the City of Toronto". Maybe the decisions on which lines would get funding were based on the actual benefit that each line would produce?

That's supposed to be the plan. We have this information for VIVA and the SRT, but not for Finch West or Eglinton.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

Not really. McGuinty wants jobs on the ground (construction by spring 2010, fall at the latest).

Yonge line cannot possibly start construction in any meaningful way by that time. In fact, we'll be lucky if Spadina is moving by then (have TBMs been ordered -- I recall seeing a request to purchase not long ago).

My impression was that Yonge would certainly be ready to go for 2010 - they've been adamant about doing commissioning in 2016 and opening in 2017 based on a 7-yr build.

I do know the final date for the EA review is April 8 so maybe they're waiting on that and will announce it in a few weeks or something. I'd imagine that 1 week disparity is at least a factor.

York Region says 3 TBMs are "being acquired" for Spadina and they are asking for a 4th to speed things up (at a cost of $8.5M, to save $13.4M in construction).

If they do get the go ahead for Yonge, I wonder how many TBMs will be operating simultaneously around the GTA...

 

[299 bloor call control.]

How much BRT are we getting for $1.4B? If Vancouver's 20km long Canada line cost $1.8B, something is wrong here.

This likely includes Hwy 7 from Vaughan Corp. Centre to Cornell and Yonge from Richmond Hill Centre to Newmarket.

 

[DavidH]

For what it's worth, a tweet from the TTC Community (#ttcu) indicates that the Premier stated that no federal money is involved in today's announcement. Not surprising; federal money would surely have meant Harper's presence at the announcement.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

This likely includes Hwy 7 from Vaughan Corp. Centre to Cornell and Yonge from Richmond Hill Centre to Newmarket.

You could be right...Viva says they have 67km in BRT so that would be....(not so good at math) just under $150 mil/km?

I hate when governments are unclear about all this so they can reannounce more funding later, citing the $1.4 billion again even if they're only providing a second phase of that funding.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

Harper was too busy talking to imaginary friends on his unconnected phone (see phone in background)

 

[kEiThZ]

That *is* the question.

Thanks!

 

[Second_in_pie]

"Rapid transit". It's a generic Metrolinx term that covers both ART (existing Scarborough RT) and LRT technologies. The implication being that a final decision has not been made.

If I'm not mistaken, Subway is also Rapid Transit, isn't it?

 

[waterloowarrior]

Steve Munro's post

An obvious question in response to this impressive list is “where’s Sheppard East� First off, as I noted above, some lines mentioned in the announcement don’t have funding yet, and the Sheppard LRT is mentioned twice. Finch is explicitly listed as an LRT project, and the technology choice for the RT is still up in the air (no pun intended). That choice depends on Metrolinx’ own Benefits Case Analysis (BCA) for Eglinton expected to be available, at least in private session, to the Metrolinx Board this month. We know that the Scarborough RT BCA looked favourably on the LRT option.

There isn’t much point in building one lonely LRT line up on Finch if it wouldn’t be connecting with a larger network, and I think this suggests a larger LRT network is in our future.

Although the source of funding for Sheppard isn’t announced yet, Mayor Miller speaks of construction starting this year on Transit City. The only place that is possible is on Sheppard. Also coming up will be the new streetcar order for the “city†network, yet another opportunity for substantial provincial funding. I suspect there are more rabbits waiting to pop out of one or more hats.

 

[TOareaFan]

My obvious question.....

....is, where did these 4 projects rank in order in that RTP that Metrolinx produced not that long ago?

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

Pasted from Steve Munro's website - Mlinx's Top 15 priority projects:
(bold=today's announcement)

* VIVA Highway 7 and Yonge Street through York Region
* Brampton’s Queen Street Acceleride
* Spadina subway extension to Vaughan Corporate Centre
* Yonge subway extension to Richmond Hill and capacity improvements
* Eglinton rapid transit from Pearson Airport to Scarborough Centre
* Upgrade and extension of the Scarborough Rapid Transit line
* Finch/Sheppard rapid transit from Pearson Airport to Scarborough Centre and Meadowvale
* Express Rail on the Lakeshore Line from Hamilton to Oshawa
* Rapid transit in downtown Hamilton from McMaster University to Centennial Parkway
* Hurontario rapid transit from Port Credit to downtown Brampton
* 403 Transitway from Mississauga City Centre to the Renforth Gateway
* Rail link between Union Station and Pearson Airport
* Rapid transit service along Highway 2 in Durham
* Improvements to existing GO Rail services and extension of GO Rail service to Bowmanville
* Early phases of BRT service on Dundas Street in Halton and Peel

I don't think they were prioritized within that list.

 

[Disparishun]

Finch LRT will extend from Yonge Street west to Humber College and east to Don Mills Subway Station. Commuters will have better connections to the Yonge, Spadina and Sheppard Subway lines, and the proposed Sheppard Avenue East LRT.

I wonder if this means the Finch LRT will skip Woodbine? I have not kept track of what was going on with that Woodbine Live project, but seem to remember it was pretty big and that the City had given it some tax breaks.

If so, it would be nice to see the Finch LRT loop through both Humber andWoodbine at its western terminus -- they both seem like good trip generators.