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Such a huge mistake, IMHO. The street network in that area is really lacking, with no east-west routes (including transit) between Lakeshore and King Street. A through connection from East Liberty to Front street would distribute the local traffic much better.
 
DarnDirtyApe said:
Such a huge mistake, IMHO. The street network in that area is really lacking, with no east-west routes (including transit) between Lakeshore and King Street. A through connection from East Liberty to Front street would distribute the local traffic much better.
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I agree. The much better connected road-network on the east side, makes driving a lot easier - and allow transit vehicles to move faster as well.

But for some reason the Nimbys on the west side seem to win, and block any progress on improving connectivity - other than the Dufferin underpass - I'm surprised no one appeared to object to that.
 
nfitz said:
You'd think so. On the other hand, what is the worst road for congestion in the east end - Danforth. In the west end, Wellesley/Harbord always moves better than Bloor.
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Congestion on Bloor & Danforth seems to be tied to people going to and from the local businesses, finding parking spots, and the number of traffic lights. Or perhaps it just that people from outside the area don't know about alternate routes like Harbord or Mortimer...

Frankly it doesn't help the west end that the local councillors for the area (Joe Cressy, Mike Layton, Gord Perks) are fervent believers in social engineering - in other words, by increasing road congestion they can encourage people to take transit, walk or cycle. Unfortunately most people driving have little choice in the short term, so the end result is that roads become choked with cars and nobody benefits. The east end benefits from past efforts to carve out continuous transportation corridors, particularly in the former East York (I'm thinking O'Connor, Cosburn, Mortimer in particular, but also see Dundas, Eastern/Kingston and Lakeshore).
 
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DarnDirtyApe said:
Congestion on Bloor & Danforth seems to be tied to people going to and from the local businesses, finding parking spots, and the number of traffic lights.
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I always get the impression it's people going further than that. I frequent a lot of local businesses on both Danforth and Bloor. I seldom take a car with me ... too much of a pain, particularly if I've got more than one stop - and jumping on the subway to go a couple of stops to the next business is a breeze. Occasionally I might stop if I'm driving nearby anyways ..

Most people I see in businesses along Danforth and Bloor appear to have not driven. I suppose those doing a full grocery shop would be an exception ... but most businesses aren't grocery stores.
 
nfitz said:
I always get the impression it's people going further than that. I frequent a lot of local businesses on both Danforth and Bloor. I seldom take a car with me ... too much of a pain, particularly if I've got more than one stop - and jumping on the subway to go a couple of stops to the next business is a breeze. Occasionally I might stop if I'm driving nearby anyways ..

Most people I see in businesses along Danforth and Bloor appear to have not driven. I suppose those doing a full grocery shop would be an exception ... but most businesses aren't grocery stores.
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Depends when and where you go, I guess. I find that the worst times on (west) Danforth are weekends, when people from elsewhere come to shop and go to restaurants. Just because most shoppers are not drivers, it's still quite possible that most congestion is caused by the shoppers who do drive! Since there's only one traffic lane, one unskilled parallel parker will bring everything to a halt. There also seem to be a lot of people cruising around looking for spots, as street parking is hard to come by and the Green P lots are often full. On the flip side, it moves pretty well during rush hour since both lanes are open. When I ride my bike to work, there's hardly any traffic in the morning when stores are closed.

I wouldn't imagine that there are many people driving from Bloor all the way East, as the Rosedale Valley/Bayview/Pottery/Mortimer option is way faster. Likewise, someone coming from downtown proper headed for points east will take Eastern or Lakeshore up to Kingston or Danforth at Woodbine.

Anyway, this is why a complete road network is so important - it gives people options! :)
 
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W. K. Lis said:
They could have done it in the 1950's. They would not be able to do it today.
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Look how beautiful the street looks here. You can't ruin it now just to connect St Clair. I once googled St Clair to see why it was not connected past Mt Pleasant and that's when I saw all the residential houses.
 
Palma said:
Look how beautiful the street looks here. You can't ruin it now just to connect St Clair. I once googled St Clair to see why it was not connected past Mt Pleasant and that's when I saw all the residential houses.

I say Dufferin, north of Wilson (through Downsview Park) should be easy to connect. Dufferin reaches into Vaughhan and beyond.

Front street going west also
Keele Street
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Palma said:
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Dufferin north of Wilson isn't Downsview Park, it's Downview Airport owned by Bombardier. Are you suggesting it would be easy to tunnel under the runway or to remove DeHavilland from their property? I don't think it's a good idea to risk a few thousand good paying jobs to make a few hundred commuters happy.
 
Vaucluse said:
Dufferin north of Wilson isn't Downsview Park, it's Downview Airport owned by Bombardier. Are you suggesting it would be easy to tunnel under the runway or to remove DeHavilland from their property? I don't think it's a good idea to risk a few thousand good paying jobs to make a few hundred commuters happy.
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Well I have heard for ions now that the Airport is supposed to be gone but still there and was one of the reasons why Downsview Park has not been developed as it was envisioned to be. If Dufferin St continues north it may not be exactly part of Downsview Park (I am not sure as to the exact boundaries) but it would be just east of it so pretty close. Still a good idea to connect Dufferin St
 
Palma said:
Well I have heard for ions now that the Airport is supposed to be gone but still there and was one of the reasons why Downsview Park has not been developed as it was envisioned to be. If Dufferin St continues north it may not be exactly part of Downsview Park (I am not sure as to the exact boundaries) but it would be just east of it so pretty close. Still a good idea to connect Dufferin St
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Bombardier owns the runway and the land just around it, if you look at the property in Google earth then it's somewhat apparent. Good idea or not, unless Bombardier gives up the airfield extending Dufferin St. is not likely. Really, how many people would benefit from the extension? How many commuters actually continue south on Dufferin after the Wilson St jog? The extension might look nice on a map, but it has to be more than making a straight line where none existed before.
 
Vaucluse said:
Bombardier owns the runway and the land just around it, if you look at the property in Google earth then it's somewhat apparent. Good idea or not, unless Bombardier gives up the airfield extending Dufferin St. is not likely. Really, how many people would benefit from the extension? How many commuters actually continue south on Dufferin after the Wilson St jog? The extension might look nice on a map, but it has to be more than making a straight line where none existed before.
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And do you know how many cars continue down south on Dufferin? You obviously have no idea how bad Dufferin St traffic is, I also read somewhere not that long ago of Byford mentioning another north South subway down Dufferin St.
 
Palma said:
And do you know how many cars continue down south on Dufferin? You obviously have no idea how bad Dufferin St traffic is, I also read somewhere not that long ago of Byford mentioning another north South subway down Dufferin St.
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Lots of discussion here of downtown and the west side, which surely have many worth projects (I look forward to Church being pushed south).

But on the east side the 2 I find most irksome are Don Mills to Coxwell (these should be the same road); hugely expensive bridge w/some eco-issues as well) however, the benefit would be the removal of Don Mills from the valley and creating a logical corridor for buses, cyclists, pedestrians and cars.

Currently, if you lived at say Coxwell/Danforth and want to end up at Don Mills/Lawrence, you need to (by car), make the jog on Coxwell over to Don Mills, and the circuitous run through the valley not bad, not great. But as a transit user, you have to go all the way west to Pape in order to get the Don Mills Bus, or east to Victoria Park, up the take a bus going west, truly inconvenient.

Also, there are no sidewalks on the current Don Mills and the route into the valley and across is not winter-maintained, so you face almost as circuitous a route as a pedestrian to go north.


***

The other one I'd highlight is the Lawrence east gap; of course due to the area, this is less likely to be changed; and I wouldn't want to see a link here make a mess of he York U, Glendon campus; but the Post Rd jog is not only silly, the effect of having transit (mostly) divert around the area, and it and traffic joining Eglinton doesn't serve the City well. Though at least their is some transit through the area, so its not as cut-off from the City as it might be.
 
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