[regionalArchitects]

The whole area around Don Mills is being redesigned as part of an Ammendment to the 2010 EA. The first public meeting is next Tuesday (Dec. 11th) at the Science Centre;
http://www.thecrosstown.ca/get-invo...ssment-update-change-to-east-tunnel-alignment

There's also a public meeting for the west end (Mt. Dennis - Black Creek) on Wednesday;
http://www.thecrosstown.ca/get-invo...ent-and-mobility-hub-update-mount-dennis-area

 

[W. K. Lis]

To those unable to attend the Laird Drive to Don Valley Parkway: Environmental Project Report Addendum Presentation tonight, this link will get you to the presentation. There is a survey.

You can download the PDF of the previously approved 2010 alignment, at this link.

You can download the PDF of the New 2012 proposed plan/profile at this link.

You can download the presentation in PDF format from this link.

 

[CapitalSeven]

That's a nice roller coaster they've designed. Actually the big dip is efficient in terms of energy consumption. It will significantly speed things up, though at the price of a couple of stops (lightly used ones). It looks like Don Mills would be a three-track two-platform station, which is efficient for turning back (half of?) the trains there.

 

[innsertnamehere]

While I am happy that it is to remove Ferrand, It is disapointing to lose a leslie stop. That makes it so the LRT now travels 1.8km between stops here. and that is quite a distance.

 

[Neil]

I see no mention of roughing in the DRL platforms. Jeez, get it together Metrolinx. Your CEO just announced it as a priority.

 

[Rainforest]

While I am happy that it is to remove Ferrand, It is disapointing to lose a leslie stop. That makes it so the LRT now travels 1.8km between stops here. and that is quite a distance.

There is nothing at Eglinton and Leslie, and nothing can be built there.

A parallel surface bus between Yonge and Don Mills is desirable, because other stops are too far apart. Mount Pleasant to Bayview is more than 1 km, and Bayview to Laird will be about 1 km.

Laird to Don Mills will actually be more than 2 km; but hardly any customer will notice.

 

[Dan416]

I'm really not too familiar with the area. But is it worth it to save the $80 million (IIRC) they said the Leslie station would cost?

I wonder how residents will take the loss of this stop. The other stops are streets I've never heard of so I don't think they really matter.

 

[GenerationW]

I'm really not too familiar with the area. But is it worth it to save the $80 million (IIRC) they said the Leslie station would cost?

I wonder how residents will take the loss of this stop. The other stops are streets I've never heard of so I don't think they really matter.

I arrived at the meeting late and only saw part of the presentation, but I did catch all the Q & A, and was able to talk to one of the Metrolinx reps afterwards.

-well attended event as I had to stand in the back
-Metrolinx claims the cost of a longer tunnel will be offset by cutting two stations (Leslie & Ferrand) and no longer having to widen the Eglinton bridge over the Don
-launch site is no longer feasible at Brentcliffe due to recent development there, so they say. Talbot Park (@ Bayview) was considered as a launch site before settling on the SW corner of Don Mills and Eglinton.
-tunnel will go under the Don
-7 bay bus terminal at Don Mills
-Leslie 51 bus and Leaside 56 bus will likely be combined into one route
-54 Lawrence East bus will terminate at Don Mills, but will still travel up/down Leslie to/from Lawrence
-numerous residents complained about a lack of a Leslie stop, only one brought up Ferrand
-since the tunnel will not be cut-and-cover, Metrolinx says it is not feasible to do a North York Centre-type "fill in" station at Leslie or elsewhere. While a future station at Leslie is theoretically possible, they'd have to shut down the entire line for up to two years to build one.
-LRT will go beneath Yonge and Spadina subways, and those two small sections will be cut-and-cover
-a few people asked if there would still be a TTC surface route on Eglinton, Metrolinx guy wasn't sure
-one person wondered why no local councillors or TTC representatives were present (sensible question)

 

[GenerationW]

I see no mention of roughing in the DRL platforms. Jeez, get it together Metrolinx. Your CEO just announced it as a priority.

They touched on this, and basically said a DRL hitting Eglinton was so far into the future that it wasn't an issue.

 

[gweed123]

That's a nice roller coaster they've designed. Actually the big dip is efficient in terms of energy consumption. It will significantly speed things up, though at the price of a couple of stops (lightly used ones). It looks like Don Mills would be a three-track two-platform station, which is efficient for turning back (half of?) the trains there.

It was hard to tell from the plan and profile that was posted, but yes a 3 track 2 platform station there makes a lot of sense. Generally I'm in favour of that type of design for a significant short-turn station. Maybe they will reconsider the design of Black Creek station and implement a similar configuration there as well.

Speaking of design of stations, does anyone have any details on how Eglinton-Yonge is going to be configured? I've always thought that the existing centre platform on the Yonge line was the perfect opportunity to triple platform the station, with the centre platform being exit-only, and the new outside platforms being for entrance. They're going to need to tear the station apart anyway to build the LRT connection, so might as well do it right and avoid creating another Bloor-Yonge with an inefficient layout and an insufficient capacity to properly handle transfers.

I'm really not too familiar with the area. But is it worth it to save the $80 million (IIRC) they said the Leslie station would cost?

I wonder how residents will take the loss of this stop. The other stops are streets I've never heard of so I don't think they really matter.

There aren't really any residents, haha. Seriously, there's the one condo complex further up Leslie, and the office building on the corner of Leslie and Eglinton.

A stop there would have made sense if it was in-median or at-grade on the south side of Eglinton, but I agree that an underground station isn't warranted. They would be much better off spending a few million to improve pedestrian connectivity to Don Mills station either over or under the rail corridor in that location (connecting somehow with the Celestica ramp).

Of course, the removal of that station will virtually guarantee that the Leslie bus will terminate its route at Don Mills station, which will make even more sense when the DRL is built to there.

They touched on this, and basically said a DRL hitting Eglinton was so far into the future that it wasn't an issue.

*Facepalm*...

 

[Thoughtless Miscreant]

I'm really not too familiar with the area. But is it worth it to save the $80 million (IIRC) they said the Leslie station would cost?

I wonder how residents will take the loss of this stop. The other stops are streets I've never heard of so I don't think they really matter.

I lived some way north of this intersection back when I first moved to Toronto and it is kind of a ghost town. We're talking three parks, a car dealership, and a handful of towers. Leaside and Flemingdon Park have their own closer stations, so the stop would have only really served residents in the east side of Don Mills, which is far enough from Eglinton that most riders would have taken a connecting bus already.

So I would say it's not the end of the world. I would rather lose it than a stop like say Ionview, which may seem superficially less important because it doesn't have a yellow line on google maps, but is actually the centre of a lot more commercial and residential activity.

 

[DavidH]

They touched on this, and basically said a DRL hitting Eglinton was so far into the future that it wasn't an issue.

A clearer statement would be that the Crosstown budget is fixed, and adding a roughin for a DRL station would require offsetting cuts elsewhere on the Eglinton project.

 

[rbt]

A clearer statement would be that the Crosstown budget is fixed, and adding a roughin for a DRL station would require offsetting cuts elsewhere on the Eglinton project.

How would they know where to rough it in? Would you put it above or below the Eglinton line (soil conditions blocks north and south of the station determine this)?

Do you put it at Don Mills or try for a 3 way interchange with a potential mid-town GO line a bit to the west of Don Mills or north of Eglinton?


A DRL running along O'Conner and north on Vic Park would eliminate a ton of "how do we get lots of busses/lrt over/under the DVP"" problem. Don Mills isn't a great choice if most ridership is transferring to it from the East.


It's not really worth the effort.

Yonge Station on the Sheppard line had a 40% premium in price over the other Sheppard stations and a large chunk of that premium was for 3 platforms instead of 1 central platform.

 

[BurlOak]

It was hard to tell from the plan and profile that was posted, but yes a 3 track 2 platform station there makes a lot of sense. Generally I'm in favour of that type of design for a significant short-turn station. Maybe they will reconsider the design of Black Creek station and implement a similar configuration there as well.

I do not understand the need for 3 tracks. They have been telling us for the longest time the ridership is so light on this line that there would never be a need for anything close to subway service. Is there an actual ridership number that they gave to warrent this layout? The YUS and B-D line have short-turns all the time for lines that is running near capacity, and it can be done with 2 tracks. Why the extra track here?

 

[BurlOak]

launch site is no longer feasible at Brentcliffe due to recent development there, so they say. Talbot Park (@ Bayview) was considered as a launch site before settling on the SW corner of Don Mills and Eglinton.

How about a launch site on the south side of Eglinton on the hillside (116+750)? You could have an at-grade Leslie/GO (future) station and tunnels through the CPR embankment.