[Xray_Crystal_Junkie]

Thanks for the detailed explanations.

So it's more advantageous, even economically, but they won't do it? Sounds about right.

 

[nfitz]

Yes, south of the road option would be the most logical. Metrolinx dropped it from consideration for some very odd reasons, something like they do not want to go to the City Council for the new EA approval.

WIth city council so disfunctional, an approval in hand, and a tight timeframe, would you want to let City Council risk doing something stupid?

 

[JWBF]

WIth city council so disfunctional, an approval in hand, and a tight timeframe, would you want to let City Council risk doing something stupid?

Greed, often I have thought of a federal autonomous authority to crack the whip when it comes to regional/city transit. Transit as a political chip and/or lobby is the biggest problem I think.

 

[andrewpmk]

WIth city council so disfunctional, an approval in hand, and a tight timeframe, would you want to let City Council risk doing something stupid?

Why is the province so unwilling to say "no" to city council? Ultimately the province has the authority to overrule city council whenever it wants, even if it is often reluctant to do so.

We would have been much better off if the province had told the Miller administration in 2007: "No we are not funding Transit City, we are funding all day electrified GO train service on all lines instead". Which is something that is relatively inexpensive, that is badly needed anyway, and that isn't very controversial.

 

[sixrings]

I am 1000% pro Eglinton LRT. Some people on this thread have labeled me anti car because I was in favour of shutting down the Allen North bound lane during construction (despite using the ALLEN myself almost daily) . Anyways Metrolinx gave into peer pressure and here is the new plan. It basically shuts down Eglinton to one lane each direction. Imagine trying to merge onto Eglinton or trying to get onto the Allen with only one lane. This is going to be traffic chaos worse then what was seen at Finch and Keele. Maybe others have a different opinion but if this is the solution then I think they should have just shut the dang thing down.

http://thecrosstown.ca/news-media/whats-new/eglinton-crosstown-update

 

[W. K. Lis]

I am 1000% pro Eglinton LRT. Some people on this thread have labeled me anti car because I was in favour of shutting down the Allen North bound lane during construction (despite using the ALLEN myself almost daily) . Anyways Metrolinx gave into peer pressure and here is the new plan. It basically shuts down Eglinton to one lane each direction. Imagine trying to merge onto Eglinton or trying to get onto the Allen with only one lane. This is going to be traffic chaos worse then what was seen at Finch and Keele. Maybe others have a different opinion but if this is the solution then I think they should have just shut the dang thing down.

http://thecrosstown.ca/news-media/whats-new/eglinton-crosstown-update

Note to self: avoid Eglinton, especially at Allen. skip Lawrence if possible, aim for Wilson.

 

[BurlOak]

I am 1000% pro Eglinton LRT. Some people on this thread have labeled me anti car because I was in favour of shutting down the Allen North bound lane during construction (despite using the ALLEN myself almost daily) . Anyways Metrolinx gave into peer pressure and here is the new plan. It basically shuts down Eglinton to one lane each direction. Imagine trying to merge onto Eglinton or trying to get onto the Allen with only one lane. This is going to be traffic chaos worse then what was seen at Finch and Keele. Maybe others have a different opinion but if this is the solution then I think they should have just shut the dang thing down.

http://thecrosstown.ca/news-media/whats-new/eglinton-crosstown-update

I wonder if the commonly accepted notion that TBM construction produces less disruption is actually correct. To use TBM, there must be a minimum depth below - and this means that every station has to be built deeper than otherwise required. The excavation for the station box is probably 120 to 150m in length. For Eglinton, Stations are about 700 to 1000m apart, meaning that 20% of the length of Eglinton would have to be excavated by cut-and-cover.

If the entire line where built cut-and-cover, there would be a shorter duration disruption since the stations would be built closer to the surface. True, there would be a bit more disruption along the parts inbetween, but again this is a shallower excavation, so the duration of the delays are not as long. Also, I imagine that the excavation at the major intersections are the main cause of inconvenience.

For this line I understand that portions have to go deep to go under the Yonge and Spadina lines, and potentially some other parts are deeper to help smooth out the veritacal profile since subways can not handle as steep grades as are permitted on the surface road. I have nto seen a vertical profile drawing for the entire line to see if some cut-and-cover could have been used to speed construction.

 

[sixrings]

I wonder if the commonly accepted notion that TBM construction produces less disruption is actually correct. To use TBM, there must be a minimum depth below - and this means that every station has to be built deeper than otherwise required. The excavation for the station box is probably 120 to 150m in length. For Eglinton, Stations are about 700 to 1000m apart, meaning that 20% of the length of Eglinton would have to be excavated by cut-and-cover.

If the entire line where built cut-and-cover, there would be a shorter duration disruption since the stations would be built closer to the surface. True, there would be a bit more disruption along the parts inbetween, but again this is a shallower excavation, so the duration of the delays are not as long. Also, I imagine that the excavation at the major intersections are the main cause of inconvenience.

For this line I understand that portions have to go deep to go under the Yonge and Spadina lines, and potentially some other parts are deeper to help smooth out the veritacal profile since subways can not handle as steep grades as are permitted on the surface road. I have nto seen a vertical profile drawing for the entire line to see if some cut-and-cover could have been used to speed construction.

People don't like cut and cover because it basically blocks up a whole intersection. Now I can only talk about my own experience but every time I went to Beth Shalom Synagogue for a LRT meeting 95% of the people who showed up were old rich people who drove nothing less than a Lexus. These people have no intention of ever using the transit system and were only concerned about the LRT impeding their roads during construction. On top of everything these people did not care about the positive long term effects of such a project since they were in their last days anyways. I know everything I just wrote seemed extremely cold but from east of Allen to Yonge on Eglinton has some very very very expensive homes. You wouldn't know it by the stores from Allen to Bathurst though because the BIA struggles to get pedestrians out since Eglinton for this stretch is often used as a giant on ramp to the ALLEN or off the Allen making it a very difficult area to make pedestrian friendly. Thirsty Fox is my favourite restaurant or pub in the area.

 

[Johnny Au]

People don't like cut and cover because it basically blocks up a whole intersection. Now I can only talk about my own experience but every time I went to Beth Shalom Synagogue for a LRT meeting 95% of the people who showed up were old rich people who drove nothing less than a Lexus. These people have no intention of ever using the transit system and were only concerned about the LRT impeding their roads during construction. On top of everything these people did not care about the positive long term effects of such a project since they were in their last days anyways. I know everything I just wrote seemed extremely cold but from east of Allen to Yonge on Eglinton has some very very very expensive homes. You wouldn't know it by the stores from Allen to Bathurst though because the BIA struggles to get pedestrians out since Eglinton for this stretch is often used as a giant on ramp to the ALLEN or off the Allen making it a very difficult area to make pedestrian friendly. Thirsty Fox is my favourite restaurant or pub in the area.

I am among the 5% who walk to the Beth Shalom Synagogue for transit meetings.

 

[sixrings]

I am among the 5% who walk to the Beth Shalom Synagogue for transit meetings.

Nice I live literally across the street. I have met a couple young people from the area who would like to see change but its been a tough go for transit advocates in the area amongst the car drivers. Beth Shalom can literally look like a car show on some saturdays. Typically there are porsches and benz but sometimes the Ferraris and Astons come out to play.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Nice I live literally across the street. I have met a couple young people from the area who would like to see change but its been a tough go for transit advocates in the area amongst the car drivers. Beth Shalom can literally look like a car show on some saturdays. Typically there are porsches and benz but sometimes the Ferraris and Astons come out to play.

Too bad there's no subway station nearby! Oh wait, there is. The Eglinton West Station.

in other news, from this link, construction is to start on the:

Emergency Exit Building headwall construction at Eglinton near Little Boulevard and Ronald Avenue. Emergency Exit Buildings are used to evacuate passengers from tunnels in the event of an emergency at track level during operation. - See more at: http://www.thecrosstown.ca/news-med...lding-starting-july-19th#sthash.I5XFwSx4.dpuf

Little Boulevard at Eglinton Avenue West is near the north-east corner of Prospect Cemetery. It is supposed to be used only in emergencies, such as running away from zombies.

 

[sixrings]

Too bad there's no subway station nearby! Oh wait, there is. The Eglinton West Station.

in other news, from this link, construction is to start on the:



Little Boulevard at Eglinton Avenue West is near the north-east corner of Prospect Cemetery. It is supposed to be used only in emergencies, such as running away from zombies.

I never complained about eglinton west station. Actually being so close to a station is why we bought the house. the bigger reason we bought the house though was because it was to be next to two lines, Subway and LRT. Yes you are right that we cant complain about transit, however Eglinton itself is a mess and the LRT is needed for the street but also to access the airport.

 

[BurlOak]

People don't like cut and cover because it basically blocks up a whole intersection. Now I can only talk about my own experience but every time I went to Beth Shalom Synagogue for a LRT meeting 95% of the people who showed up were old rich people who drove nothing less than a Lexus. These people have no intention of ever using the transit system and were only concerned about the LRT impeding their roads during construction. On top of everything these people did not care about the positive long term effects of such a project since they were in their last days anyways. I know everything I just wrote seemed extremely cold but from east of Allen to Yonge on Eglinton has some very very very expensive homes. You wouldn't know it by the stores from Allen to Bathurst though because the BIA struggles to get pedestrians out since Eglinton for this stretch is often used as a giant on ramp to the ALLEN or off the Allen making it a very difficult area to make pedestrian friendly. Thirsty Fox is my favourite restaurant or pub in the area.

I think those people at Beth Shalom Synagogue don't understand. Either way, the intersections are done using cut-and-cover. The question is what causes a larger disruption to an intersection - a 20m deep station or a 12m deep station. The footprint of the two stations would be similar (the shallower station would actually have less requirements for ventilation and vertical access and would not require as massive station bulkheads), but the construction duration would be be less for the shallower station. The parts between stations would have more disruption using cut-and-cover (but not for a great length of time) compared to TBM, but even those at Beth Shalom Synagogue know that it is mainly the disruption at the intersections that count.

 

[M II A II R II K]

Metrolinx mega-contract too big, say builders and architects

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/tra...ract_too_big_say_builders_and_architects.html

Jumbo contracts are supposed to drive competition among construction companies and save Ontario tax dollars on big infrastructure projects such as roads and hospitals.

But the province’s construction industry is sounding alarm bells about the $4 billion Infrastructure Ontario (IO) contract to build the stations and maintenance facility for the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown LRT.

The Construction and Design Alliance of Ontario — which represents engineers, architects, road and residential builders — says the contract, part of a “P3†public-private partnership is too big, squeezing out the very competition it was supposed to inspire and potentially costing up to $500 million more than it should.

.....

 

[cplchanb]

At this point, I could seriously care less. The line has been delayed and redesigned so many times that right now the only thing that matters is getting it built
These unions should honestly just shut up and get to work instead of wasting time and space on more pressing news