This article today and from last week prompted me to revisit the UT database entries for the underground stations. For the most part I like what I see and look forward to seeing more detailed renderings. However there are a couple of things that annoy me.
First of all, the stations are really deep underground. It's sad that cut and cover subway construction will never happen again in this city, because the downtown Yonge stations are so much more compact and easier to use than newer ones such as Don Mills. Some of the older stations even have their fare gates at street level, so after you pay the fare then you just walk down a short flight of stairs to get to the platform. Meanwhile, lets compare that to just one of the crosstown stations:
There are literally enough stairs here to climb a highrise building. Not only that, but I see a serious efficiency flaw in the above photo where the GO station is. When you get off the GO train, you can't go directly downstairs from the platform. Instead you have to go up all the way to street level, and then go downstairs again to get to the LRT:
I thought Sheppard-Yonge station was inefficient, but this one takes abysmal circulation to new heights thanks to the hundreds of stairs.
And finally, the traffic island located next to the bus loop will be retained according to this pic:
Here's a
streetview pic of what it looks like. Obviously it's an ugly, unnecessary relic of the car era. I assume that this will be removed when the Eglinton Connects streetscape improvements are implemented, because I refuse to believe that this thing will somehow survive despite all the money being spent to improve Eglinton. For now I'm not gonna worry about it too much.