Nothing we don't already know. They interviewed the councillor above, and Adam Giambrone, and a few transit users, and they just said a lot of people want it and would be looked into this fall. It was short, and they didn't mention the facebook group.
 
MisterF said:
That could work but unlike the DRL, it wouldn't bring subway service to the unserved neighbourhoods east of downtown. That's just as important as relieving Bloor-Yonge, imo - subway coverage in central Toronto is awful.
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it needs one or two more lines to serve short commutes more effectively...i take the streetcar way too often, although it is nice to be aboveground even if it makes me late...but for many people, being late is not an option.
 
I'm not sure if I just heard this wrong, but on the TV news I thought I heard them saying that the TTC would release some kind of report on the DRL soon? Does anyone know anything about this? If it exists, what is the report on? Would it have data on projected demand and route alignments?

The same report claimed the DRL would also cost about six billion dollars. That number seems obscenely high. Assuming a 12-13km "U" from Pape-Dundas West mostly along the rail corridor, that implies something like 500m/km. I know it's hard to come up with an exact figure for something so hypothetical, but that number seems more than a bit high.
 
^^ Sheppard might be more reasonable, but definitely not to Eglinton.

Even with Eglinton, might be a representative of taking the TTC's ludicrously high subway costs and putting it across the entire route. The problem is that a good 10 kilometers of the DRL will be on an existing rail corridor, so that's a ludicrous estimate for Dundas West-Eglinton.

I think that Dundas West-Sheppard or even Finch might be more representative of those costs.
 
The last time Giambrone mentioned the DRL he suggested it would be along Queen, not the rail corridor. Even if it is along the corridor it won't be so cheap. Theres really not enough space for cheap cut and cover along the length. Keep in mind it also will connect to 3 or 4 existing subway stations and likely a GO station or two. Not cheap.
 
^ Not cheap, for sure.

However, the western wing is not really urgent. The most useful part of DRL would be Downtown to Eglinton / Don Mills, which as about 10 km. At 300 million per km, the estimate would be about $ 3B.

That section would resolve the major downtown and Yonge bottlenecks. The western wing, as well as the section north of Eglinton, can be added later.
 
Rainforest said:
^ Not cheap, for sure.

However, the western wing is not really urgent. The most useful part of DRL would be Downtown to Eglinton / Don Mills, which as about 10 km. At 300 million per km, the estimate would be about $ 3B.

That section would resolve the major downtown and Yonge bottlenecks. The western wing, as well as the section north of Eglinton, can be added later.
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I agree, and 3 billion might at least be acceptable for Eglinton-downtown. It could probably be much less expensive though, like 2 or 2 1/2 billion using the rail corridor.
And hopefully the TTC will actually plan to extend it in the east and west. The current Tranit City plans would replace a northern and western extension both with LRT, which would limit the DRL totally to Union-Eglinton.
 
I dunno if anybody has brought this up, but maybe they are planning on including the costs for the Don Mills LRT. Maybe the DRL will be built as a continuation of the DMLRT in a LRT tunnel a la the proposed Eglinton subway. Or maybe they plan on extending a DRL subway up Don Mills and replacing the DMLRT.

Another reason for the inflated costs could well be the fact that they are including the costs of the western leg.
 
Wouldn't it make more sense to just build the line in entirity in one shot? If Sheppard subway has thought us anything is that certain proposals can fall out of favor over time when the costs to build start to inflate. Going all in at least guarantees we won't wind up with another "stubway" disgrace on the city's hands.
 
The minimum phase one would be Pape Station to Union, or perhaps St. Andrew or Osgoode. That might be a short subway, but still very useful, and meeting the essential requirements of the DRL.
 
Maybe it would be worth the cost to extend the DRL elevated above the DVP.

Sure it would be high up when it hits the streets but in between they could lower it between stops to save on extra steel or concrete.
 
Second_in_pie said:
I agree, and 3 billion might at least be acceptable for Eglinton-downtown. It could probably be much less expensive though, like 2 or 2 1/2 billion using the rail corridor.
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It would be great if they can build it cheaper. But unfortunately the eastern rail corridor is not very wide. Plus, more tracks will be needed for the enhanced Lakeshore East and Stouffville GO services. Therefore, not sure if there will be any space left for DRL at surface level.
 
Fresh Start said:
Wouldn't it make more sense to just build the line in entirity in one shot? If Sheppard subway has thought us anything is that certain proposals can fall out of favor over time when the costs to build start to inflate. Going all in at least guarantees we won't wind up with another "stubway" disgrace on the city's hands.
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I think it is less of a problem for DRL than for Sheppard. Sheppard subway does not serve any extra-dense areas (North York is not downtown), and therefore it has to be long to attract enough riders and justify itself as a subway.

DRL, on the contrary, will be well used even if built in the shortest possible configuration: downtown to Danforth / Pape.

And if they manage to add the section from Danforth to Eglinton / Don Mills, then it will be actually longer than the original Yonge subway (which was Eglinton to Union, straight line).
 
jwill said:
The last time Giambrone mentioned the DRL he suggested it would be along Queen, not the rail corridor. Even if it is along the corridor it won't be so cheap. Theres really not enough space for cheap cut and cover along the length. Keep in mind it also will connect to 3 or 4 existing subway stations and likely a GO station or two. Not cheap.
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I don't think Giambrone has ever stated a preference for a Queen alignment, just that he's not of the belief it can go through Union. He feels somewhere between Wellington and Queen is most likely thorugh the core.
 
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