I'm bored, so I made a map (it's 2 AM... I really should go to sleep)
View attachment 395503'
The LRT line from my last post shown in red, GO in green, and the OL in blue.
Looking at this map, I'm just realizing how insanely well used the Dufferin Subway would be.
Starting from the south, we'd likely see 10 stations:
- King West and Queen West stations would be very well used, because... well, its King and Queen west. Also, Liberty Village.
- Dundas station would see modest, but still very good ridership, due to its streetcar connection. But I'm sure this area would see huge intensification with the subway.
- College Station would serve both Dufferin Mall and the College Streetcar, so this would be tremendously busy. Dufferin Mall is already one of the busiest malls in the city. Dufferin Mall also has plenty of intensification planed around it, which would further drive ridership.
- Bloor-Dufferin Station would be amongst the most used stations on the subway network. Almost anyone travelling on Line 2 from west of Dufferin to the Downtown core would transfer to the Ontario Line. Heavy residential intensification is already planned for the area, and I wouldn't be surprised to see commercial and office intensification as well with the Ontario Line (the proximity to Downtown and Line 2 would make this an extremely attractive location of commercial and office use). This would also relieve Line 2 crowding, which would make Line 2 western extension more viable.
- The area around Dupont and Dufferin is also seeing heavy intensification with the new Gallery redevelopment. And this is an area that could easily absorb more intensification. This would be a very busy station
- Davenport would see merely modest ridership, with one relatively low ridership bus route, and not a whole lot of intensification.
- St Clair would connect to the streetcar, and the surrounding area is already pretty dense. Riders of the 512 would favour the Ontario Line over Line 1 to access the Downtown core.
- Rogers would see only modest ridership.
- Eglinton station would connect to Line 5, and generate a pretty large number of transfers from Crosstown West. It would also connect to the busy 29 Dufferin bus, which would continue to run between Eglinton and Wilson.
It’s also worth noting that the Dufferin Subway would massively reduce crowding on our streetcar network.
I would suggest continuing the line north on Dufferin towards Sheppard (perhaps elevated), but the proximity to the Spadina Line would eliminate that opportunity. We continue to pay the price for putting the Spadina Line on Allen Road.
Anyways, to compensate for our Spadina Line mistake, I'd perhaps look into installing some kind of BRT for the 29 Dufferin. Given the proximity to rapid transit and the 401, the areas of Dufferin north of Eglinton are suitable for huge North York Centre-style intensification, but it's growth potential is kneecapped by traffic congestion, and poor accessibility to the Spadina Line. So in my mind a Dufferin North BRT absolutely should happen if the Ontario Line reaches Dufferin/Eglinton.
Nevertheless, even with the Ontario Line terminating at Dufferin/Eglinton, the Eglinton to Exhibition segment would be extremely well used. We'd likely see in excess of 15,000 riders at the busiest point of this extension (southbound into Exhibition) in the AM rush hour in 2041, and I feel like that’s a rather modest prediction given Dufferin’s intensification potential.
The Dufferin corridor in general just has
so much potential for urban intensification with the introduction of this subway line. Dare I say it, the Ontario Line on Dufferin Street could far exceed the growth that the Yonge Line created for North York Centre. It's a longer corridor that's already seeing huge growth, even without the subway. And Dufferin would be even more attractive than North York Centre for commercial and office development. In time, Dufferin could become the single densest corridor in the city outside the Downtown core (perhaps in terms of population and jobs).
If it wasn't for the Yonge Line being completely over capacity, Dufferin Street would be #1 priority for a subway extension. In my mind, no other potential subway corridor is primed to be as heavily used, or as transformational in terms of land use. Not even the Ontario Line north extension to Sheppard.
So, yeah, I'm probably Toronto's #1 fan of a Dufferin Street subway right now
Edit: Added the Dufferin North BRT because I couldn't help myself and because it makes too much sense.
View attachment 395507
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