[Rainforest]

If the first section runs from Eglinton / Don Mills to downtown, it can be called Flemmington - East York - Downtown line.

A subtitle can mention the Yonge and Danforth relief.

 

[isittimetomoveyet]

Toronto City Council has voted to pass its motion supporting the Yonge North EA, however, with two important amendments. First, a recommendation that Metrolinx move the Downtown Relief Line into its 15-year plan, and further to that, to place it ahead of the Yonge Subway extension to Richmond Hill. Second, it recommended that TTC staff do a detailed study (and possibly EA) for the Downtown Relief Line.

Third, Councillor Minnan-Wong moved to change the name of the Downtown "Rapid Transit" Line to something more imaginative.

Things are looking up for the DRL!

Boo yah! Lets see if it leads somewhere...

 

[nfitz]

Wow, what dull name suggestions. If London (Victoria, Jubilee, Picadilly) and Vancouver (Expo, Canada, Millenium) can come up with good names for transit lines that are not just the name of a street - why can't Toronto?

Perhaps the DRL could be "Maple Leaf", the BD "Ontario" and the YUS the "Yoronto" lines. Okay, need some work there ...

 

[Ansem]

excellent news!

 

[ShonTron]

Toronto City Council has voted to pass its motion supporting the Yonge North EA, however, with two important amendments. First, a recommendation that Metrolinx move the Downtown Relief Line into its 15-year plan, and further to that, to place it ahead of the Yonge Subway extension to Richmond Hill. Second, it recommended that TTC staff do a detailed study (and possibly EA) for the Downtown Relief Line.

Third, Councillor Minnan-Wong moved to change the name of the Downtown "Rapid Transit" Line to something more imaginative.

WOW! Denzil Minnan-Wong had a good idea!

Seriously the big wow is the vote at city council, that is amazing news. The DRL is a concept name, but needs a better marketing name. "Transit City" was a very effective marketing name for the half-baked LRT plan. I wouldn't even care if it was a decided by a contest with a lame submission from a Mississauga resident, I'd be just happy to get this!

 

[Kitsune]

Heres one thought, why is Rogers Centre and Spadina always shown as having seperate stations? A signle station could serve both Rogers and Spadina and just have two different exits.

 

[CDL.TO]

Heres one thought, why is Rogers Centre and Spadina always shown as having seperate stations? A signle station could serve both Rogers and Spadina and just have two different exits.

What map/plan are you referring to? Link?

 

[yyzer]

Downtown Relief Line to be Fast-Tracked?

from the National Post

Council considering fast-tracking the downtown relief line

Posted: January 28, 2009, 1:06 PM by Allison Hanes
TTC, downtown relief line

Momentum may be building today for fast tracking the downtown relief line, as Toronto council mulls a new condition for supporting the extension of the Yonge Subway into Richmond Hill.
The so-called downtown relief line would be a new U-shaped subway linking the east and west ends of the Bloor line by swooping through the city core. One proposed route would see the line start at Pape Station and plunge south through Riverdale and Leslieville before turning west to the Distillery District and running through downtown along Wellington St. It would then link up Liberty Village and swoop north to Dufferin Station.
But Councillor Adam Giambrone (Davenport), chair of the Toronto Transit Commission, said the route is still-to-be determined and could be more feasible running from Donlands Station and up Roncesvalles St. in the west.
Mr. Giambrone said the sudden interest in the downtown relief line is being driven by the need to overhaul Yonge-Bloor Station to accommodate new traffic on the already over-crowded Yonge Line from the north. Such work would be costly and extremely disruptive to passengers.
Mr. Giambrone said if the cost of that project was almost $1 billion and the cost of a whole new line that would alleviate the pressure were $2 billion, a brand-new subway might be a better use of funds.
Also, it could kill several birds with one stone, not only taking pressure off the Yonge line, but offering a new route into downtown from under-serviced Scarborough and relieving the heavily traveled, problematic street car lines on King and Queen Sts.
Several amendments to a report outlining Toronto’s conditions for supporting extending the subway to Richmond Hill are being debated at council today. One, proposed by councillor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre), suggests getting regional transit agency Metrolinx to put the downtown relief line in its 15-year plan and another forthcoming from councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (Don Valley East) calling for a feasibility study that would get the ball rolling.
Mr. Giambrone said support is building across the political spectrum for getting moving on the alternative subway line.

 

[CDL.TO]

I'm going to take some time in the coming days to send letters and/or e-mails to my councillor, the mayor, and councillors Giambrone, Minnan-Wong, Thomson, Pantalone, McConnell, Perks, Vaughan, Perks, and Fletcher.

I encourage others to contact our elected officials as well.

I wish I had more time these days to make some more maps.

 

[Dan416]

I suddenly almost like Giambrone.

It looks like support for the DRL is building. Getting it into the Metrolinx 15-year plan would be wonderful!

And what Giambrone said was just so.... logical! If it's gonna cost $1 billion to revamp the Yonge line and Bloor-Yonge station, might as well spend $2 billion for an entirely new line that will make all that unnecessary!

As for names...U-line would be good if we named our subway lines that way, but we don't. South Crosstown also appeals to me, because it's similar to the Eglinton Crosstown.

But it really does depend what route it takes doesn't it?

I wish there was some way to show our support for the DRL. So that the city and the TTC know that it's what we the people want.

 

[CDL.TO]

In order to encourage provincial funding, we can call it the "Liberal Party Line". The slogan to encourage people to give the subway a try can be "Toe the Liberal Party Line".

 

[Filip]

I think $2 billion is a bit of a liberal estimation, non?

If this monster is built in its full profile from Donlands to Dundas West, running under Wellington and then up Roncesvalles/Donlands, it will be a very, very expensive line.

 

[taal]

That's what I was thinking!

Maybe the eastern half only could be done for 2 billion.

I mean if Yonge extension is 2+ billion wouldn't this be a lot more.


BUT YES I AM ALL FOR IT. Tell your councilors today!

 

[urbanboom]

This whole thing is fantastic news.

Filip, it does seem to be a pretty liberal estimation in my books. But looking back, the sheppard line cost less than a billion dollars. This thing (the first phase, anyways) with probably be twice the length of sheppard, so 2 Billion doesn't sound too low.

An other thing we must remember is that this is only the first phase. As soon as the TTC finds out upon building it that it will carry more people than the entire B-D line, they will (hopefully) finnish it from Don Mills and Eglinton to Dundas West.

Ps, How the hell could the ttc even consider spending 1 Billion on just one station? Hell, how could you spend 1 Billion on just one station? Would've it have been paved with gold or something?

 

[Whoaccio]

Great news. Going off of recent subway construction costs, I imagine the costs would be as follows:
Pape - Spadina via rail corridor (7-8km): 3.5b
Pape - Eglinton via Don Mills (5-6km): 2.7b
Spadina - Dundas West via rail corridro (6km): 2.9b

For the main part, I used the absurdly high cost of 500m/km. Why? Partially because that is the degree of cost inflation between the Sheppard subway and the Yonge extension, and I expect it will be another decade between now and a best case start of a DRL More over, it will also involve a hairy transfer station at Union. (Have there been any feasibility studies on this?).

I also wonder how much money is really saved by using the rail corridor. I'm not well versed in this, but with all the planned increases in GO service in the pipeline, will fitting in an extra 2 tracks for exclusive TTC use, plus stations every 500m, really be feasible? Maybe it would be easier to cut'n'cover along Richmond or Adelaide.

EDIT: The costs I guessed aren't what I think they should or could be, but what they will be. I am well aware that the many here (myself included) question the TTC's buildings costs. In all reality though, I don't see this changing anytime soon.