[catcher_of_cats]

I read in a newspaper article some months ago (I *think* it was the Toronto Star) that York region chairman Bill Fisch was suggesting a possible northern terminus of the Jane LRT at Major Mackenzie Drive, as well as a Don Mills LRT northern terminus somewhere in the Beaver Creek area.

Building the Jane LRT to Maj Mac seems to make some sense, especially compared to the redundancy of having the line run basically parallel with the Spadina subway between Steeles and Hwy 7 without extending the line any further north.

What is the point of building a LRT north of Steeles directly on top of the subway to nowhere? Who will ride these white elephants? It is bad enough that they are wasting money on going into Vaughan. Talk about overkill.

 

[marcus_a_j]

A Jane Street RT line (most likely LRT) is being contemplated by York Region, as shown in their draft transit plan. I agree it's a bit overkill for the subway extension (to an Urban Growth Centre) and a LRT line basically one on top of the other. A LRT north to Major Mac is not a bad idea as it will travel through a large employment area, future high-density residential district (adjacent to Vaughan Mills) and connect with a similar line along Major Mac. A subway to Vaughan Mills though, that is a bit too much.

 

[taal]

A Jane Street RT line (most likely LRT) is being contemplated by York Region, as shown in their draft transit plan. I agree it's a bit overkill for the subway extension (to an Urban Growth Centre) and a LRT line basically one on top of the other. A LRT north to Major Mac is not a bad idea as it will travel through a large employment area, future high-density residential district (adjacent to Vaughan Mills) and connect with a similar line along Major Mac. A subway to Vaughan Mills though, that is a bit too much.

Head out of the sand ... an LRT is overkill ... now or 20 years from now. A BRT is just fine, by a long shot.

 

[catcher_of_cats]

Can Jane in Vaughan even support bus frequencies of 15 minutes, 10 minutes, or frequent service? If it takes ten-20 years before it can, then why the heck waste money to upgrade its current service? If the lunatics who run the City of Vaughan request all these services, then maybe they should pay 100% of the cost.

PS I am not sure how many posters have actually wandered through suburban industrial parks to get to work but it is NOT something that anyone does willingly. LRT will not get people out of their vehicles to get to work in these places.

 

[marcus_a_j]

The potential LRT plans on Jane are for at least 15-20 years down the road, hence the 2031 plan. It's York Region who is considering it, not Vaughan. There is a lot traffic on Jane, and considering the potential that exists for high-density developments around Jane & 7 that will bring more people and traffic to the area, then a dedicated transit ROW on Jane doesn't seem too bad.

I work in the suburban industrial park along Jane, and no there are not many people who walk throughout the area. But there are still a lot of people who take the buses that go up and down streets like Millway and Edgeley.

 

[taal]

The potential LRT plans on Jane are for at least 15-20 years down the road, hence the 2031 plan. It's York Region who is considering it, not Vaughan. There is a lot traffic on Jane, and considering the potential that exists for high-density developments around Jane & 7 that will bring more people and traffic to the area, then a dedicated transit ROW on Jane doesn't seem too bad.

I work in the suburban industrial park along Jane, and no there are not many people who walk throughout the area. But there are still a lot of people who take the buses that go up and down streets like Millway and Edgeley.

I think you should qualify "a lot of people" with relatively ... this is a joke - how about we use a bus until it requires sub 5min headways and then consider an LRT. 2031 is probably a long stretch for even that above.

There are much better routes that would be well served by an RT (no not LRT) in York region and they should concentrate on that.

The only reason why this is seeing the light of day is because of the TTC proposal on Jane.

 

[marcus_a_j]

I think you should qualify "a lot of people" with relatively ... this is a joke - how about we use a bus until it requires sub 5min headways and then consider an LRT. 2031 is probably a long stretch for even that above.

And why? 2031 is a long way off, and considering the number of proposed dev. applications within VCC and around Vaughan Centre (Jane-Rutherford) I don't see any harm with proposing Jane as a RT corridor. It may not be LRT right away, but it's not a terrible idea to extend the Jane TC line at some point. There may be a graduation up to LRT like VIVA. First BRT as it is now, then in dedicated ROWs, and finally conversion to LRT.

There are much better routes that would be well served by an RT (no not LRT) in York region and they should concentrate on that.

And they are? York might have been very late to the party in developing a decent transit strategy, but considering the amount of work they've done over the last 5-10 years, they are doing something about it. I think it's a very good idea to put in these RT corridors now and develop a framework and policies to allow for future redevelopment and intensification along these corridors.

The only reason why this is seeing the light of day is because of the TTC proposal on Jane.

Yes, and to connect Vaughan Centre (Jane-Rutherford, and urban centre under both the York and Vaughan OPs) to VCC and the subway, and as a means of encouraging redevelopment and intensification along this corridor.

But remember, this is still a draft Plan (Transportation Master Plan). It's still up to Regional Council to approve the Plan, which is still being developed. There are no actual RT (LRT or BRT) plans on Jane Street north of 7 right now, just a vision, so to speak.

 

[Ansem]

What happened to those planned Viva LRt?

I always thought that Viva Lrt should have been built in the York region to connect with Both future Steeles Stations.

As for making transfer easier they should design the Steeles Stations like this:

Northbound on the same floor and southbound as well so instead of using stairs to change trains, they just cross the plateform.

This would have gave more money to the TTC to either start the DRL or finish Sheppard

 

[Amphibius]

That idea makes too much sense, which is why the TTC would never consider it. They'll just keep building subways through nowhere if that's what the TPTB blindly commands.

 

[taal]

That idea makes too much sense, which is why the TTC would never consider it. They'll just keep building subways through nowhere if that's what the TPTB blindly commands.

It isn't for the TTC to consider ...

 

[marcus_a_j]

From York Region April 2009 update

 

[Uncle Teddy]

So it slowly begins.

 

[Swarley]

Is there an estimate of when actual construction will begin?

 

[drum118]

Is there an estimate of when actual construction will begin?

You cannot build until the engineering drawings are done.

If you read the April report, there are many things to over come to get to preliminary detail stage before moving to final stage.

Once final drawings are done, you are looking at 1-3 months tender time. Once tender close, bids have to be review and that can be a couple weeks to a few months depending what been tender.

Once a contract is awarded, it will take time to get sub trades on board as the contractor has to issues their own contracts to them and produce a flow chart for the the work.

Work will not start on stations until mid/late 2010. Tunneling may get started late this year, but most likely early 2010.

Once various trades and contractors know they are low bidder, they start planning as where it will fit in their schedule and see how many new employees maybe hire. At the same time, they have to look at what other work may come along that they have bid on as well work on hand to see where major hit points may happen where they will hard press to meet the schedules.

No one stop bidding on work until a contract is in hand.

 

[BMO]

You cannot build until the engineering drawings are done.

If you read the April report, there are many things to over come to get to preliminary detail stage before moving to final stage.

Once final drawings are done, you are looking at 1-3 months tender time. Once tender close, bids have to be review and that can be a couple weeks to a few months depending what been tender.

Once a contract is awarded, it will take time to get sub trades on board as the contractor has to issues their own contracts to them and produce a flow chart for the the work.

Work will not start on stations until mid/late 2010. Tunneling may get started late this year, but most likely early 2010.

Once various trades and contractors know they are low bidder, they start planning as where it will fit in their schedule and see how many new employees maybe hire. At the same time, they have to look at what other work may come along that they have bid on as well work on hand to see where major hit points may happen where they will hard press to meet the schedules.

No one stop bidding on work until a contract is in hand.

I was wondering does anybody know that if the Yonge extension gets funded that it will take as long as the spadina extension to start construction? I mean it seems like they've been going through alot of plans and assessments for the yonge extension, was wondering if maybe the engineering phases might be a littl ebit quicker?