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hawc

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Curious whether it was all worth it in the end. I don't live anywhere near it and didn't experience all the aggravation as it was being built, but was it worth doing in the end?

Are TTC travel times better now? Are stores seeing an increase in business?

streetcar-4110-15.jpg
 
Curious whether it was all worth it in the end. I don't live anywhere near it and didn't experience all the aggravation as it was being built, but was it worth doing in the end?
Are TTC travel times better now? Are stores seeing an increase in business?

I think it was worth it.
I experienced no aggravation living and working on St. Clair at the time (living at Oakwood, working at Yonge).
Travel times are better and, more importantly, more predictable, as there is no longer the chance of getting the run that gets stuck behind a left turning car at every intersection.
I don't know if stores are seeing more business, but the quality of stores on St. Clair improved dramatically since all the dingy sports bars shut down.

This reminds me, I need to get up to The Stockyards for some ribs and chicken again soon. I miss living up there.
 
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I took it for the first time back in the summer to get to a Dermatologist a little west of Avenue Road. The ride was smooth, quick and the streetcar arrived at Yonge as soon as my TTC app. said it would. ROW is the way to go, too bad College, King and Queen aren't wider.
 
It became more reliable since the ROW was built. I use St Clair occassionally to get from Yonge to Spadina subway line; prior to ROW, I always used Bloor.
 
The route works great. I can't wait to see how the new streetcars will improve it further.
 
The new Low-Floor streetcars would be one improvement. All door boarding would be another, along with the Presto card.

Unfortunately, I do not see the 512 being extended west to Jane Street or Scarlett Road during the current regime at City Hall. Would also be an improvement if the 40 Junction was extended to meet the 512 St. Clair at Jane or Scarlett, and a big improvement if streetcars replaced the 40 Junction bus, to provide a shorter path to the Roncesvalles carbarns.

In the meantime, the city is widening St. Clair Avenue West from just west of Gunns Road to Cobalt Avenue to 4 lanes, to make nice with the automobile users.
 
I live in the area, and my commute has improved quite a bit. The line still suffers delays in the morning, but is due to fairly long dwell times at stops because of front door only boarding. I am looking forward to the new streetcars and all-door boarding.
 
It has too many stops.

Agreed, I live in the junction, and bike along St Clair often. From my observations while biking, the ROW is definitely an improvement in everything everyone's said so far (even driving on it is not much worse then before). But it does have a few too many stops, and the signals could be much improved to be activated when a streetcar approaches, and give it a green before turning traffic (it irks me the many many times I see streetcars stopped at a red). Most other cities with advanced streetcar/LRT ROWs have signal priority implemented, and searching for European tram videos on YouTube will show you how rarely their trams stop at a light.

The line should have been extended to Jane in the first place, especially since St Clair west of the stockyards is seeing more and more activity. With road and area improvements now, you'll have to fight against the car lobby once you want/need to extend the line west. Much of St Clair to Jane would only be able to be a single car lane, though they should be able squeeze in turning and parking lanes here and there since all the new developments seem to be pushed farther back from the sidewalk.
 
As someone who has shot the full length of St Clair W as well all the construction since 2005, this ROW was worth it even been over budget and miss management.

Traffic flow a lot better and faster for everyone. Street scape looks a lot better with the overhead gone as well new trees. Add the sidewalk to that list also.

Even during the construction phase, you could see the landscape changing for the better with building being upscale, new business replacing business that die or were dieing due to being in the wrong location, not changing with time, landowner raising rents and new building being built.

The EA to take the line west of the Gunns loop has been ready to go since 2005, but it was not to proceed until the line was 100% complete. With a car Mayor in office, it will be about 2016 before the EA can get underway now.

Not that simple to take the line west as some would think. The whole south side has to be bought up by the City to widen the road to the west. Some of those lands are in the hands of the city at this time.

With the widening to take place west of the loop for a few blocks shortly, no provision has been allowed for the ROW, since the traffic engineer is a pro car person in the first place and thumbs this boss and City council when told to do so.

With the coming of the Stockyard Plaza, traffic is going to be a nightmare once built. The only work taking place there now is the leveling of the land. Construction is supposed to get underway in 2012 if it is to open in 2013.

Mississauga has signal priority over traffic where the buses come off Hurontario at City Centre/Rathburn intersection to the point that when there is a bus sitting there, the next green light will be for buses regardless if it is not the next one in order. If it can work here, it can work on St Clair.
 
Without POP system and the new high-capacity LRVs, removal of stops is probably not a good idea, make even make travel times worse. Do the streetcars on St-Clair even have signal priority?
 
Its not perfect, but definitely worth it. The proof is really in the transformation outside the ROW. Neighbourhoods seem to have new energy all along the line, and the new shops popping up are a lot better than those that couldn't survive the construction. The few condos that have been built so far are good quality, and at a restrained scale that doesn't overwhelm the street.

I think it was the Northcliffe and Wychwood stops that were being considered for removal. To me the one stop that should be removed is Vaughan. I know its a major street with a lot of apartments, but that string of Bathurst, Vaughan, Wychwood really is the only frustrating stretch on the route. Besides, the 90 and 126 buses also stop there so, and its pretty close to Bathurst.
 
Do the streetcars on St-Clair even have signal priority?

There is no signal priority, aside from white bars at Lansdowne and Vaughan for turning cars. This isn't really an issue though IMO, the actual problem is there are just too many lights on St. Clair. The new light at Alberta (EDIT: mistakenly said Winona before) being the most obnoxious.
 
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In the meantime, the city is widening St. Clair Avenue West from just west of Gunns Road to Cobalt Avenue to 4 lanes, to make nice with the automobile users.

To be fair, that stretch was just a bunch of useless grass for no reason whatsoever. As much as I'm pro-transit, even at the expense of the car, I think this widening is justified.
 

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