[Woodbridge_Heights]

York Region residents want their subway!!! Two letters to the editor from today Vaughan Citizen from people who think that the VIVA rapidways should be scrapped and that money spent on a subway extension...

Link

Do these people even realize that this rapidway is for E-W travel across the region and have little to do with the Yonge subway (other than it's eventual connection to the subway at RHC)? Unbelievable. I've said it before and I'll say it again, all these plans are well and good but when the rubber hits the road York residents will raise their voices over destruction of their "quiet suburb". The did it to the Yonge st rapidway and now have focused on this rapidway. In their minds a subway is the only mas transit option, well subways don't work in quiet suburbs unfortunately.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Not enough money is budgeted on the bus ways to pay for a 3 billion dollar subway. If you want it so badly, write letters to the province encouraging them to enact a transit tax. The Yonge subway is a major feature of this taxing plan, and will happen if it passes.

 

[gweed123]

The funny thing is I really don't think York Region is in an either/or scenario. Metrolinx has identified the Yonge extension as one of their top priorities, and pretty much all of the prep work aside from detailed designs have been completed. Same could be said for the Rapidways.

Neither of these projects are some vague, undefined and barely studied project at this point, unlike the DRL or the Transit City reject lines. They're both pretty concrete, and they're both going to get funded.

I sincerely hope that nothing comes of this demand, because York Region has appeared to be the poster child for a stable, coherent, and unwavering transit plan for quite some time now. This could really put that in jeopardy. But I guess you know you're really growing up as a city when you start acting like Toronto when it comes to your transit plans.

And I have to say, out of all the areas of the GTA, York Region has the most comprehensive and well thought out plan of anybody. It's relatively inexpensive to build (aside from the subway extension), and it's designed to be scalable to meet future demand. There's almost nothing in their plan that stands out as 'out of place' or not a good idea.

 

[11th]

And I have to say, out of all the areas of the GTA, York Region has the most comprehensive and well thought out plan of anybody. It's relatively inexpensive to build (aside from the subway extension), and it's designed to be scalable to meet future demand. There's almost nothing in their plan that stands out as 'out of place' or not a good idea.

Building the rapidways is a good way to reserve ROW for any future upgrade of the route, be it light rail or elevated metro.

 

[innsertnamehere]

drove down Davis drive in newmarket today. most of the new retaining walls for the widened street seem to be in, and they have traffic diverted onto the new portion of bridge over the creek just east of main street. no truly major work done yet though.

 

[TOareaFan]

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...its_own_sign_of_urbanity_a_transit_fight.html

Some people not happy with the VIVA BRT route?

 

[innsertnamehere]

NIMBYism, and nothing else.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

^^^ A lot of misinformed opinions and fearmongering, I particularly liked the story about diverting to pick up some old ladies at promenade while buddy waits to go to work. Martow simultaneously explains away why transit won't work in her region (or at least why she doesn't) while saying she is pro transit (as long as it's the Yonge subway).

At the heart of the issue is route directness vs diversions to serve rider generating nodes. Say what you will but Promenade Mall has a bus terminal where 5/6 routes serve, and this is why the VIVA route must 'divert' through Bathurst and Centre. Not to mention the fact that there is virtually nothing along the stretch of Hwy 7 being bypassed nor any hope for future growth. Normally I am against going off the route grid to serve other nodes but in this case I think it is valid.

 

[TOareaFan]

^My fave bit was this:

“We don’t want a downtown Toronto,” says Mark Milunsky, a 19-year-old aspiring urban planner. “That’s why we live up here.”

We're all doomed!

 

[Electrify]

To play the devil's advocate, this stretch of Centre St is usually very smooth with little congestion, and the money used for the bus ROW could be used for stretches which need it more. Also if she wins at keeping the Viva Purple on Highway 7, more power to her. 95% of riders are going between Richmond Hill Centre and York University, with a bit of a shakeup at the Promenade.

That said, yes it sounds like she is full of it. Bus lanes along Centre St will absolutely not disrupt the flow of traffic or push traffic on to residential streets. As it is, Centre is pretty much an oversized collector road and could benefit from being narrowed or having dedicated bike lanes installed.

Hopefully once the lanes through Beaver Creek and Markham are operating, people can see that dedicated transit lanes not only not destroy businesses, but provide a very usable rapid transit alternative to driving.

 

[Electrify]

^My fave bit was this:



We're all doomed!

Guy's an idiot for using his real name, cause now he can forget about ever landing a planning job... anywhere.

 

[Voltz]

^My fave bit was this:



We're all doomed!

Highly unlikely that he had any choice about where he lives, unless his parents let the kids make all the major decisions.

 

[ShonTron]

To play the devil's advocate, this stretch of Centre St is usually very smooth with little congestion, and the money used for the bus ROW could be used for stretches which need it more. Also if she wins at keeping the Viva Purple on Highway 7, more power to her. 95% of riders are going between Richmond Hill Centre and York University, with a bit of a shakeup at the Promenade.

I'm just fine with the rapidway following the existing Viva Purple route. There is very little difference in distance traveled between the Centre/Bathurst route vs the all Highway 7 route, just a lot fewer lights (but nearly zero walk-up traffic). What is important is that the rapidway stop at Promenade remains in the median at, but without the entry into, the bus loop area, and a better, faster route between Highway 7 and Bathurst, which requires going through two intersections via Langstaff Road/

 

[ShonTron]

Guy's an idiot for using his real name, cause now he can forget about ever landing a planning job... anywhere.

No, he'll find a job. After all, developers like Tribute, Dumb!Centres and Mattamy have urban planners on staff, or hire planning consultants to get their bigboxes and subdivisions approved by city planners/OMB.

 

[Electrify]

No, he'll find a job. After all, developers like Tribute, Dumb!Centres and Mattamy have urban planners on staff, or hire planning consultants to get their bigboxes and subdivisions approved by city planners/OMB.

True, and in fairness he is still young. After completing a planning program, he may understand things from a different lens. I'm in my third year at York, and my views and understanding of the city has changed greatly.

I think he would really like Lewis Mumford, assuming he can get through the thickness of his text. While critical of suburbia, he wasn't exactly a fan of pre-modern industrial urbanism either.