Quote:
Originally Posted by Kokkei Mizu
Why extend to Westmount? It's a dead mall, and Wonderland is already designed for only cars in mind. It's just massive parking lot after massive parking lot... How would having LRT over there make any difference?
|
I honestly don't think most of the proposed lines would work as intended. In most cases, you simply don't have the density to support them; a good example was the one you pointed out, but also the Hamilton Rd. portion. The entire roadway is narrow and surrounded by Scarberia-esque development, so not only would you see a poor return on light rail, but you would also see
more congestion resulting from mixed streetcar-automobile traffic. I don't like the Byron extension because the place just doesn't have the density to justify the added expense of construction.
The 2 Dundas and 6 Richmond are very popular with students, and they seem to like the fact that the buses are able to go through the University campus to shorten walking distances. It's more convenient that way. The campus is not friendly terrain for streetcars, so you would lose the convenience aspect of buses while gaining no tangible benefits. Adding to that, Richmond is already very busy 4-lane street that already has enough obstacles for buses to dodge. One stalled car would not only tie up the streetcars, but the entire arterial. Perhaps trolleybuses would be a better choice?
I like the Wellington Road line, but I think it should turn onto Dundas rather than weave north. The Oxford line would be a good idea since it runs through a couple of high-density nodes, and travels along a street that (for the most part) is fairly wide. Eliminate the jogs at Highbury and Wharncliffe, and you've got yourself a good crosstown line that can quickly move people from one end of the city to another.