Quote:
Originally Posted by acottawa
If 15 local bus routes is a transportation hub then there are probably several dozen “transportation hubs” in the region.
Where do the taxis line up at the Senate? If the train works as theorized there is going to be 500 passengers arriving every hour. Look at how much taxi space taxes up at the train station or the airport, and this will be more. On top of that you need somewhere for Ubers and other pickups, and space for people who want to park. Every square metre of pavement anywhere near the Senate is spoken for. There are no side streets. There is no regional train network to absorb passengers. There is no underground city to absorb pedestrians
It is not conveniently located to get to any of those hubs from the senate. The area is a maze of no turns, dead ends, one way streets. It would take 10-15 minutes in most traffic conditions just to get pointed in the right direction. If you are going north or east google maps actually tells you to walk to the third lane from the curb to get picked up there (where it would be possible to get a left turn onto Sussex). If you’re picked up are going west to tunneys google maps suggests the that same left turn, then a detour through Quebec via the Alexandra and Portage bridges.
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To be clear, it is 15 local routes, 25 Quebec routes, and an LRT station. If there are several dozen similar-sized hubs in the city, I would really like to hear where they are, because that is news to me. Even if they did exist, none of them would be as centrally located.
There is no doubt that the Senate itself is a tight location, but no one is suggesting that it wouldn't require reconfiguration for pick ups and drop offs. Presumably if we are spending 90 billion dollars on this project, there would be a few dollars dedicated to infrastructure upgrades. I so note that the same point you are making about Union could be made about Union Station in Toronto. Car access there is far worse than it is for Union here. It will also require massive changes for HSR, as will Gare Centrale in Montreal.
I think the points about the suitability of the site and the risks associated with tunnelling there are entirely valid. I was taking issue with the point that downtown isn't the hub of the regional transit system.
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