The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by begratto

What King streetcars need is a dedicated right-of-way. I read in the Globe and Mail archives that there are up to twice as many people travelling in streetcars on King Street as there are driving in cars.

To a transit geek like me, it seems that it would be easy enough to implement: eliminate parking spots on both sides of the street, create short term parking spots on perpendicular streets to accomodate deliveries, taxis, etc. Anyone knows why the TTC and the city of Toronto aren't pushing for this? Loss of parking spots?

It's been discussed many times and it boils down to the logistics of redirecting traffic. The only really slow section runs west from Yonge to Spadina. Through the core there are very few perpendicular routes that could handle extra parking. One of the main hurdles though would be all of the parking ramps for the office towers. It would be next to impossible to move them off King so the vehicle traffic unfortunately still needs full access to the road.

[GlassCity]

Would the downtown relief line be able to significantly reduce the strain on these streetcar lines? Or are their userbases different?

[TorontoDrew]

Yes! Thanks to politicians like Ford and others it's still many many years off. Transit routes should not be political bargaining chips but left to the experts to decide what is best.

[begratto]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

One of the main hurdles though would be all of the parking ramps for the office towers. It would be next to impossible to move them off King so the vehicle traffic unfortunately still needs full access to the road.

But if you remove all parking spots and force traffic on the side lanes instead, you don't even have to move the parking ramps off King

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

It's been discussed many times and it boils down to the logistics of redirecting traffic. The only really slow section runs west from Yonge to Spadina. Through the core there are very few perpendicular routes that could handle extra parking.

I'd say it can be pretty slow from Yonge to Bathurst. Been stuck in traffic there a few times... Maybe I've just been consistently unlucky.

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

Through the core there are very few perpendicular routes that could handle extra parking.

What I was thinking of was to reserve the first 2 - 3 parking stops on side streets like Widmer st for deliveries and very short-term parking (i.e. 15 minutes or less)

[swimmer_spe]

Why not simply eliminate all parking, stopping, and left turning on all roads with Streetcars? Also, make the rail ROW be a diamond lane for transit and emergency vehicles 24/7. That would be a short term solution that would not require much money or changes in infrastructure.

[lrt's friend]

The problem is that we haven't figured out what to do with those new fangled horseless carriages. It's only been a 100 years or so. Let's not make hasty decisions.

[Innsertnamehere]

King street already has HOVs on the centre lanes during rush hours, and it does absolutely nothing.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

King street already has HOVs on the centre lanes during rush hours, and it does absolutely nothing.

Is that due to lack of enforcement?

Why not get rid of it being an HOV, and only allow transit?

[caltrane74]

Shallow trenches along King, Carlton, Dundas, and Queen with the new streetcars would be awesome. But it would cost as much as a subway.

[ssiguy]

Why not just paint the entire streetcar lanes a green to differentiate them as streetcar-only and then get rid of left hand turns........problem solved. Now this being Toronto they will have to study the matter, engage stakeholders, and do a complete environmental review of the paint's impact on the asphalt..........if they really rushed the project along I bet Toronto could get those lanes painted by 2027.

[J.OT13]

Progress on Confederation Line.

Second picture shows we officially have something resembling a subway station (not including underground St-Laurent Station built in the early 90s).

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Construction Update
Week of December 14

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Final works along the multi-use pathway at the intersection of Scott and Merton streets

Scott Street Widening

Line painting on Scott Street continues to be adjusted. Final cleanup and demobilization take place. Lighting and fencing are being finalized on the multi-use pathway at Bayview Road.

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Rebar installation in Lyon Station cavern

Lyon Station

Work continues to install electrical/communication conduits. Rebar installation occurs followed by concrete pouring for the foundation slab.

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Installation of tiebacks in the southwest parking lot at the Lyon Station west entrance

Lyon Station West and East Entrance

West Entrance: soft ground excavation and lagging occur and will continue into the New Year. Crews complete the second level of tiebacks in the southwest parking lot at the intersection of Lyon and Queen streets. Initial work begins on the HVAC shaft with traffic control, watermain capping and piling.

East Entrance: crews finalize work on columns throughout various parking levels. Preparations begin to install structural pillars at the end of the month.

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Excavation in Parliament Station cavern

Parliament Station Cavern

Chewrocka begins excavating the running tunnel. Crews continue rebar installation on starter walls, which will be followed by concrete pours.

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Work is ongoing on the parking levels at the Parliament Station east entrance

Parliament Station West and East Entrance

Construction of the winter enclosure continues. On the parking levels, concrete work is ongoing along with utility work.

Traffic restrictions on Queen and O’Connor streets are in effect.

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Mining the bench of the centre drift in Rideau Station cavern

Rideau Station

Crocodile Rouge begins mining the remainder of the bench of the centre drift. Excavation of the top heading continues.

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Hoarding installation finalized at Rideau Station west entrance

Rideau Station West and East Entrance

West Entrance: crews complete hoarding and begin shoring work. Shoring is slated to continue during the next few months.

East Entrance: previous round of blasting completed and material removal takes place. Line drilling also occurs. Rock excavation will continue during the holiday period.

Traffic restrictions on Rideau Street remain in effect.

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Concrete work at Cyrville Station

Hurdman, Tremblay, St-Laurent, Cyrville and Blair Stations

At Hurdman Station, electrical duct bank installations continue through to the end of the year, and crews remove crushed concrete from the old bus structure.

At Tremblay Station, excavation is ongoing on the station footings. Crews pour mud slabs and install rebar.

At St-Laurent Station, electrical work, installation of duct banks and watermain relocation also continue until the end of the year. Work on the mud slabs continues, and includes concrete pours.

At Cyrville Station, crews continue to waterproof the windscreen wall and begin to pour the elevator pit. Final sanitary work will continue until December 24.

At Blair Station, work on foundation walls including, formwork, rebar and pouring continues until the end of the year. Crews also pour the escalator pad.

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Forming the deck at the Hurdman Station elevated guideway

Guideway – Hurdman Station

Crews continue forming sections of the deck until December 24, and work will resume in January. Construction of the parapet walls is ongoing.

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Formwork at the east D-Ring road next to VIA Rail

Guideway – Tremblay Station

Formwork continues along with abutment wall concrete pours until December 24, with crews returning in early January.

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Trackwork activities west of Cyrville Station

Guideway – St-Laurent, Cyrville and Blair Stations

Installation of duct banks and OCS foundations are ongoing west of St-Laurent Station. Weather permitting, trackwork continues in sections heading west. Ballast and tamping, part of trackwork, occur at Cyrville Station heading west.

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Trackwork activities at Belfast Yard

Belfast Yard Administration and Maintenance Building and Yard

Crews continue installing OCS inside the building and complete exterior panel installations on the drivers facility. Weather depending, trackwork activities occur onsite and pathway paving is being completed as required. Belfast Road is anticipated to re-open December 18. Alstom vehicle tooling is ongoing.

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Installing final sections of the connector roof

Belfast Yard Vehicle Storage Shed and Connector Works

Final pathway paving occurs in the shed. In the connector, drilling of the dowels and concrete slab pours continue as part of trackwork. Crews continue installing the final sections of the roof, and working on slopes and fencing.

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Upcoming Construction Activities

The following construction activities are scheduled to occur:

In the coming weeks,

• Lyon Station west entrance excavation including blasting.
• Lyon Station east entrance and west tunnel vent shaft construction.
• East Transitway Service Adjustment between Hurdman and Lees stations begins December 20, 2015.

In the coming months:

• Pimisi Station construction.
• West Transitway Service Adjustment on Scott and Albert streets.Booth Street Bridge girder installation and deck work.
• Preliminary work at Lees Station and Rideau River Bridge rehabilitation.
• Deck work at the Hurdman elevated guideway.
• Deck pours at the Tremblay guideway.

http://www.ligneconfederationline.ca/news/construction-update-53/

[ssiguy]

How large will the stations be?

Content removed

[Coldrsx]

Great update and looking good.

[caltrane74]

Ottawa's subway is looking awesome!!

and it looks massive to boot!!

[SteelTown]

The West Harbour GO Station is looking absolutely great. Seems like a waste of money with such limited train service so hopefully it'll transition into an all day GO Station ASAP.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

The West Harbour GO Station is looking absolutely great. Seems like a waste of money with such limited train service so hopefully it'll transition into an all day GO Station ASAP.

If you build it, they will come.

I wouldn't doubt within the next 5 years all day GO to West Harbour will happen.

[Razor]

Good to see the progress reports on both Hamilton and Ottawa..Thanks for posting.

In the case of Ottawa, phase two should segue right after phase 1..Since a whole lot of tunneling expertise and equipment is already immobilized in the city for the light rail/subway, why not will through the proposed tunnel to Gat. ? Immobilization is a huge cost in any large tender's bidding process.

[Horus]

Originally Posted by Razor

Good to see the progress reports on both Hamilton and Ottawa..Thanks for posting.

In the case of Ottawa, phase two should segue right after phase 1..Since a whole lot of tunneling expertise and equipment is already immobilized in the city for the light rail/subway, why not will through the proposed tunnel to Gat. ? Immobilization is a huge cost in any large tender's bidding process.

Am I missing something? I've been following several discussion threads on these boards for some time, and I have no recollection of any proposed tunnel to Gatineau

[Razor]

Still in early stages..Even calling it a proposal may be a little pre-mature..I heard talk on it on the local news sometime in 2015.

http://ottawa.ca/en/news/ontario-joins-city-study-tunnel-divert-heavy-truck-traffic


With all this tunneling equipment and expertise already in the city working on the subway downtown, I just "personally" think that they should push this..The contractor(s) working on the tunneling DT will certainly stand a shot of winning the bid and the cost would be reduced.

They can move right From the light rail job to this one...Would need the stars to align to make a smooth transition from one job to another in 2018 though..A tunnel realistically wouldn't happen until sometime in the 2020's..It's too bad, because like I said the necessary equipment is right here in town now...