This perhaps belongs in a Transit Fantasies thread, but it might not be so far fetched. There is definite desire to grade separate the Elwood Junction, where the O-Train, Trillium Line, crosses the VIA track; and there is a desire to double-track the Trillium Line, in the future. The Trillium Line ‘needs’ to be shut down completely for 18 months so that it can be modified. And buses are better at managing short lengths of one-lane roadway. So let’s use all of these to see what we can do.
Starting at the Elwood Junction, I would take the VIA train over the O-Train. Trains are not that great at going up and down quickly, so the VIA trains would be high over Heron Road, high over the O-Train, high over the pedestrian path, and high over the Airport Parkway. The Trillium Line would be kept low under Heron Road, and low under the VIA line.
Since the O-Train currently goes over top of the SE Transitway, I would swap these two, putting the buses on the overpass and the trains on the lower bridge over the Sawmill Creek.
This means that the buses will need to deal with the single-lane bridge by using traffic signals at each end. I would not expect this to be a problem for the buses – although it might slow them down a bit. Having buses negotiate a single lane is much more efficient than having trains do it, with their associated switching delays.
This swap puts the trains in the 4-lane Transitway corridor and the buses in the rail corridor. The train is currently running on a single track, with a short passing track between Sawmill Creek and Walkley Road. There is sufficient width in the corridor, however, to have two paved lanes; or the buses can make do with occasional passing lanes.
The O-Train could be double-tracked as desired along its new corridor.
Getting to Walkley, the train would already have a station available for its use; although the platforms would need to be raised.
Again, the buses would use signals to squeeze through the underpass of Walkley Road. The bus stops could be ‘far-side’ stops where the new ‘busway’ pavement widens on either side of Walkley Road; with pedestrian access ramps from the stops up to Walkley Road.
Bus connection of this new ‘busway’ to Walkley could be accomplished by connecting to the existing Transitway ramps, or by using Anand Private.
Finally, at the Walkley Junction, the two corridors would remain in this new ‘train on the west of the SE Transitway’ configuration, just as they are now. The O-Train would revert back to a single track.
The relatively wide SE Transitway underpass of the rail line has a clear span, between piers, of about 16 metres. This would be enough space for two 4-metre bus lanes and one set of tracks.
I would suggest that the Trillium Line be shut down for a period (length unknown) so that the Transitway buses can be moved over to the new corridor (digging new road-bed, paving, adding signals to single-lane sections). During this time, the current SE-Transitway would have little disruption. Once the buses are moved, then the current SE Transitway can be converted to rail and the Walkley Station can be modified. The Elwood grade separation would obviously also be done during this O-Train shut-down.
Before anyone points it out: Yes, this is technically an ‘Active’ rail line and we just can’t pave it - but we can if we provide an alternative track routing, which this does. As for the underpass clearances, if the height is not sufficient, I thing that the City has a good case to apply to have lenience all along the Trillium Line – although that might cause future problems for MOOSE.
Thoughts?
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