Quote:
Originally Posted by J.OT13
I love the idea of a partially underground route as to preserve the loop while maximizing speed of the tram, minimizing disruption to pedestrians and cutting down on possible conflicts with cars. Why does it need to be all or nothing?
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I mean, if Wellington's not gonna have cars between Bank and Elgin anyhow, there's not really any conflicts to speak of along that stretch. And considering removing cars could more than double the (already generously wide) sidewalks, I don't see it as much of a disruption to pedestrians either. There'll be a handful of events where the trams might have to dead-end for a few hours per year, but if we're being realistic, it's not enough disruption to justify the cost and complication of a tunnel.
But I'm not dogmatic about it being on the surface. I think there are some places where grade-separation might be worth looking into to avoid more regular conflicts or disruption. If I had to choose some stretches, I'd choose these two:
- Wellington from Portage to Kent. This is a stretch with potentially disruptive car traffic and vehicular access points to the Parliamentary Precinct. Although the disruption to tram traffic is relatively minor, passengers still have to cross. Again, I don't think that this is something that requires a tunnel to solve - we know how to make good crosswalks. But having an underground Court station with interior access to Lyon could be a light argument in favour of it. But my actual opinion is that it could be far more easily solved by improving the crosswalks and also offering an underground pedestrian connection from a surface station.
- Portage at Laurier (Hull). This is a lot more important from an infrastructure point of view. With the loop, there would be a high frequency of full trams turning from Laurier onto Portage in all directions. We can't have cars in the way without turning it into the Achille's heel of the entire system. In this case, it would be far simpler to have vehicular traffic on Portage/Maisonneuve go from the bridge into an underpass beneath Laurier, with trams and people above. It means undisrupted tram operations, no traffic backups on Portage, and would turn one of the most awful intersections in the region into a plaza with an unbeatable view over Parliament and the river.
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