|
Speak out Scarborough: New Scarborough TTC Subway expansion?
|
View this Thread in Original format
| dEsidEL |
| quote: |
Speak out, Scarborough told
Councillors say area deserves new subway extension
Constituents told to flex political muscle as SRT wears out
JOHN SPEARS
CITY HALL BUREAU
Scarborough city councillors want a subway to the heart of their former city, and they think it should be built before an extension of the Spadina subway north to York University.
They also want Scarborough citizens to start throwing their political weight behind the project, voting to launch a "subway now" campaign, complete with its own logo, to rally public opinion.
The issue is coming to a head because the Toronto Transit Commission says the cars now running on the Scarborough Rapid Transit line will be worn out by 2015 and must be replaced with a subway, streetcars or buses. The light rail line runs from Kennedy subway station north and east, past Scarborough Town Centre to McCowan Rd.
The line, which uses trains consisting of four small cars running on a non-standard track, carries close to 43,000 people a day, and is under such strain at rush hour that some TTC surface routes now divert passengers away from it.
"In the scheme of things, Scarborough Rapid Transit is a big player," said consultant Richard Soberman, who has been hired by the TTC to study options for replacing the line.
"It is a bigger player than the Sheppard subway."
The SRT carries more than twice as many people as now travel to York University by TTC buses, although the TTC estimates that 50,000 people a day would use a York University subway line.
But Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 38, Scarborough Centre) said Scarborough ridership would nearly double if the existing SRT were replaced.
"If we made this a convenient, reliable service, we'd have 80,000 people (a day) next week," he said.
A full-scale subway would eventually connect in a loop with the Sheppard subway, which now dead-ends at Fairview Mall. It could extend north of Highway 401 to Scarborough neighbourhoods now served only by buses.
De Baeremaeker said Scarborough is grossly underserved by Toronto's subway system and needs to make its case ahead of other proposed extensions.
"We have to start speaking loudly today to make sure our residents get their fair share of the transit pie," he said.
Gerry Altobello (Ward 35, Scarborough Southwest) insisted that a Scarborough subway should be built ahead of the proposed York University line.
A Scarborough subway "has to be completed first," and linked with the Sheppard line, he said.
"It has to go to the Scarborough Town Centre. You can't just have a stub and leave it. You have to complete it. And I think once those two lines are completed, where the demand is, then you look at the York University line."
Councillor Bas Balkissoon (Ward 41, Scarborough-Rouge River) noted that it would be close to 2015 by the time a York University line could be built — and by then the current SRT will be at the end of its life.
Soberman said the SRT can handle about 4,000 riders an hour today. That could be doubled by buying new, bigger cars; running them in trains of six instead of four; and running them more frequently.
A full-scale subway — while much more expensive — would eliminate the need to change trains at Kennedy station, and can carry 30,000 riders or more in an hour.
Councillor Brian Ashton (Ward 36, Scarborough Southwest) said the city has developed a defeatist attitude about building subways, somehow convincing itself that they're too expensive.
The city has to start dreaming about its potential, as it did during the burst of subway construction in the 1950s and 1960s, he said. That's when the Yonge, Bloor and University subways were built.
"When did we stop dreaming about what's possible, and what we can do?" he said
|
source:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...72154&t=TS_Home
|
|
|
| perpetuous |
| The SRT is awful, I used to take it every day. The article is right about the necessity of completing the Sheppard line, and linking it with the Town Centre. |
|
|
| ShadoWolf |
It's a good idea, but I would rather see the Sheppard line extended WEST to the Airport first.
Another alternative would be an Eglinton line west to the Airport.
Then the University line should be extended to York University (which would allow suburbanites easier access to the subway).
Then the Sheppard line should be extended to the Town Centre at the least, or maybe to UofT Scarborough Campus, or even to the Zoo. |
|
|
| EvilTree |
| quote: | Originally posted by ShadoWolf
It's a good idea, but I would rather see the Sheppard line extended WEST to the Airport first.
Another alternative would be an Eglinton line west to the Airport.
Then the University line should be extended to York University (which would allow suburbanites easier access to the subway).
Then the Sheppard line should be extended to the Town Centre at the least, or maybe to UofT Scarborough Campus, or even to the Zoo. |
Who's going to pay for it. |
|
|
| Tordan |
| I think it's a great idea but why can't both lines be built concurrently? |
|
|
| EvilTree |
| quote: | Originally posted by Tordan
I think it's a great idea but why can't both lines be built concurrently? |
Cost?
Distruption to normal city traffic?
Not enough resources and skilled specialists to build them at same time? |
|
|
| smuncky |
i think they should extend the sheppard line west to link with the university/spadina line. that would be most benificial for ppl that want to go that way instead of going all the way to bloor and getting off and changing trains.
then connecting the sheppard line with the RT/proposed scarborough subway which could be built at the same time. |
|
|
| EvilTree |
| Uh. From Yonge and Sheppard to Downsview is like, what, 15 min max bus ride. |
|
|
| k@tie |
i think that there REALLY needs to be a subway extension to STC. The damn RT broke down the other night at Kennedy station and I didn't get home till 12, when i shoulda been there at like 9:30! ><
Katie |
|
|
| MarkT |
nevermind 2015...the SRT is ing falling apart *NOW*, lol.
There are compelling arguments to build it...but I really think the York U expansion should happen too.
Here's hoping the TTC and various levels of government (and the private sector?) can make both happen. |
|
|
| incedogg |
| They Should of though about this When they were building the rt in the first place. what in the world made them think that small train cars will move alot of ppl. i think the sheppard line should go directly across the top of the city. the thing is, now that the srt is built, its goin to be hell to replace with with out hassles to everyday comuters. |
|
|
| dEsidEL |
| quote: | Originally posted by EvilTree
Who's going to pay for it. |
who pays for it in other major cities with a smaller population than Toronto ?
i hav an idea.. make the people involved with the federal sponsorship scandal, provincial walkterton water scandal, and municipal computer leasing scandal pay for it..
the money's there, just not in the right places.
|
|
|
|
|
