Bombay Loop Update

Passing through the Armour Heights neighbourhood the other day, I noticed that the Bombay Loop I had mentioned previously as being under construction is now open. This has eliminated the last u-turn looping of buses on the entire system.

61 AVENUE RD. NORTH and 142 DOWNTOWN/AVENUE RD. EXPRESS buses enter the single lane loop just north of the westbound Hwy. 401 access ramp. The loop snakes a little to the right and then to the left, instead of a tighter looping, as buses exit left onto Bombay Ave. and then left again back on to Avenue Rd. The loop itself does not have a stop, but is very nicely landscaped with a number of fir trees.

It may now be possible to short-turn late 96/319 WILSON and 165 WESTON RD. NORTH buses at this loop as well, assuming that the Armour Heights residents don’t object. After all, it took the TTC some fifty years to build the loop because of neighbourhood pressure. Why they didn’t mind a bus idling on the street but not in a loop was beyond me.

What remains to be seen is whether or not 61 AVENUE RD. service north of Roe Loop to Bombay Loop will be provided on weekday evenings and on Saturday, Sunday and Holidays. As I have mentioned before, this would not only allow Roe Loop to be declared totally redundant and surplus, it would also eliminate a major service gap allowing passengers to tranfer from Wilson buses to Avenue Rd. buses at all times. I’m sure this may also increase passenger use of Avenue Rd. services.

Perhaps it might be interesting to look at a seven-day, 12-hour a day local, non-premium express, service from Bombay Loop to at least Queen’s Park and maybe Hospital Row. Anyone from the Commission reading?!

I had also imagined what Bombay Loop would have looked like with trolley bus wires. Oh, well……