Update — November 26: The City has now posted the presentations for the open houses on-line. You can view Part1 here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here. (All .pdf)
You can look over the final plans for the Eglinton Crosstown light rail Transit City line and have your say on the future of transit service along Eglinton Avenue when the TTC and City of Toronto host seven final open Houses along the route of the future line.
At these open houses, TTC and City staff are presenting the design that they prefer for both the underground and street-level segments of the line. For the surface segments, they will display the final stop and passenger platform locations and how they plan to manage traffic along Eglinton Avenue to guarantee fast and reliable light rail service.
The open houses take place on November 23, 24, 25 and 26 and December 2, 8 and 10.
A TTC staff report (.pdf) to yesterday’s meeting of the Toronto Transit Commission outlines how TTC staff see the line:
- A 14.6-kilometre long section along the surface from Toronto Pearson International Airport to Black Creek Drive, including a new bridge across Highway 401, west of Renforth Drive, mostly in the centre lanes Eglinton Avenue West;
- A 10.5-kilometre underground section beneath Eglinton West and East from Black Creek Drive to Brentcliffe Road; and
- A 7.5-kilometre surface section in the centre lanes of Eglinton Avenue East from Brentcliffe Road to Kennedy Station (with an underground section at east and west of Don Mills Road so that LRT vehicles can reach the underground Don Mills Station).
The line includes 28 stops on the surface and 13 underground stations. Typically, stops on the surface will be about 500 to 600 metres apart, while underground stations will be about 850 metres apart.
The City and TTC are building portals — where the light rail cars will enter or exit from the tunnel sections — east of Black Creek Drive, east of Brentcliffe Road and east and west of Don Mills Road. The final design has a station at Laird Drive, instead of Brentcliffe Road.
Generally, staff propose two LRT tracks on a median about 150 millimetres above the middle of the roadway for the surface sections. Between stops, they propose two traffic lanes and a bicycle lane on either side of the tracks. At intersections with traffic signals, they plan to lower the right-of-way to accommodate a left-turn lane and passenger platforms.
They will maintain at least two lanes of traffic in each direction along the corridor. Between Commerce Road and Weston Road, the City will widen Eglinton Avenue West to allow two through traffic lanes in each direction. Between Weston Road and Black Creek Drive and between Brentcliffe Road and Kennedy Road, the City will convert two of the current six traffic lanes to the rail right-of-way, while keeping four lanes for traffic - two in each direction.
At all surface stops and underground stations, the platforms will be 90 metres long to accommodate as many as three 30-metre long light rail vehicles.
The project includes three off-street bus facilities:
- A four-bay bus terminal at Keele Station,
- A bus loop with one bus bay at Caledonia Station, and
- A seven-bay bus terminal at Don Mills Station.
To build the project, the City and TTC propose to buy 45 properties and demolish or relocate the buildings on those properties. They also intend to buy or gain temporary rights to part of another 53 private properties and 55 properties that the municipal, provincial or federal governments or their agencies control. Some of these properties are in the City of Mississauga.
The City and TTC intend to build and open the line in three parts:
- Between Commerce Drive and Eglinton West Station by 2016;
- Between Eglinton West and Kennedy Stations by 2018; and
- Between Toronto Pearson International Airport and Commerce Drive by 2018.
The City and TTC previously hosted public meetings and open houses about the Eglinton Crosstown line in August and September 2008, June and July 2009 and September 2009. After this series of open houses, the staff take comments and input from members of the public, prepare a final environmental assessment report and ask the Ontario Minister of the Environment to approve the design.
All events in this series of open houses take place from 6:30 until 9 p.m.
Monday, November 23
York Memorial Collegiate cafeteria
2690 Eglinton Avenue West
From 6:30 until 9 p.m.
Tuesday, November 24
Etobicoke Olympium, second floor lounge
590 Rathburn Road
From 6:30 until 9 p.m.
Wednesday, November 25
Northern Secondary School cafeteria
851 Mount Pleasant Road
From 6:30 until 9 p.m.
Thursday, November 26
Richview Collegiate cafeteria
1738 Islington Avenue
From 6:30 until 9 p.m.
Wednesday, December 2
CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind)
Conference Centre
1929 Bayview Avenue
From 6:30 until 9 p.m.
Tuesday, December 8
Don Montgomery Community Centre
2467 Eglinton Avenue East
From 6:30 until 9 p.m.
Thursday, December 10
Beth Shalom Synagogue
1445 Eglinton Avenue West
From 6:30 until 9 p.m.
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