Time is now to build light rail along Eglinton

[attach]3445[/attach]When I was TTC chair in the 1990s, we had started building the Eglinton subway that was supposed to run from Eglinton West Station to Pearson Airport, at a cost of approximately $1.5 billion.

Unfortunately, the Mike Harris Government that came into power in 1995 stopped the project dead.

This rapid transit line was needed then and it is even more essential today as we all witness the wall-to-wall gridlock on Eglinton Avenue, and see the neglect at intersections such as Yonge and Eglinton, Avenue Road and Eglinton, and Bathurst and Eglinton. At almost every key intersection, you have nothing but donut shops and two-storey retail.

The subway versus light rail transit (LRT) debate that is taking place at city hall does not take into account one critical aspect, and
that is that full subways require massive densities like we have up and down Yonge Street in order to pay for themselves.

Subways rely on a peak ridership of up to 20,000 riders, compared to the light rail, which is fine with 5,000-7,000 riders. The proposed Eglinton Crosstown LRT line (which by the way is 100% paid for by the Province of Ontario, to the tune of $4.6 Billion) fits with the character and density of the neighbourhoods that make up the Eglinton corridor.

Sure, there could be more density at the intersections at Bathurst and Eglinton Avenue, and Eglinton Avenue and Dufferin Street, but you would not need a wall of high rises with 10 times coverage (with massive intensification, from Laird Drive to Keele Street), to make the new line viable and economical.

The Eglinton-Crosstown line makes sense, and certainly for the middle section of the line from Laird Drive to Keele Street.

This middle section would be totally underground, and for all intents and purposes, a subway, or a “Semi-Metro” as they call them in Europe.

Since the early 1970s, transit gurus like Dick Soberman and Ed Levy have all said that Eglinton Avenue needs and deserves rapid transit as far as ridership, geography and good planning go.

After being involved in pushing for rapid transit on Eglinton Avenue for over 22 years, it is clear to me that the Eglinton Crosstown LRT should be built as soon as possible and completed this time.

This is an invaluable opportunity not only to improve transit and reduce gridlock on Eglinton Avenue, but it is also a once in a lifetime opportunity to make Eglinton the grand east-west avenue running through the heart of Toronto, with sustainable, second to none, vibrant neighbourhoods.

For more information on the proposed rapid transit line on Eglinton Avenue, please contact my office at [email=mcolle.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org]mcolle.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org[/email], or at 416-781-2395.