Eglinton Crosstown LRT (TTC)

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT is a proposed light rail line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as part of the Transit City proposal announced March 16, 2007, to be operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. It is the longest and most expensive proposed Transit City LRT line, expected to cost approximately $2.2 billion, but it is also the line with the highest ridership potential, and would provide a midtown link between the Yonge and Spadina subway lines. With construction to begin in 2010, the line is expected to open in 2015, the fourth of the seven Transit City lines to be complete after the Sheppard East, Etobicoke-Finch West, and Waterfront West LRT lines.

An online survey on the official Transit City website asking passengers which line they would use the new LRT service shows that the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line has received about three times the number of votes of all the other LRT lines in the Transit City proposal combined. However, these results may be inaccurate and biased, as passengers can vote once a day, and the proposed LRT lines are of different lengths and cover different areas of the city. This LRT line will also be the only LRT line to cross all former municipalities in the former Metropolitan Toronto, being on Eglinton Avenue.

Route layout

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT line would run for 30.8 km, estimated to account for 53 million trips in 2021. The western termini of the line would be built at Toronto Pearson International Airport and the Mississauga Transitway in Mississauga. The line would run along Eglinton Avenue, where the formerly proposed Eglinton West subway would have been built. The line would cut across the city, touching every subway and RT line with the exception of the Sheppard Line. A portion of the line would be built underground through the former city of York and Midtown Toronto from west of Keele Street to west of Leslie Street. Each station in the underground portion would be 850 metres apart on average, while the surface portions are an average of 500 metres apart. This is because constructing many underground stops would be costly and the average speed would be increased to 22 km/h, as compared with the the existing bus routes along Eglinton that have an average speed of 16 to 18 km/h. [cite web|url=http://www.thestar.com/article/475187|title=Distance between LRT stops criticized|last=Spears|first=John|date=2008-08-09|publisher=Toronto Star|accessdate=2008-08-14] The line would terminate at Kennedy Station to the east in Scarborough and meet the Scarborough Malvern LRT line.

Proposed stops/stations

The TTC has indicated that the surface stops will be spaced on average 500 m apart and the underground stations will be spaced on average 850 m. The alignment of the line west of Martin Grove Road to the Mississauga Transitway and Toronto Pearson International Airport will be determined at a later study. The distances between these stops varies, but they are likely candidates, from west to east:

On Eglinton Avenue

* Martin Grove Road
* Widdicombe Hill Boulevard/Lloyd Manor Road
* Kipling Avenue
* Wincott Drive/Bemersyde Drive
* Islington Avenue
* Russell Road/Eden Valley Road
* Royal York Road
* Mulham Place
* Scarlett Road
* Eglinton Flats/Emmett Avenue
* Jane Street (connection to future Jane LRT line)
* Weston Road (possible future connection to Georgetown GO train line)
* Black Creek Drive
* Keele Street
* Caledonia Road - 2 bay bus terminal proposed (possible future connection to Barrie GO train line)
* Dufferin Street
* Oakwood Avenue
* Allen Road - Eglinton West Station (connection to Yonge-University-Spadina subway)
* Bathurst Street
* Chaplin Crescent
* Avenue Road
* Yonge Street - Eglinton Station (connection to Yonge-University-Spadina subway)
* Mount Pleasant Road
* Bayview Avenue
* Laird Drive (with Brentcliffe Road, possible change in location, may be eliminated for one station only)
* Brentcliffe Road (with Laird Drive, possible change in location, may be eliminated for one station only)
* Leslie Street
* Don Mills Road - 5 bay bus terminal proposed (connection to future Don Mills LRT line)
* Ferrand Drive
* Wynford Drive (possible future connection to Richmond Hill GO train line, if not on Swift Drive)
* Swift Drive (possible future connection to Richmond Hill GO train line, if not on Wynford Drive)
* Bermondsey Road
* Victoria Park Avenue
* Pharmacy Avenue
* Lebovic Avenue
* Warden Avenue
* Birchmount Road
* Ionview Road
* Kennedy Road - Kennedy Station, Kennedy GO Station (connection to Bloor-Danforth subway, Scarborough RT, future Scarborough Malvern LRT line, and Stouffville GO train line)

Proposed Transit City LRT lines

* Eglinton Crosstown LRT
* Jane LRT
* Etobicoke-Finch West LRT
* Don Mills LRT
* Scarborough Malvern LRT
* Waterfront West LRT
* Sheppard East LRT

ee also

* Transit City
* Toronto streetcar system
* Toronto subway and RT
* Eglinton West subway

References

External links

* [http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/eglinton_crosstown_lrt/index.htm Official project website]
* [http://transitcity.ca/ Transit City website]