The other day, I received in the mail a notice of public consultation for the proposed Etobicoke-Finch West Light Rail Transit. Light Rail Transit picked my interest, but soon afterwards I realized they’re talking about streetcars. The rational for moving to streetcars from buses isn’t well defined apart from the fact that they run on electricity. Even in the planning study notice, City of Toronto writes:
Modern, environmentally-sustainable LRT service will support the growing travel needs of people who live and work in the Finch West Corridor and beyond, and will also make the street livelier, more attractive, and more people-friendly.
It is tough to argue streetcars wouldn’t be environment friendly (as long as the supplied electricity came from environment friendly power generation): however this proposal falls flat on other levels. Continue reading to find out why.
Finch Avenue is not wide enough to support a Light Rail Transit
Currently, this route is serviced by bus and one way of improving the speed would be to create dedicated bus lanes (like on Yonge St north of Finch Ave). Doing so would still leave 1 lane per direction in addition to 1 lane in the middle for turning available for cars. With dedicated lanes for the streetcars, they will take slightly more than 2 current existing lanes (due to the fact that streetcars are physically wider than a vehicle). As such, Finch Ave will be reduced to just 2 lanes making the traffic worse.
Light Rail Transit on Finch Ave will hamper emergency services
If the dedicated lanes on St. Clair Ave is any indication, the TTC right-of-way for the proposed Etobicoke-Finch route will be inadequate for emergency vehicles such as fire trucks. Fire Department has released a letter indicating that the new tracks for the streetcars are too narrow for the fire trucks to use them, and the department has deemed the proposal “unsafe”. Improving public transit is a commendable goal, but it should not be at the expense of public safety.
Voice your concerns at the public open houses:
- July 29, 2008: North York Memorial Community Hall
- August 6, 2008: Jane-Finch Mall
- August 7, 2008: Elmbank Community Centre
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