05-14-2021, 09:01 AM
(05-14-2021, 08:06 AM)jamincan Wrote: I think any suggestions of tunneling when ION was initially built is incredibly naive. At the time it was planned, it was largely driven by the region financially with funding commitments from the provincial and federal govts (while expected) only confirmed later. I do wonder, though, what might be done in 20 years to improve the capabilities of the system.
I think the main problem it has right now has less to do with surface running (better traffic priority could address that) and more to do with geometry. The most problematic bits seem to be the tight turns at Allen St. and in DTK. By then, the opposition to losing on-street parking would be less and they could hopefully fix the Uptown section to run entirely on King Street down the centre of the street. DTK is harder. I do wonder if they could have a tunnel from somewhere north of the Central Stn and continuing under King St. to around Ontario where it would switch back to Charles at the surface, but I seem to recall there being challenging geology around there.
Ultimately, tunnelling a section like that is about prioritizing cars. If we instead closed King and made it a transit mall for the same section, and prioritize the train at the intersections, that would cost a lot less and provide the same benefit, but it would inconvenience drivers more. In fact, I still argue that surface stations are better for transit riders.