Durham-Scarborough Bus Rapid Transit LIVE - October 28, 2021

Increased transit service, which is also more reliable will help encourage more people to choose public transit for more of their trips, taking pressure off the roads as population and employment continues to increase.  In the section west of Morningside there will be two lanes in each direction for cars, as there is today, and the road will be widened to add the BRT lanes.  East of Military Trail the existing four-lane roadway will be maintained and the two center lanes will be converted to BRT.  East of Meadowvale the east end of Ellesmere will be widened slightly to convert the existing wide two lanes into a four-lane road with median BRT.

The traffic analysis undertaken for the project indicates that the roads will be capable of managing the traffic to beyond 2041.

In addition to the more obvious benefit of providing improved transit for people who live, work, study and play in the corridor, there are several other benefits.

The service will increase mobility and allow people who don’t have access to a car to pursue more opportunities.  This will complement the improved access to sites along eh corridor which will allow businesses to attract more employees.

The increased service will also reduce future pressure on the road network as people who are moving into the area, or who travel along the route will have more choice and can travel without needing a car.  In other places where improved transit is offered we see families choosing not to have a second, or third car, and that their use of the car decreases.  This has obvious environmental benefits from reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

The active transportation elements of the project also enhance local mobility.  Transit trips begin and end as pedestrian or cycling trips, so improving those facilities enhances the benefits of transit.

A preliminary implementation plan is included in the presentation and the materials on the website.  The corridor is too long to be constructed all at once and will be subdivided into segments.  Construction will proceed based on funding availability and other factors such as design, permits and approvals and property availability.  Generally, the west end of the corridor in Durham will move forward first and the central and eastern areas later.  Timing in Toronto is still being reviewed but is likely to be undertaken in a similar fashion as the west end has high traffic volumes and more transit delay.  

Construction is likely to begin in 2023 or 2024 in the earliest of the segments.  Some areas will not see any construction before 2027.

The DSBRT buses will turn north on Grangeway and connect to the new bus terminal for the new subway station.  The subway team is designing the integrated bus terminal and providing the requires bus bays.  They are also looking at any required improvements along Grangeway to support all bus activity into the station.

Enhanced cycling facilities will be implemented along the corridor.  In the pinch point areas the cycling facilities will be on parallel routes, such as along Mary Street in downtown Whitby.  Cross rides and other safety measures will be applied at intersections to improve safety in accordance with the Vision Zero principles.

We recognize that construction can be impactful to area residents and businesses. That is why we are committed to working with the local Chambers of Commerce and Business Improvement Areas to support businesses during construction. Additionally, Metrolinx has an established community benefits and supports program that focuses on ensuring that residents, businesses and communities understand the benefits that these major transit projects will bring to their communities and what supports are available for mitigating construction impacts.

While most elements of our business support program will be determined once a successful proponent comes on board and a contract is in place, we have outlined examples of supports we have provided in other projects.

• Direct, one-to-one individual business supports directed to marketing and promotional ideas and help augment businesses where there is no Chamber/BIA representation.

• Metrolinx, in partnership with the various project delivery partners, implements a suite of flexible and responsive community support initiatives, including engagement, local procurement opportunities, construction mitigation and opportunities for local employment.

• Chamber/BIA support for marketing and event initiatives within the construction corridor.

• Shop Local marketing, signage and advertising during select periods.

The Community Engagement team also works closely with businesses along the corridor and the contractor to ensure any questions or concerns are addressed promptly where possible. This may include things like procuring directional signage and ensuring the site stays clean.

Prior to the start of construction, we will be creating Community Liaison Committees (CLCs) following the Environmental Assessment (EA). Once we’re through the EA process, the CLC will convene to review the design and provide more feedback. This is a great way for the business community to get involved with the project from the beginning.

There are very limited impacts on local traffic and parking.  In downtown Whitby on street parking will be replaced by expanding the parking lot at Byron and Elm.  In downtown Oshawa a small number of parking spaces may be lost, but the design team and City of Oshawa staff are looking to find additional spaces to address this loss.

The major change for local traffic will be the change in driveway and local side street access.  With the introduction of a center median along most of the route, left turns directly into driveways and side streets will be replaced with U-turns at adjacent traffic lights, requiring drivers to go past the driveway, and make a -turn at the next traffic light before returning and turning right.

Several options were reviewed for downtown Whitby and have been refined based on the priorities we have heard from Town staff, local businesses and the people who live in the area.  The preferred design is a balance of maintaining transit priority, providing capacity for general traffic and encouraging a more walkable downtown. 

Design work considered the traffic report, which is based on a robust regional model and traffic data collected between 2016 and 2019 – all pre-pandemic.  This work indicates that in 2041 a single westbound lane, combined with the improved transit service, will carry the required trips.  
The report also indicates that without implementing the BRT project, the traffic volumes will not be able to be handled by Dundas Street and more traffic on local side streets is likely as drivers look for less congested alternate routes.

Yes, the intention is to integrate the services such that riders along the corridor can use any bus to travel.

At 36 km the corridor is already quite long.  The eastern limit was selected to document a solution at Simcoe and Center Streets where the future north-south corridor will intersect the King and Bond facility.

The bus service will continue further east in mixed traffic.  A future study will look at connecting the dedicated lanes to the proposed GO Station on Ritson Road.  Extensions further east can also be reviewed as part of that study.

Additional bus services from the east can also use the dedicated lanes.  These services will be planned by DRT when warranted based on ridership and the overall bus route structure in Oshawa.

The traffic analysis indicates that the single westbound lane will be able to manage the traffic volumes to beyond 2041.  Two eastbound lanes are proposed to meet demand as eastbound traffic in the afternoon is heavier than westbound traffic in the morning.

The improved transit service will also encourage more people to choose transit for more of their trips, taking pressure off the roads as population and employment growth continues.

Left turns will be maintained at both Elizabeth Street and Church Street.  The traffic analysis also indicates that single westbound lane will be able to manage the traffic volumes t beyond 2041, particularly as the improved BRT service will encourage more people to choose transit for more of their trips, taking pressure off the roads as population and employment growth continues.

Along much of the corridor the intent is to maintain the existing number of traffic lanes and widen the road to add the BRT lanes.  In some of the more congested areas, such as the east end of Ellesmere, Pickering Village and downtown Whitby, there isn’t room to maintain the number of traffic lanes and introduce BRT.  In these pinch points we have analyzed the long term need and are proposing a solution that balances the need for improved transit to manage future congestion and provide adequate road capacity for cars.  The plan as presented achieves these goals.

Metrolinx is leading the environmental assessment and preliminary engineering for the physical road infrastructure.  DRT and TTC will opera limited number of local TTC buses at the east end of Ellesmere may use the curb lanes to serve local stops.

The intention is to have an integrated fare system so that passengers will only need to ay one fare and that people travelling along the Toronto section will be able to use any of the buses in the corridor.

We sincerely apologize you did not receive the notification regarding the public live meeting with enough advance notice. 

Our team is committed to engaging with the community as we work to move this important transit project forward. We look forward to planning in person meetings and information sessions when it is safe to do so.

Yes, the design will include a raised crosswalk where it connects to the access to the BRT platform.  This will provide a cue to improve accessibility and will also keep the area free of standing water, which will improve the customer experience.

The intention is to include as complete a cycling solution as possible.  The project will not be modifying the Rouge River bridge, and buses will be operating in mixed traffic.  The design team have been coordinating with the City of Toronto, who have this link in their cycling plan.  

As the project moves forward the intention is to get the city to advance this work to implement the cycling facilities at the same time that the DSBRT infrastructure is put in place.

The design will incorporate the latest standards for maintaining safety at intersections.  The intent is to implement a complete solution to improve active transportation along with transit as they compliment each other in improving local mobility.

A preliminary implementation plan is included in the presentation and the materials on the website.  The corridor is too long to be constructed all at once and will be subdivided into segments.  Construction will proceed based on funding availability and other factors such as design, permits and approvals and property availability.  Generally, the west end of the corridor in Durham will move forward first and the central and eastern areas later.  Timing in Toronto is still being reviewed but is likely to be undertaken in a similar fashion as the west end has high traffic volumes and more transit delay.  

Construction is likely to begin in 2023 or 2024 in the earliest of the segments.  Some areas will not see any construction before 2027.

At 36 km the corridor is already quite long.  The eastern limit was selected to document a solution at Simcoe and Center Streets where the future north-south corridor will intersect the King and Bond facility.

The bus service will continue further east in mixed traffic.  A future study will look at connecting the dedicated lanes to the proposed GO Station on Ritson Road.  Extensions further east can also be reviewed as part of that study.

Additional bus services from the east can also use the dedicated lanes.  These services will be planned by DRT when warranted based on ridership and the overall bus route structure in Oshawa.

Durham Region Transit reviews their service on a regular basis to balance need with the resources they have.  If you have specific requests for other service in the Region, please reach out to them directly.

Construction of LRT requires that major utilities be relocated out from under the tracks to avoid future disruption when access is required to maintain the infrastructure.  Time is also needed to construct the tracks and the electrification system that allows them to operate.  Construction of BRT infrastructure is quite a bit simpler as utilities are only relocated out form under the platforms at the BRT stops.  Work is more similar to a road widening or reconstruction project, which is significantly faster to complete.

The corridor will also be divided into manageable segments to allow work to be completed on one or two construction seasons.  Tis approach will reduce the impacts on the adjacent properties.

BRT is Bus Rapid Transit and LRT is Light Rail Transit.  BRT was defined at the start of the presentation.  It is challenging to provide a brief overview of the project and provide detailed explanations of it as well.  If you still have questions or would like to go over the materials in more detail, please contact us at [email protected]x.com. 

Bus Rapid Transit is dedicated median lanes that provide a segregated space for buses to operate along the roadway.  Stops are provided in the median with access at crosswalks at signalized intersections.

The choice of technology is based on a number of factors, but ridership and cost are the main factors.  The ridership volumes in this corridor do not warrant subway capacity, and the cost of a subway is very prohibitive given the length of the corridor and the number of people who live along the corridor.  

BRT provides flexibility to route buses in and out of the corridor to respond to local ridership patterns, allows DRT to respond to ridership demands by increasing the number of buses on the route, and provides a high degree of transit priority at a reasonable cost.

We sincerely apologize for inconveniences experienced while trying to join our live meeting. 

In the meeting we discussed improving transit so that more people will choose public transit for more of their trips.  We understand that transit doesn’t accommodate everyone or every trip.  The intention is to provide options and increase the carrying capacity of the corridor, moving more people to support the planned growth in the area.

Modern traffic signals are more responsive to traffic that is waiting at signals during overnight periods when traffic volumes are lower.  Left turns across the BRT lanes will need to be controlled at all hours as buses, and potentially emergency vehicles, could be using the BRT lanes.

The design of the DSBRT corridor is based on the principles of Vision Zero.  A roadway with a single lane of traffic in each direction is not inherently less safe than a wider road, in fact wider roads are often less safe with lane changes and differential speeds of vehicles.

In areas where there is a single traffic lane adjacent to a BRT lane, the BRT lane would be available for emergency services vehicles to bypass congestion, maintaining or improving response time.

If there is an incident in the general traffic lane, police will direct traffic to use the BRT lane, the way they manage traffic at incidents where traffic needs to be diverted around incidents.

Left turns will be maintained at both Elizabeth Street and Church Street.  The traffic analysis also indicates that single westbound lane will be able to manage the traffic volumes t beyond 2041, particularly as the improved BRT service will encourage more people to choose transit for more of their trips, taking pressure off the roads as population and employment growth continues.

The planning in the downtown Pickering area considered the planned development included in the City’s plans.  As development applications for the various buildings are received they will be integrated into the plans.  City staff have been involved in the planning and are aware of the stop locations and infrastructure being proposed to provide an integrated and coordinated solution.

We sincerely apologize for inconveniences experienced while trying to join our live meeting. 

The City of Pickering has developed a plan for the downtown corridor along Kingston Road, which has been included in the population and employment growth forecasts used in the ridership and traffic modelling.  Part of this plan is to increase the density along this corridor to reduce the pressure to expand the urban boundary.  

This project is designed to identify the solution for this once corridor, but other corridors are included in Metrolinx’s 2041 Regional Transportation Plan.

There will continue to be four lanes for general traffic west of Morningside and through the UTSC/Centennial Campus area as far east as Military Trail.  The segment of Ellesmere between Military Trail and Kingston Road will provide two general traffic lanes and BRT lanes to address neighbourhood concerns.  On Kingston Road between Ellesmere and the Rouge Valley the design will maintain four general traffic lanes.  Details of the design can be found on the website or by looking at the interactive map.

The traffic analysis does not indicate a significant amount of traffic being diverted to Mary Street.  The single through lane is sufficient to handle the majority of the traffic.

The analysis also found that the amount of traffic on local roads, including Mary Street, will be higher without the BRT as fewer people will ride public transit and will travel by car.  This increased congestion will add more traffic to local streets that we see with the BRT in place.

We continue to work with the Town of Whitby to look at what improvements may be needed on Mary Street.  

At 36 km the corridor is already quite long.  The eastern limit was selected to document a solution at Simcoe and Center Streets where the future north-south corridor will intersect the King and Bond facility.

The bus service will continue further east in mixed traffic.  A future study will look at connecting the dedicated lanes to the proposed GO Station on Ritson Road.  Extensions further east can also be reviewed as part of that study.

Additional bus services from the east can also use the dedicated lanes.  These services will be planned by DRT when warranted based on ridership and the overall bus route structure in Oshawa.

With the implementation of the BRT median lanes and the stop to serve the local neighbourhood, we will also be introducing a dedicated left-turn/U-turn phase to manage the traffic crossing the BRT lanes.  This should provide better opportunities to turn left than exists today.

We are in the last stages of the environmental assessment and will be progressing into detailed design.  Funding for construction will be sought as soon as the environmental assessment is approved.  The intention is to construct the lanes as quickly as possible to provide people travelling along the corridor with improved service.  Some of the planned development will be in place before the BRT is completed, and some will be under construction at the same time.  The objective is to have the BRT in place before too much of the new development is in place.

Yes.  The intent is to replace trees right along the corridor where possible but other areas adjacent to the corridor will also be considered, such as open areas and parks.

The traffic report is based on a robust regional model and traffic data collected between 2016 and 2019 – all pre-pandemic.  This work indicates that in 2041 a single westbound lane, combined with the improved transit service, will carry the required trips. 

The report also indicates that without implementing the BRT project, traffic volumes will not be sustained by Dundas Street and more traffic on local side streets is likely as drivers look for less congested alternate routes. 

The pre-pandemic analysis is considered valid as it represents conditions in 2041, which will very likely reflect pre-pandemic travel patterns.

We sincerely apologize for inconveniences experienced while trying to join our live meeting. 

Cochrane/Annes is an important north-south street in the west end of downtown.  To provide improved transit access, a BRT stop is planned here.  This will improve transit access to the neighbourhood.  With the introduction of the median BRT lanes the number of opportunities to turn left across the BRT lanes is limited, and left turns/U-turns will be permitted at the traffic signal to maintain access to the areas north and south of Dundas.  The traffic volumes also suggest that a dedicated eastbound right turn lane is required to manage traffic, particularly in the afternoon peak period.

The combination of the BRT stop, the left turn/U-tun provisions and right turn lane will require lane from the current landowners on each side of Dundas Street.

In determining the potential impacts the team worked with staff at the Town of Whitby and used the Town’s Official Plan to assess the design.  The Official Plan protects for an ultimate road right-of-way along this segment of Dundas Street that is xx metres wide.  The proposed design fits within this Official Plan designated width.

We recognize that this will reduce the depth of front yards.  During detailed design we will work with you and other landowners to look for opportunities to reduce the impacts and the ability to maintain parking.

Various options, including ‘red’ curb lanes were investigated early in the design process and do not provide the degree of reliability needed to make the project a success.  Curb lanes are susceptible to delays due to weather or other events such as incidents on Highway 401.  Maintaining segregation of the BRT service from general traffic has been shown to improve speed and reliability giving riders assurance that they can travel in a predicable way.