Part of the Scarborough Rapid Transit line could become a bus-only lane by 2025 | News

Toronto’s TTC board will decide on April 14 how best to serve Scarborough Rapid Transit (SRT) riders after the seniors line is permanently closed next year.

Council members are asked to approve the conversion of the MRS from Kennedy Stations to Ellesmere to a dedicated bus lane.

Travel along the rest of the 37-year-old route, from Ellesmere to Scarborough Center station, will be by bus until at least 2030, when the Bloor-Danforth Metro extension is due to open.

Midland and McCowan SRT stations will be closed and decommissioned as service on line stops by the end of 2023, but new bus platforms will be built at the other stations, including Kennedy.

However, for the approximately two years required to convert the right-of-way, the buses needed to replace the SRT will operate on the streets.

A report to council recommends one-way service northbound on Kennedy Road and southbound on Midland Avenue during this time.

“One-way service in each direction allows for the best possible traffic signal coordination to improve transit flow for customers,” the report said, promising “further transit priority measures,” including changes traffic lights and queue jump lanes to improve travel. time.

The TTC says an additional 66 buses will be needed during peak hours to handle SRT ridership.

Shelagh Pizey-Allen of TTCriders said members of the advocacy group are happy that a bus lane has been recommended, but remain concerned “there is no clear plan yet” for the installation of bus lanes in the two years prior to the completion of a bus lane.

Bus journeys between Scarborough Center and Kennedy during this time could take 25 minutes or more, she said by email.

TTCriders surveyed SRT cyclists and residents of Scarborough and found that most were unaware that the SRT would close in 2023.

The TTC report says the transit authority and the City of Toronto will continue to “investigate alternative future uses” of the SRT, also known as Line 3, east of Ellesmere Station.

Scarborough-Guildwood Paul County Ainslie, who does not sit on the TTC’s 10-member board, says his commitment is now needed to create a new elevated linear park and active transportation corridor along the SRT route.

In a statement, Ainslie said it hoped to reallocate the dedicated bus right-of-way when it was no longer needed. “We can then continue to build by incorporating a New York version of the Highline (Park), here in Scarborough.”