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St.Clair Streetcar ROW: Caution While You Wait

Posted by Tanja / February 23, 2007

St Clair ROWAs you've probably heard, the eastern leg of the St. Clair West Right-of-Way is now complete. The TTC has resumed full streetcar service til the spring when they will attempt to begin the challenging western end of the deal.

While functional, it appears to be a little rough around the edges.

If you look at the photo above, you'll see that instead of railings or regular barriers on the concrete platforms, they've lined up huge concrete road barriers (much like you'd find on the 401) to keep commuters safe from traffic until something proper has been installed.

Useful, yes, but not the ideal solution.

Not to nitpick, but the medians are about the height of a bar stool and make a nice seat for tired commuters.

I witnessed more than one person leaning on them today, their backpack or purse hanging over the edge just waiting to be clipped by a passing truck... and that is one frightful accident just waiting to happen.

If they can't be replaced, perhaps something as basic as a "Caution: Do Not Sit or Lean" sticker would do. Heck, even recycling those "This is NOT a seat" stickers from the kneeling buses might just do the trick.

In the meanwhile, a word to the wise: Stand up straight.

Discussion

3 Comments

Mark Dowling / February 23, 2007 at 02:43 pm
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Weird - I thought the whole alignment was being raised, not just installing concrete curbs!
Sam / February 24, 2007 at 11:13 am
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The concrete barriers that Tanja mentions are only at the edge of the platforms at streetcar stops. They are a temporary measure until the stops are completed, with shelters, railings, etc. Also, the concrete curbs you can see at the left side of the picture are only used near signalized intersections & streetcar stops. The tracks need to be level there (so the cross-street traffic can get over, and so the stop platforms don't need to be even higher). Just beyond the end of the stop in the picture, the tracks rise to the level of the curb, so that the whole ROW is raised.
Tanja / February 25, 2007 at 01:43 pm
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I hadn't actually noticed any raised height elsewhere on the stretch. Will have to take a look tomorrow.

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