I want to get comments on my modification of Option 4: let's call it "Option 4A":
I've made the following changes:
1)Retain the East Transitway from Hurdman to Blair as BRT. This significantly simplifies implementation, since bus transitway operation can continue here during construction of other parts of the network.
2)Construct LRT on an alignment from Hurdman-Hospitals-Blair/Innes-Blair. This does a number of things:
-provides a direct access from Orleans to the hospitals. In the 2031 projected demand lines slide, the Orleans-Alta Vista line is the largest travel demand not heading downtown. A large number of hospital workers live in Orleans.
-Connecting to Blair via Blair/Innes provides a direct connection with both the north and south Orleans BRT corridors.
-Compatible with construction/conversion of the Cumberland transitway as LRT, which would be a more appropriate LRT corridor than the one along Hwy 174.
-Provides a redundant corridor to the east when/if the Transitway from Hurdman to Blair was converted to LRT.
3)Retain the BRT link between Baseline and Lincoln Fields (in addition to LRT). Advantage of this:
-Allows buses to continue from Baseline to Lincoln Fields for better connections and fewer transfers
-Provides a continuous Transitway connection to the Pinecrest garage for the BRT network to the south
-allows a cross-town east-west BRT route to be created via: Kanata, Bayshore, SW Transitway, Basline station, Baseline/Heron roads, SE Transitway, Hurdman, East Transitway - Place d'Orleans
What do you think?