Those sardined on their commute downtown or left waiting on the subway platform while headed home will understand why city and transit officials have long said Toronto’s overcrowded subway system is in need of immediate relief.

For years, there has been talk of a downtown relief line — the DRL for short — running in a U-shape to mimic the Yonge-University line and allow riders travelling along the Bloor-Danforth line, downtown streetcar routes, or those walking or biking from further east and west another option to get in and out of the downtown core. The ultimate goal has always been to ease congestion on the original Yonge-University “U,” which is running over capacity in some stretches.

So what shape will relief take?

City planners have been busy studying the alignment for a relief line. Part of that work includes testing how it might interact with other transit plans on the map, including GO Transit expansion and Mayor John Tory’s signature campaign promise of building an additional heavy rail service along existing GO tracks, which he calls SmartTrack.

A staff report to Tory’s executive committee recently outlined six different options for the first, eastern leg of the relief line, in what has become known as the “little J.”

Planners have outlined why they believe the corridor along Queen St. from a new station at Nathan Phillips Square to the existing Pape station is the best route, factoring in the estimated number of future riders, costs related to crossing the Don River and other considerations like access to the new line from priority neighbourhoods such as Regent Park.

The executive committee agreed earlier this month that Pape to Queen is the preferred corridor, voting to advance that option. Council must still confirm that decision at their next meeting, which begins March 31.

Here’s where the considered corridors would run, potential stops and the pros and cons of each as outlined by city staff:

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