Junction Triangle

According to the drawings provided by Metrolinx, the highest point of the bridge will be at Dupont Street, where it will be at an elevation of 8.5m. At Wallace Street, the underside of the bridge would rise 5.5m above the existing street. The top of the noise walls would rise up to 8.6m above Wallace Street. You can scroll through the Metrolinx proposal here: http://www.metrolinx.com/en/aboutus/inthecommunity/davenportpanel/Davenp...

The link above is for the facebook group who's moderator has decided to accept the bridge regardless of what the members want. To join the community in opposing this ill conceived plan, please join this one -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/optionsfordavenport/. There are open meetings and the leaders were even voted in. Decisions are made based on the collaboration of the membership.

These are notes from the meeting taken by Liz Sutherland of Cycle Toronto. She has made them available for those who were not able to attend.

Metrolinx community meeting on the “Davenport Community Rail Overpass”
a.k.a. the “Davenport Diamond superbridge”
March 11, 2015

Donna Cowan of DIGIN organized a meeting for local residents with Metrolinx to hear about the plans for grade separation of the Barrie GO line at the Davenport Diamond (where the GO tracks cross the CN/CP line just north-west of the Dupont-Lansdowne intersection).
The grade separation is planned as part of Metrolinx’s Regional Express Rail (GO train service expansion), and more specifically to support 15-minute all-day service to Barrie.
Meeting participants included representatives from:
• DIGIN Community Group
• Davenport Neighbourhood Association
• Cycle Toronto Ward 18
• Clean Train Coalition
• Councillor Ana Bailão’s staff
• MPP Cristina Martins’ staff
• MP Andrew Cash’s staff
• 15- 20 residents (DIGIN kept a list).

The project (highlights):
• Metrolinx staff (Manuel Pedrosa and two others) presented the plans for the rail bridge.
• The north-south GO track would start to rise just north of Bloor, reaching its apex just north of Dupont, and descending to ground level before St. Clair.
• Construction will take 2 years.
• Metrolinx has already investigated, and rejected, a tunnel option that would mean 4-5 years of construction, much higher costs, and lengthy road closures (Bloor, Dupont, Davenport, St. Clair).
• The purpose of this meeting is to solicit community input on the elements they would like to see included in improvements to the land under and around the elevated rail line.
• There is no set budget for community improvements as they are still seeking input on what the project would look like.
• Metrolinx noted that they now have a “Design Excellence Committee,” including actual designers (as opposed to engineers), who will have a say in how infrastructure is built.
• It is not known yet which body (City, Metrolinx, a potential “Friends of the Railbridge” organization, etc.) will maintain the land under the bridge.

Residents’ reactions (highlights):
• Metrolinx has already decided on the “over” (bridge) option and discarded too soon the “under” (tunnel) option. Earlier consultations in 2009 (before the project was postponed) showed that residents clearly preferred a tunnel. Why is this consultation not about the two options?
• The bridge will be a large eyesore and no one was told about it in advance. The people who have bought homes in the new condo building at Dupont & Lansdowne will be staring at a bridge straight out of their bedroom windows.
• The tracks will be 8.5 metres above ground. The likely addition of noise-walls means the structure will tower 13.5 metres, or 4 storeys, over the ground. What will be the aesthetic impact on our neighbourhood?
• This plan is not consistent with the City’s secondary plan for Davenport Village.
• This plan will disrupt the Junction Triangle Traffic Management Planning project.
• Residents are still feeling burned about the noise wall consultations and the lack of a timeline to convert diesel trains to electric. All that RER means to local residents is more pollution.
• Residents have noted in the Star article that Metrolinx has no funding for the community benefit projects they are proposing for the area. They want Metrolinx to put up some money early as a gesture of good faith.
• If a bridge has to be built, residents want to see Metrolinx make this project “great.” Let’s design a beautiful bridge and useful spaces for communities underneath it.
• Residents want to see renderings of what the bridge will look like at different points, e.g., at Wallace, Dupont, etc.

Cycling/active transportation considerations:
• Metrolinx is aware of the opportunities to connect any new active transportation corridors with the West Toronto Railpath and the Green Line.
• Cycle Toronto Ward 18 representatives noted that a north-south rail trail along the CN tracks was promised in the 2001 Toronto Bike Plan. The Davenport Diamond project should include a north-south cycling route that would help to kick-start this rail trail and connect central Toronto to the Finch Hydro Corridor and York University.
• Residents were supportive of suggestions to improve active transportation corridors (east-west and north-south).
• Metrolinx responded that there was certainly an opportunity to look at both east-west local connections and a north-south cycling corridor under the new bridge.

The consultation process:
• Metrolinx plans to set up a 36-person community panel that will meet for four Saturdays plus one evening between April and June to discuss how to use the repurposed land under the proposed bridge.
• Author, broadcaster, and Jane’s Walk co-founder Jane Farrow, now with public consultation firm MASS LBP, has been hired by Metrolinx to help facilitate the community process.
• Next Metrolinx community meeting is April 1 with BIG on Bloor/Bloordale BIA: https://www.junctiontriangle.ca/node/2450
• May 13 will be the date for a major public consultation meeting (Details TBA).

Cycle Toronto Ward 18 will be monitoring this process closely and intervening whenever possible to promote high-quality active transportation infrastructure as part of the project. If you would like to get involved, please email us at ward18@cycleto.ca.

Further reading
Recent background:
https://www.junctiontriangle.ca/DavenportDiamond (includes more deep background via links)
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transportation/2015/03/07/metrolinx-conv...

Older (from 2009-10):
http://transit.toronto.on.ca/archives/weblog/2009/05/02-davenport_.shtml
http://railroadedbymetrolinx.blogspot.ca/2010/02/we-need-heroes-in-daven...

This will be a huge eyesore for our neighbourhood....raised tracks right through residential areas.

This is what I imagine it would look like:

https://acdn.architizer.com/thumbnails-PRODUCTION/23/0c/230c32ca45946710...

....and Metrolinx will get away with it...shame.

I agree a crossing here would be great.

Cycling on Wallace Avenue is challenging due to a narrow right of way, along with all day street parking. The city could extend the Lappin Avenue bike path past Lansdowne, under the rail overpass, along antler, through Perth park, and connect with the West Toronto Railpath after a bit of a jog.

This will be a challenge that Metrolinx, the City, and the Private Property owner will need to discuss together.

Hi Joan,

There's no actual Residents' Association. I know various community groups around the area will be following this closely though. E.g. DIGIN.

If any organized effort will be made on this issue, probably best to start sooner than later.

I'm personally reserving judgement on it until I hear some more detail over the next couple of weeks.

-Vic