Is this bridge going to service a new rail line as well? By my rough visual estimation (and I am no surveyor), if a new rail line is to be installed, it will need to go between the existing eastern most track and the railpath - to the east of the GO platform ?!? This seems to be an odd location, as it will require new access to the existing tracks (or a walk down to Bloor st and back up the stairwells), and would come awfully close to the railpath. This seems very odd to me...
Are there any plans around for what this will look like? I looked at the new Bloor GO station revamp plans, and it appears that a new line is indicated on the eastern side of the exisiting tracks, but is labeled (future track - 2031?)?
I am a local home owner who thinks this is a great project. It is restoring the original building, (which is a heritage site, so they cannot tear it down, so any thoughts of having the building set back from the road are pointless.) It also brings a MUCH higher end grocery store to the neighbourhood. Also, remember that it is condo building, not an apartment complex. It is unlikely that unsavoury people could get a mortgage. All of those things point to the opposite of 1011 Lansdowne, bringing in higher end condo owners. It will bring new life to what has been one of the worst intersections in the city. Now if only we could somehow clean up 1011 Lansdowne, we might live in a neighbourhood without crackheads. I cant wait untill the Galleria site is re-purposed. It will do nothing but good for neighbourhood property values and safety. Bring on revitalization.
I would like to know why TTC buses on Symington seem to run in packs all the time and the morning service is so unreliable. These buses all have computers so short turning and holding back should be really easy to do.
The city has warned continuously about major cuts in 2012 and brought in former TTC CEO David Gunn to examine TTC budget for savings. During his 4 years he cut service and the TTC lost 19% of its riders. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/ex-amtrak-president...
I attended Councillor Bailao's budget communication meeting where she agreed to great applause to vote against cuts to bus routes but when the motion arrived on Feb. 23rd.. http://toronto.openfile.ca/blog/opinion/2011/minutes-city-councils-2011-...
12:11 Bailao voted against Councillor Perks' motion to restore $3 million in cuts.
To be fair while $2.6 million was to retain bus routes, the motion also included $100,000 to prevent library cuts & $75,000 to prevent tenant defence cuts + adult rec programs fee hikes.
I was glad they were talking about the broader area. Referring to a potential 14 story building at Joe Mercury's as a landmark struck me as pretty silly. They had some good ideas: I liked the suggested change to the streetcar loop so it doesn't cross the pedestrian path to Bloor. Adding a walkway north of the bridge support seems good. Most of the design is probably inevitable given the constraints.
They might want to buy or get option contracts on some of the property they seem to want to use.
Despite the modest traffic projection, it does have the potential to be a bit of a gateway to the city. This could be very good for businesses in the immediate area. I hope they can make the station buildings nice.
It's interesting to note that Metrolinx is considering adding a stop for the Milton GO line at Bloor. Currently, the Milton trains (on the westernmost tracks) just go right through our station without stopping. This is because the Milton line already has a subway connection at Kipling Station.
This would increase the usefulness of Bloor Station - more frequent trains heading downtown, plus making the whole Milton line accessible. Though having more trains stopping and re-accelerating at Bloor would add to the noise and pollution (note that the Milton line is waaay far off in the future as far as electrification is concerned).
Just a bit of fun with the logic of Metrolinx numbers (which Steve Munro always calls into question).
"Only about 200 riders a day use the Bloor GO station. That number is expected to shoot up to between 500 and 1,000 for the opening day of the airport train in 2015.
By 2031, Metrolinx is projecting 2,000 riders will use the station daily."
200 people use the station now for commuting downtown mostly.
1000 people will start going to airport at 25$ bucks a pop in 2015.
Only 800 additional riders will in theory start to use the station to head downtown 15 years later?
That is a lot of money and time for 2000, maybe, people.
As most people ask, how many more people would use the station if it was electric and therefore could have additional stops at Queen, St. Clair, and further north making it a real commuter line affordable to THOUSANDS of daily commuters? Or wouldnt a downtown relief line be money better spent?
As a current comparison, 485,000 people a day use Bloor and Yonge station and many lines such as the King Streetcar line carry almost 50,000 people a day.
In addition to giving the GO station more presence on Bloor, the new Dundas West-Bloor mobility hub, as it’s been dubbed, will provide a connection between GO and the TTC protected from weather. It’s expected to bring fresh vibrancy to its residential and commercial surroundings.
Preliminary plans call for a light-filled station entrance off Bloor with a tunnel directly connecting the TTC subway platform with the GO station. There will also be a covered promenade at street level.
The GO station will get elevators, a staffed ticket booth and areas for bicycle storage and signage.
“We’ve tried to really pay attention to the quality of design. In terms of the type of consultants that are leading it, there are architects and urban designers, not engineers, leading the design,” said Woo.
Construction will take place between 2012 and 2014 and is expected to cost between $20 million and $30 million.
Only about 200 riders a day use the Bloor GO station. That number is expected to shoot up to between 500 and 1,000 for the opening day of the airport train in 2015.
By 2031, Metrolinx is projecting 2,000 riders will use the station daily.
“Down the line, particularly to the north (of the GO station) we would be able to create more generous passenger pick-up and drop-off that would allow people to connect into the Georgetown (trains) and the air-rail link,” said Woo.
Posting in addition to Rogers post above. There are two links at the bottom.
Origin
(March 3, 2011) Letter from Councillor Ana Bailão, Ward 18, Davenport
Recommendations
1. That the Chief Planner in consultation with other Divisions as required be requested to carry out an area study for the lands abutting the CN railway that forms the western boundary of Ward 18 (generally defined in the attached map). The study will:
- Review the transportation network, including the potential for reconfiguration and expansion of the public road network.
- Review potential improvements to the pedestrian and bicycle network, including the expansion of, and connections to, the West Toronto Rail Path.
- Identify potential locations for new parks and open spaces and/or the expansion of existing parks and open spaces.
- Identify deficiencies in community services in the area.
- Identify incentives to encourage employment uses in the areas identified as Employment Areas within the study area.
- Be complementary to the Municipal Comprehensive Review now underway as part of the 5-year Official Plan review.
2. That City Planning, together with the Councillor's office, consult with the community, including landowners and other stakeholder groups as part of this study.
Summary
City Planning staff have started the 5-year review of the Official Plan including a Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR) of all Employment Lands. A number of these Employment Lands are adjacent to the rail corridor that forms the western boundary of Ward 18. These lands continue to support employment, including the Nestlé plant with over 475 employees. To complement the MCR, it is important that the City consider the physical and community infrastructure of the area along with the potential to better connect these lands to the surrounding area.
This will allow City staff to respond proactively to any proposals in the area and plan for long term investment in, and revitalization of, these lands. I am therefore requesting that the Chief Planner initiate an area study that addresses these objectives.
Background Information
(March 3, 2011) Letter from Councillor Ana Bailao - Local Area Study for Lands Abutting the Rail Corridor in Ward 18
(http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-36531.pdf)
(March 21, 2011) Drawing - Local Area Study for Lands Abutting the Rail Corridor in Ward 18
(http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-36767.pdf)
Communications
(March 22, 2011) E-mail from Pino Di Mascio, Urban Strategies Inc. (TE.New.TE5.53.1)
(March 22, 2011) E-mail from Bishop Ludlow Miller, Pastor, Church of the First Born (TE.New.TE5.53.2)
If you expect to collect more garbage than you can dispose of in your own / neighbours' garbage cans, you should definitely register with the City: http://www.toronto.ca/litter/clean-up/signup.htm
Then they can arrange to pick up whatever you collected.
For anyone cleaning a park, you can often just place the collected trash in the park's garbage cans. If there are overflow bags, those should definitely be called in too.
Ana Bailao is also organizing a cleanup around Perth and St. Luigi's schools, and is looking to co-promote these efforts. Be sure to let her office know about any cleanups too (it will go out in her newsletter, etc.)
I wouldn't mind spearheading a clean up of Rankin Cres and the lane behind. Someone did a great a job yesterday afternoon cleaning up the small green space at the end of Rankin at Wallace and the top half of the lane (removing the busted TV and surrounding garbage. Thank you!
A do have logistical question: Does the City pick up the excess garbage for free or do i have to foot the bill for bag tags?
Although I live relatively further away at Lansdowne and College, I too am very concerned about how this will impact both vehicular traffic and pedestrian safety.
Despite the much opposed narrowing of Lansdowne by former councillor Giambrone, we still see terrific car traffic and often speeding because the road still looks like a main express artery. Any development that 'comes right to the sidewalk' and is a giant tower will simply add to the increased flow, not to mention packing in vertically more people that puts stress on the infrastructures (sewer, water, power, etc). I agree too many single units is not good for long term stability. Whatever happened to MIXED USE concepts to build community? And no greenspace? Sound like a cheap 1950's development to me.
From what I've heard about 1011 Lansdowne is that it should be torn down and replaced with something more suitable. It just adds to the industrial wasteland look of the area from the outside and inside it is poorly maintained.
And what of TRANSIT? Dupont at that point is a terrible bottleneck already. There have been serious pedestrian accidents and fatalities there due to road rage drivers and even TTC vehicles.
I hope the community pulls together and demands something more appropriate.
It looks like the developer has signed a lease contract with a grocery store for the corner unit. They are working to sign on a drug store, a bank, and will have a few other retail spaces. They are talking about having a couple of 26 story towers.
The meeting was mostly positive about the proposal. My head count was about 50 people: including city staff, developer staff, multiple unit buyer, and local residents.
Several people were worried about traffic. One couple lives in a near by house and crosses Dupont to get to the grocery store. They find the traffic on Dupont aggressive and dangerous. There were a couple other similar comments. I thing there will be a couple more towers built on the site on the south west corner of Lansdowne and Bloor. And there has been an approval for a major development of the galleria mall site so traffic is likely to continue increasing in the area in the near future.
There were a couple of people who seemed to be multiple unit buyers, who felt motivated to speed along the approval process by confidently reassuring locals that this development would reduce crime in the area. There may be something to this. But there is also concern that 1011 Lansdowne is a strongly negative precedent there may be some wisdom in being particularly careful to encourage a walkable, approachable development that feels comfortable. In particular this development would have no publicly accessible green space. The existing building comes right to the sidewalk and with the existing traffic on Dupont, the sidewalk is not very comfortable for pedestrians. If most people will drive to the shops traffic may increase.
Ana seemed to understand the vested interests of various parties and made an effort to talk to those people who actually lived in the area over the cheerleaders. Her office is trying to push the developer to improve the materials. I liked this idea because I think it will be very important to break from the architectural pattern of 1011 in particular and I don't believe the material choices this developer has made at the Standard development has done that. Another concern is the overwhelming proportion of single bedroom units. Residents of two or three bedroom units are likely to have families and feel stronger commitment to the community. As you can tell, I was extremely concerned to break the pattern of 1011 Lansdowne and demand a much more approachable, livable development. However, particularly with a looming OMB, Ana can not even make many demands unless there is a strong push from the community. This meeting had only a few people pushing back. That said it was not well publicized and the developer had likely done a good job of getting out cheerleaders.
Is this bridge going to service a new rail line as well? By my rough visual estimation (and I am no surveyor), if a new rail line is to be installed, it will need to go between the existing eastern most track and the railpath - to the east of the GO platform ?!? This seems to be an odd location, as it will require new access to the existing tracks (or a walk down to Bloor st and back up the stairwells), and would come awfully close to the railpath. This seems very odd to me...
Are there any plans around for what this will look like? I looked at the new Bloor GO station revamp plans, and it appears that a new line is indicated on the eastern side of the exisiting tracks, but is labeled (future track - 2031?)?
We have visitors in town this weekend, but I will try to come out for an hour.
I am a local home owner who thinks this is a great project. It is restoring the original building, (which is a heritage site, so they cannot tear it down, so any thoughts of having the building set back from the road are pointless.) It also brings a MUCH higher end grocery store to the neighbourhood. Also, remember that it is condo building, not an apartment complex. It is unlikely that unsavoury people could get a mortgage. All of those things point to the opposite of 1011 Lansdowne, bringing in higher end condo owners. It will bring new life to what has been one of the worst intersections in the city. Now if only we could somehow clean up 1011 Lansdowne, we might live in a neighbourhood without crackheads. I cant wait untill the Galleria site is re-purposed. It will do nothing but good for neighbourhood property values and safety. Bring on revitalization.
Hey Scott,
Thanks again for organizing this. J, A, and myself are planning on coming. Though A sometimes has other opinions on what our plans should be.
Come on folks need some feedback here.
I would like to know why TTC buses on Symington seem to run in packs all the time and the morning service is so unreliable. These buses all have computers so short turning and holding back should be really easy to do.
They have wonderful tables! The food was very good. I went on my own, but was lucky enough to bump into some great company too.
The city has warned continuously about major cuts in 2012 and brought in former TTC CEO David Gunn to examine TTC budget for savings. During his 4 years he cut service and the TTC lost 19% of its riders.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/ex-amtrak-president...
I attended Councillor Bailao's budget communication meeting where she agreed to great applause to vote against cuts to bus routes but when the motion arrived on Feb. 23rd..
http://toronto.openfile.ca/blog/opinion/2011/minutes-city-councils-2011-...
12:11 Bailao voted against Councillor Perks' motion to restore $3 million in cuts.
To be fair while $2.6 million was to retain bus routes, the motion also included $100,000 to prevent library cuts & $75,000 to prevent tenant defence cuts + adult rec programs fee hikes.
Anyone else going to this? I hope to attend.
What are some of the Ward 18 (or more specifically Junction Triangle) transit/transportations issues that should be discussed that this meeting?
Some random thoughts:
Here is the story I think Katie is talking about
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/962202--tories-prepare-for-siege-on-...
It would be nice to have a full time MP in the riding.
We are already being a riding to watch as the NDP may sneak up on the liberals in this ward.
Presentation, display boards, etc. from the meeting are now posted online:
http://metrolinx.com/en/projectsandprograms/mobilityhubs/mobility_hubs_d...
I was glad they were talking about the broader area. Referring to a potential 14 story building at Joe Mercury's as a landmark struck me as pretty silly. They had some good ideas: I liked the suggested change to the streetcar loop so it doesn't cross the pedestrian path to Bloor. Adding a walkway north of the bridge support seems good. Most of the design is probably inevitable given the constraints.
They might want to buy or get option contracts on some of the property they seem to want to use.
Despite the modest traffic projection, it does have the potential to be a bit of a gateway to the city. This could be very good for businesses in the immediate area. I hope they can make the station buildings nice.
Yes, this is great addition to the neighborhood. Quality food fairly priced.
Naomi and I will be there.
It's interesting to note that Metrolinx is considering adding a stop for the Milton GO line at Bloor. Currently, the Milton trains (on the westernmost tracks) just go right through our station without stopping. This is because the Milton line already has a subway connection at Kipling Station.
This would increase the usefulness of Bloor Station - more frequent trains heading downtown, plus making the whole Milton line accessible. Though having more trains stopping and re-accelerating at Bloor would add to the noise and pollution (note that the Milton line is waaay far off in the future as far as electrification is concerned).
Source: GO Transit Rail Improvements Benefits Case Analysis (BCA), Metrolinx Board of Directors Meeting May 19, 2010.
(via Tom West's post on Steve Munro's site)
Just a bit of fun with the logic of Metrolinx numbers (which Steve Munro always calls into question).
"Only about 200 riders a day use the Bloor GO station. That number is expected to shoot up to between 500 and 1,000 for the opening day of the airport train in 2015.
By 2031, Metrolinx is projecting 2,000 riders will use the station daily."
200 people use the station now for commuting downtown mostly.
1000 people will start going to airport at 25$ bucks a pop in 2015.
Only 800 additional riders will in theory start to use the station to head downtown 15 years later?
That is a lot of money and time for 2000, maybe, people.
As most people ask, how many more people would use the station if it was electric and therefore could have additional stops at Queen, St. Clair, and further north making it a real commuter line affordable to THOUSANDS of daily commuters? Or wouldnt a downtown relief line be money better spent?
As a current comparison, 485,000 people a day use Bloor and Yonge station and many lines such as the King Streetcar line carry almost 50,000 people a day.
Makes you wonder.
The Star has an article today about the plans:
http://www.thestar.com/news/transportation/article/958841--go-and-ttc-ma...
Some quotes:
Read the entire article here:
http://www.thestar.com/news/transportation/article/958841--go-and-ttc-ma...
Steve Munro also covers this on his website:
http://stevemunro.ca/?p=5045
It will definitely be interesting to see more details at tomorrow's meeting.
Posting in addition to Rogers post above. There are two links at the bottom.
Origin
(March 3, 2011) Letter from Councillor Ana Bailão, Ward 18, Davenport
Recommendations
1. That the Chief Planner in consultation with other Divisions as required be requested to carry out an area study for the lands abutting the CN railway that forms the western boundary of Ward 18 (generally defined in the attached map). The study will:
- Review the transportation network, including the potential for reconfiguration and expansion of the public road network.
- Review potential improvements to the pedestrian and bicycle network, including the expansion of, and connections to, the West Toronto Rail Path.
- Identify potential locations for new parks and open spaces and/or the expansion of existing parks and open spaces.
- Identify deficiencies in community services in the area.
- Identify incentives to encourage employment uses in the areas identified as Employment Areas within the study area.
- Be complementary to the Municipal Comprehensive Review now underway as part of the 5-year Official Plan review.
2. That City Planning, together with the Councillor's office, consult with the community, including landowners and other stakeholder groups as part of this study.
Summary
City Planning staff have started the 5-year review of the Official Plan including a Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR) of all Employment Lands. A number of these Employment Lands are adjacent to the rail corridor that forms the western boundary of Ward 18. These lands continue to support employment, including the Nestlé plant with over 475 employees. To complement the MCR, it is important that the City consider the physical and community infrastructure of the area along with the potential to better connect these lands to the surrounding area.
This will allow City staff to respond proactively to any proposals in the area and plan for long term investment in, and revitalization of, these lands. I am therefore requesting that the Chief Planner initiate an area study that addresses these objectives.
Background Information
(March 3, 2011) Letter from Councillor Ana Bailao - Local Area Study for Lands Abutting the Rail Corridor in Ward 18
(http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-36531.pdf)
(March 21, 2011) Drawing - Local Area Study for Lands Abutting the Rail Corridor in Ward 18
(http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-36767.pdf)
Communications
(March 22, 2011) E-mail from Pino Di Mascio, Urban Strategies Inc. (TE.New.TE5.53.1)
(March 22, 2011) E-mail from Bishop Ludlow Miller, Pastor, Church of the First Born (TE.New.TE5.53.2)
Source: Toronto City Clerk at www.toronto.ca/council
If you expect to collect more garbage than you can dispose of in your own / neighbours' garbage cans, you should definitely register with the City:
http://www.toronto.ca/litter/clean-up/signup.htm
Then they can arrange to pick up whatever you collected.
For anyone cleaning a park, you can often just place the collected trash in the park's garbage cans. If there are overflow bags, those should definitely be called in too.
Ana Bailao is also organizing a cleanup around Perth and St. Luigi's schools, and is looking to co-promote these efforts. Be sure to let her office know about any cleanups too (it will go out in her newsletter, etc.)
I wouldn't mind spearheading a clean up of Rankin Cres and the lane behind. Someone did a great a job yesterday afternoon cleaning up the small green space at the end of Rankin at Wallace and the top half of the lane (removing the busted TV and surrounding garbage. Thank you!
A do have logistical question: Does the City pick up the excess garbage for free or do i have to foot the bill for bag tags?
Although I live relatively further away at Lansdowne and College, I too am very concerned about how this will impact both vehicular traffic and pedestrian safety.
Despite the much opposed narrowing of Lansdowne by former councillor Giambrone, we still see terrific car traffic and often speeding because the road still looks like a main express artery. Any development that 'comes right to the sidewalk' and is a giant tower will simply add to the increased flow, not to mention packing in vertically more people that puts stress on the infrastructures (sewer, water, power, etc). I agree too many single units is not good for long term stability. Whatever happened to MIXED USE concepts to build community? And no greenspace? Sound like a cheap 1950's development to me.
From what I've heard about 1011 Lansdowne is that it should be torn down and replaced with something more suitable. It just adds to the industrial wasteland look of the area from the outside and inside it is poorly maintained.
And what of TRANSIT? Dupont at that point is a terrible bottleneck already. There have been serious pedestrian accidents and fatalities there due to road rage drivers and even TTC vehicles.
I hope the community pulls together and demands something more appropriate.
It looks like the developer has signed a lease contract with a grocery store for the corner unit. They are working to sign on a drug store, a bank, and will have a few other retail spaces. They are talking about having a couple of 26 story towers.
The meeting was mostly positive about the proposal. My head count was about 50 people: including city staff, developer staff, multiple unit buyer, and local residents.
Several people were worried about traffic. One couple lives in a near by house and crosses Dupont to get to the grocery store. They find the traffic on Dupont aggressive and dangerous. There were a couple other similar comments. I thing there will be a couple more towers built on the site on the south west corner of Lansdowne and Bloor. And there has been an approval for a major development of the galleria mall site so traffic is likely to continue increasing in the area in the near future.
There were a couple of people who seemed to be multiple unit buyers, who felt motivated to speed along the approval process by confidently reassuring locals that this development would reduce crime in the area. There may be something to this. But there is also concern that 1011 Lansdowne is a strongly negative precedent there may be some wisdom in being particularly careful to encourage a walkable, approachable development that feels comfortable. In particular this development would have no publicly accessible green space. The existing building comes right to the sidewalk and with the existing traffic on Dupont, the sidewalk is not very comfortable for pedestrians. If most people will drive to the shops traffic may increase.
Ana seemed to understand the vested interests of various parties and made an effort to talk to those people who actually lived in the area over the cheerleaders. Her office is trying to push the developer to improve the materials. I liked this idea because I think it will be very important to break from the architectural pattern of 1011 in particular and I don't believe the material choices this developer has made at the Standard development has done that. Another concern is the overwhelming proportion of single bedroom units. Residents of two or three bedroom units are likely to have families and feel stronger commitment to the community. As you can tell, I was extremely concerned to break the pattern of 1011 Lansdowne and demand a much more approachable, livable development. However, particularly with a looming OMB, Ana can not even make many demands unless there is a strong push from the community. This meeting had only a few people pushing back. That said it was not well publicized and the developer had likely done a good job of getting out cheerleaders.
Did anyone go to this meeting and have anything to share about it?
Community Meeting on proposal for development at 830 Lansdowne this upcoming Monday at Wallace Emerson CC at 6:30pm.