News   Mar 27, 2024
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News   Mar 27, 2024
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News   Mar 27, 2024
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SmartTrack (Proposed)

Very large looking complex, but not an architectural achievement to be sure.
Good. Stop the Garage Mahals. The stations on Crosstown and Sheppard should be a blueprint for how stations are built moving forward. Not the political empire building like on the Spadina subway extension or Bloomington station.
 
Good. Stop the Garage Mahals. The stations on Crosstown and Sheppard should be a blueprint for how stations are built moving forward. Not the political empire building like on the Spadina subway extension or Bloomington station.
I'm surprised when people say this; it's like they haven't really seen a lot of transit stations. You're thinking that the choice is between huge, low-quality, garage mahals VS small, boring, and decent transit stations. It definitely would be a waste of money to create huge stations when they aren't needed but the issue here is that the building doesn't evoke any expression, have any interesting colours or materials, creates large blank walls, and overall doesn't provide any aesthetic value... which I believe is important for public buildings.
 
I'm surprised when people say this; it's like they haven't really seen a lot of transit stations. You're thinking that the choice is between huge, low-quality, garage mahals VS small, boring, and decent transit stations. It definitely would be a waste of money to create huge stations when they aren't needed but the issue here is that the building doesn't evoke any expression, have any interesting colours or materials, creates large blank walls, and overall doesn't provide any aesthetic value... which I believe is important for public buildings.

I respectfully disagree, but thats ok.
 
Well to be fair, Metrolinx has been getting it backwards when it comes to station design. They've been building Taj Mahal parking garage structures and treating those like king, while providing the minimum when it comes to actual station design.

When you're trying to attract riders to the system and boost ridership experience, you should be working to boost the sentiment of waiting for a train and/or bus. Metrolinx has been improving over the years in some aspects (ie: full station canopies instead of mini-shelters sparsely included throughout platforms), the improvements have been inconsistent. For example, the Long Branch GO improvements dont even include full station canopies, there's just canopies sparsely throughout the platform last time I checked.
 
When you're trying to attract riders to the system and boost ridership experience, you should be working to boost the sentiment of waiting for a train and/or bus.
Exactly. Make me look forward to going to the station every morning. I understand that there are many more important ways to boost transit ridership, but customer experience is important and stretches beyond quiet zones and wi-fi... as important as those are. Metrolinx's projects are a mixed bag and many are the bare minimum in terms of aesthetics. Attention to detail is also not seen when you look at their choice of materials, customer amenities, public realm design, and station canopies... although I am mostly impressed with their new wayfinding standard. It disappoints me when Metrolinx does lazy designs, because I see transit projects as an opportunity to improve the built environment. When you build a train station, it can be more than just that, and it should be attractive both on the inside and the outside. I'm not angry; they're not terrible stations but they are lazy and boring. They're non-places.

Transit stations can visually serve as gateways to their communities and as a starting point to going somewhere.
 
@interchange42 may wish to make note that we have an individual SPA filed now for the Finch Smart Track Station

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Listed Properties:

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@interchange42 may wish to make note that we have an individual SPA filed now for the Finch Smart Track Station

View attachment 402347


Listed Properties:

View attachment 402348
The stations should get their own Buildings Forum threads, but you might as well keep the initial notice here, and once the docs are online, start the new thread and edit the link to the new thread into your posts here.

42
 
Should we be worried that Metrolinx no longer has a page up for the St. Clair-Old Weston Smart Track station? I followed the link from the city's Smart Track page and landed here. Only reference to the project I could find on Metrolinx's site was this Kitchener Line GO Expansion map where the station is greyed out as a "proposed" station. Did this station get killed? Did I miss something?

Screen Shot 2023-01-05 at 6.37.52 PM.png

Screen Shot 2023-01-05 at 6.51.18 PM.png
 
Given the past history of broken promises, and Metrolinx sliding in changes without much external communication, I'd be very, very concerned.
 
Given the past history of broken promises, and Metrolinx sliding in changes without much external communication, I'd be very, very concerned.
Should we be worried that Metrolinx no longer has a page up for the St. Clair-Old Weston Smart Track station? I followed the link from the city's Smart Track page and landed here. Only reference to the project I could find on Metrolinx's site was this Kitchener Line GO Expansion map where the station is greyed out as a "proposed" station. Did this station get killed? Did I miss something?

View attachment 448741
View attachment 448742
Isn't funding for this station supposed to come from the city?
 
Should we be worried that Metrolinx no longer has a page up for the St. Clair-Old Weston Smart Track station? I followed the link from the city's Smart Track page and landed here. Only reference to the project I could find on Metrolinx's site was this Kitchener Line GO Expansion map where the station is greyed out as a "proposed" station. Did this station get killed? Did I miss something?

It’s still there, as a “study”, but the new Ml web site is not search helpful - here

- Paul
 

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