GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

[drum118]

April 24
More upon my site

Going out on the limb, Steeles will be back to normal by July. Widening of Steeles east of Silver Star Blvd underway to Midland. From the looks of things, widening is also taking place east of Midland. Base of the northside sidewalk being pour.

Not much change to the eastside platform of Milliken, but a lot to the westside

 

[drum118]

Double tracking and station upgrades coming to expanding Barrie GO Line​

 

[Northern Light]

Double tracking and station upgrades coming to expanding Barrie GO Line​

From the above:

**

**

and

Renders:

New Bridge over Yonge

King Stn:

 

[generalcanada]

From the above:

View attachment 395918
**

View attachment 395919

**

View attachment 395920

and

View attachment 395921

Renders:

New Bridge over Yonge
View attachment 395922

King Stn:

View attachment 395923

that 2nd image is new, the grade separation we saw in the mx blog last week

 

[EnviroTO]

The walkway over the tracks at the height they put them is so inconvenient. The bridge over the tracks works when people approach the corridor from that height (attached garage, depressed rail corridor, road grade separation, etc) but to go up those 4-5 stories and back down the other side when they could have an underpass that only has you travel down 1 storey is a painful trade off. On the subway this works fine because the clearance of a bridge over the subway can be very low, but the clearance they give over railways often looks like they are set to handle electrified double stack freight.

 

[crs1026]

The walkway over the tracks at the height they put them is so inconvenient. The bridge over the tracks works when people approach the corridor from that height (attached garage, depressed rail corridor, road grade separation, etc) but to go up those 4-5 stories and back down the other side when they could have an underpass that only has you travel down 1 storey is a painful trade off. On the subway this works fine because the clearance of a bridge over the subway can be very low, but the clearance they give over railways often looks like they are set to handle electrified double stack freight.

Even with catenary and the bilevels, the grandiose height is hard to understand. No reason for the overpass to be higher than, say, the Bush trainshed at Union Station... .which is the limiting clearance on the route.

- Paul

 

[ShonTron]

The King City station overpass is ridiculous, and reminds me of the VIA overpasses at Cobourg and Belleville (which at least have lower throughput). I suspect most people will cross at the grade crossing.

 

[smallspy]

Even with catenary and the bilevels, the grandiose height is hard to understand. No reason for the overpass to be higher than, say, the Bush trainshed at Union Station... .which is the limiting clearance on the route.

- Paul

View attachment 395947

The Bush Trainshed can't clear a lot of modern, extra-height freight cars. That's why the bypasses outside of the trainshed were not fully covered, to ensure that there is enough clearance.

Tunnels are generally the best option as they only need to clear a human, and nothing more. It's too bad that they are so expensive, and that a lot of people on here think that they are evil.....

Dan

 

[Northern Light]

Tunnels are generally the best option as they only need to clear a human, and nothing more.

Agreed

It's too bad that they are so expensive, and that a lot of people on here think that they are evil.....

Dan

Has anyone actually said this?

I think there have generally been two sets of complaints around tunnels:

1) They are often dark, drab, unattractive places, rather than pleasant ones. This is not difficult to change, its quality lighting and tile; and making sure some natural light gets in at that platforms.

2) The lack of escalators ( a complaint that would apply equally to bridges); as waiting for an elevator often seems wasteful; but if laden w/groceries or luggage, or just exhausted after a long day, the stairs, particularly going up can seem a burden
to many.

Also not complicated to address, though a bit more expensive, in getting GO to reverse its anti-escalator policy.

 

[crs1026]

It was a crummy day for gardening, so I left the pollenators alone and went for a train ride instead.

I am wondering if all the fancy ML prose in that recent release was actually trying to say that ML intends to extend the existing double tracking north a very small ways north to include the Rutherford station. That small extension would add a little flexibility to operations since the current hourly "meet" north of Steeles would have a little more leeway. As you can see below, it would be a small and cheap extension to move the turnout at the north end of the double track to the north end of the Rutherford platform..(If this isn't the case, the second platform at Rutherford will be a white elephant for years, until more work is done).

Other than this small stretch of double track at Rutherford, the only double track work that is in progress is from the Bloomington/Bathurst area south to Dufferin Street. There is a lot of new security fencing in that section, plus preliminary grading for a second track. However, they are still messing with conduit and are nowhere near ready to pour the granular material for subgrade. it's just mud so far. I would predict another year before track can be laid there. I didn't see so much as surveyors' stakes anywhere else north of Rutherford. So much for "getting ready to lay more track".

Supposedly that new section was undertaken as a solution to the CN roadswitcher conflicts. The lumber yard that caused that fuss seemed to be inactive, but I spotted recently spotted freight cars in two sidings north of Maple, in the Teston-Kirby section.

And as for Rutherford's pedestrian overpass, you will see that I didn't have much time to take pictures as my northbound train was approaching. I can attest - There are a LOT of steps to get down from the bridge. I barely made it.

- Paul

 

[alexb]

A few more pics from Maple GO.

Kenaidan is mobilized in the small overflow parking lot to the south to start works at Maple. Tree clearing is underway on both sides of the current fence for the new retaining wall:

The Eagle Rock Way extension for the bus loop is progressing with the retaining wall starting to curve. The new stairs are also being formed:

Tunnel from the bus loop elevator to the platforms:

Haven't read anything on the start of the McNaughton grade sep:

 

[Coolstar]

A few more pics from Maple GO.

Kenaidan is mobilized in the small overflow parking lot to the south to start works at Maple. Tree clearing is underway on both sides of the current fence for the new retaining wall:
View attachment 396026
The Eagle Rock Way extension for the bus loop is progressing with the retaining wall starting to curve. The new stairs are also being formed:
View attachment 396025
Tunnel from the bus loop elevator to the platforms:
View attachment 396027
Haven't read anything on the start of the McNaughton grade sep:
View attachment 396028

Liking the TOD progress down at Maple.

 

[drum118]

April 26
More up on my site for all 3 sites

Weston Station

This stations is nearing completion for the 3rd platform with crews installing ceiling wiring and schedule screens. Still a fair bit of flashing and ceiling panels to be install, but only a month of work left to be done. Once that is done, track 1 can be install.

Mount Dennis
Still a fair amount of work on the first 2 platforms with framing going up on platform 3

Rogers Rd
Since track 1 can't be use at this time for the cut off to CP MacTier Sub, track 2 is being used for it. A fair bit of grading will be require to move the switch to track 1 as well reline the cut off once track 1 can go live. Bulk of the grading for track 1 south of Black Creek is done like I thought it was.

 

[smallspy]

Has anyone actually said this?

That's a wee bit of hyperbole on my part, sure.

But there does seem to be a lot of gnashing of teeth here when it comes to the whole overpass-versus-tunnel argument. Look through the thread about the new bridge in Liberty Village as evidence.

I think there have generally been two sets of complaints around tunnels:

1) They are often dark, drab, unattractive places, rather than pleasant ones. This is not difficult to change, its quality lighting and tile; and making sure some natural light gets in at that platforms.

That's a fair statement to make, and as you point out they certainly don't need to be.

I think that it's also fair to point out that some of the bridges finished most recently, although pretty(-ish) to look at from outside, do absolutely nothing for the safety of its users - which is another argument that gets thrown around here quite often.

2) The lack of escalators ( a complaint that would apply equally to bridges); as waiting for an elevator often seems wasteful; but if laden w/groceries or luggage, or just exhausted after a long day, the stairs, particularly going up can seem a burden to many.

If we're talking about a GO Transit-specific installation, than the exact same argument must be made about bridges as well - along with the additional caveat that any users have a far greater distance to climb or descend.

Also not complicated to address, though a bit more expensive, in getting GO to reverse its anti-escalator policy.

No arguments here.

Dan

 

[crs1026]

There has to be a back story on why the hydro line wasn't moved before construction began.

- Paul