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GO Transit: Union Station Shed Replacement & Track Upgrades (Zeidler)

EnviroTO said:
The 1% rule is applied to TTC projects.
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It applies to all high value projects for everybody doesn't it? Most Condos and Commercial buildings have the same 1% rule applied to them, as do stadiums, etc. Even a handful of new industrial in Toronto has artwork installed and I can only assume it was forced the same as the others.

This isn't a TTC thing so much as a "your building something" fee. Single detached homes in new subdivisions don't get a free pass either; those fountains and entryway landscaping come out of the art budget.


I've always assumed it was either a city or provincial law for all capital/building projects over a couple million dollars.
 
"Percent for art" recommendation

http://www.toronto.ca/planning/urbdesign/public_art.htm

The Toronto Official Plan supports public art in all significant private sector developments across the City. The Percent for Public Art Program recommends that a minimum of one percent of the gross construction cost of each significant development be contributed to public art.

I posted info on the percent-for-art program for city buildings on the other competing Union Station thread...
 
EnviroTO said:
The 1% rule is applied to TTC projects.
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Then the art budget for the Eglinton line will be, what, $80 million? Except apparently $400,000 is too much.

Seriously, I thought the percent for public art was just a suggestion. There is the Section 37 money, but that can go for a lot more than art.
 
k10ery said:
Then the art budget for the Eglinton line will be, what, $80 million? Except apparently $400,000 is too much.
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The rule is the lesser of 1% of the station cost or $500,000.

So, basically, $500k per station.
 
Its not a major issue, but its just easier to reference things when they are in a single thread. Consider for example the GO Construction Projects thread which contains info on dozens of separate projects.
 
vegeta_skyline said:
Its not a major issue, but its just easier to reference things when they are in a single thread. Consider for example the GO Construction Projects thread which contains info on dozens of separate projects.
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I find that thread a little unwieldy. I like a thread for general news but trying to find details on a specific line in a thread with everything makes it difficult.
 
vegeta_skyline said:
Its not a major issue, but its just easier to reference things when they are in a single thread. Consider for example the GO Construction Projects thread which contains info on dozens of separate projects.
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Except for when they're not, like Georgetown South or the Pickering Bridge which each have their own threads.
 
This is just me, but I would prefer to have location-based project threads, so that I could quick read the ones that interest me and ignore the others.
 
nfitz said:
There's 4 recently active threads actually, as there is also the one about the Union Subway Station: Second Platform and the one about Union Station: Northwest PATH Expansion

Not to mention threads that have been quieter recently on the Union Station: Front Street EA and the Union Station LRT reconfiguration

I don't see an issue here ... they are all separate projects.
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I can understand having separate threads for the above mention projects as their separation is more clearly defined.
But I see this trend and the "Union (GO/VIA) Station Revitalization (NORR Architects)" as being almost one and the same. The shed replacement is the most visible aspect of the revitalization.
 
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It is split into different threads because they are individual projects. This thread is the Union Station rail corridor and shed thread and the project is completely run by GO/Metrolinx and AECON is constructing. Inside the station the project is a City of Toronto project and Carillion/Vanbots is constructing. The second subway platform and related improvement project is run by the TTC and EllisDon is constructing. Front Street EA and LRT reconfiguration aren't funded / tendered as far as I know. For the Northwest PATH the design is being finalized and the first tender should go out this fall.

The shed is the most visible aspect of the multitude of projects at GO/VIA track level but really that isn't visible from the street anymore with the Telus building and Maple Leaf Square, and really people don't spend a lot of time at GO/VIA track level. The project with greatest impact is the Union Station Revitalization (NORR Architects) project which is going to transform the lower levels where people spend the most time and restore the rest of the station.
 
EnviroTO said:
The shed is the most visible aspect of the multitude of projects at GO/VIA track level but really that isn't visible from the street anymore with the Telus building and Maple Leaf Square, and really people don't spend a lot of time at GO/VIA track level. The project with greatest impact is the Union Station Revitalization (NORR Architects) project which is going to transform the lower levels where people spend the most time and restore the rest of the station.
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As well, when most people ARE at track level, it's rush hour and the tracks on either side of the platform have trains, so that your view of the shed only exists when looking straight up - which most people do not do.

I'm not saying the shed work won't be noticed but I agree that the work in the station is going to be far more visible and will make a far bigger difference. It's just that right now, that crane is noticeable while the work in the station is happening in hidden spaces. When the new York Concourse opens, a lot of people are going to be surprised.
 
DavidH said:
As well, when most people ARE at track level, it's rush hour and the tracks on either side of the platform have trains, so that your view of the shed only exists when looking straight up - which most people do not do.

I'm not saying the shed work won't be noticed but I agree that the work in the station is going to be far more visible and will make a far bigger difference. It's just that right now, that crane is noticeable while the work in the station is happening in hidden spaces. When the new York Concourse opens, a lot of people are going to be surprised.
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I think they're both going to have a huge impact. Right now the GO concourse just screams 1970s (orange, yellow, and brown tiles), and the track level is dark and dingy. I think the new roof on the track level will have just as much of a "wow that's much better" effect as the concourse revitalization.
 
gweed123 said:
I think the new roof on the track level will have just as much of a "wow that's much better" effect as the concourse revitalization.
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That doesn't sound like a real metric to me. The concourse is where people will spend much of their time, it is where the capacity is being adding, and it is new functional space. The new roof is only eye candy only visible for the brief few minutes you are on the platform but do nothing to add function or capacity to the space.
 
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