innsertnamehere
Superstar
I like the top comment on the article - shows how these trips disappear. Sure, they disappear, but people were making those trips for a reason. You have to decide if those were "Valuable" trips or not.
|
|
|
Roads: Gardiner Expressway catch-all, incl. Hybrid Design (2015-onwards)
- Thread starter jozl
- Start date
ssiguy2
Senior Member
When is this 'hydrid' plan suppose to start construction I thought that section of the Gardiner was on it's last legs?
innsertnamehere
Superstar
I believe that preliminary staging work is already underway and full construction begins in the spring.
Northern Light
Superstar
From Transportation's 2019 Work Plan for the Gardiner Expressway (whole thing)
2019 Plan
Continue with the rehabilitation work on the elevated section of the Gardiner Expressway between Jarvis
Avenue and Cherry Street as part of the first contract.
Begin the: Engineering design for the second contract, which is for the elevated portion from the west abutment
to Pirandello Ave (WA to Bent 35) and planned to be tendered in 2020;
Preliminary engineering work related to the Gardiner East Hybrid realignment from Cherry Street to Logan
Avenue, including design of interim repairs from Cherry to the DVP; and,
Preliminary design of the at grade section of the Expressway from Islington Avenue to the Humber River.
raptor
Senior Member
So basically nothing but paperwork planned for this year?
darth_freeman
Active Member
This year construction will start on replacing the entire deck between Jarvis & Cherry including a few of the ramps in this stretch. Similar to what was done several years ago around Strachan.
amnesiajune
Senior Member
That's great if you're going to the financial district, but tens of thousands of cars aren't. They're commuting from downtown to somewhere else, or they're commuting across downtown, using a freeway that keeps them off of city streets. That's the biggest negative impact of removing the Gardiner -- another 100,000 cars per day that'll be using surface roads. There's nothing pedestrian-friendly or bike-friendly about that. If people are thinking with those priorities in mind (as opposed to "whatever's bad for car drivers is good") then we'd be looking at how to get rid of Lakeshore Boulevard, an actual 8-10 lane wall of asphalt and cars that cuts between downtown and the waterfront.
Perhaps people are just driving around in circles with different hats on.
knlaruw
New Member
One only needs to look as far as Highway 7 between Leslie and Birchmount to see what a surface level traffic sewer (cough, "complete street") looks like. It neither moves traffic well nor is an enjoyable place to walk (though it is much better than the current Lakeshore config)
nfitz
Superstar
Some will, sure. But have you tried to drive between those two highways? Particularly on Mercer or Denny? It's faster to walk ...
That since they started proposing this scheme, that they extended their Link LRT, and you can now park near UW and take that downtown surely helps. Though I find taking buses to that station, or even direct downtown work well as well. Though I'm normally in the Maple Leaf area, rather than Queen Anne or Fremont, which are surely more effected. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they are better off too, as so much of the traffic on the 99, appeared to be coming from much further north.
achender
Active Member
A few pictures from the prefabrication site.
udo
Active Member
This is how it is supposed to look like by 2025 (at least the street portions). The pre-fabrication site will be used to make new decks and pillars for the section between Jarvis and Cherry Street (to be finished December 2020).
MetroMan
Senior Member
I guess it could have been much worse. There’s still a new boulevard and the Gardiner is moved away from the water to create new waterfront space by the canal. The new elevated segment is near the rail corridor anyway and will eventually be hidden from view by trees.
My remaining concern is the on ramp and the highway like Lake Shore blvd. The latter can at least be urbanized by a more progressive mayor in the future. A wide central median can be added to Lake Shore and lanes narrowed to turn it into something like University Ave. I’ll be paying close to attention to how the on-ramp is handled. Removal of old overbuilt on-ramps like was done at Simcoe and will be done at Bay will help soften the Gardiner.
The rest of the Gardiner is being hemmed in by condos. Underpasses can be made more friendly to pedestrians and PATH bridges can connect buildings and hide the Gardiner like is being done along the rail corridor in SouthCore. Projects like the Bentway have shown how to animate the space under an elevated expressway and actually make it an urban space and a desirable place to be.
Ultimately, this is a huge waste of money when driving is expected to decrease with self driving car shares taking the place of car ownership. But it really could have been much worse.
Last edited:
innsertnamehere
Superstar
self driving cars will likely vastly increase road use - even if personal vehicle ownership drops.
amnesiajune
Senior Member
What's a cheaper alternative other than making Lake Shore Blvd even more "highway-like" (seemingly the preferred alternative of this forum)? If we want to make things better for pedestrians, we should be looking at moving cars from the surface street to the elevated freeway, not the other way around.
Also, self-driving car shares (if they ever happen -- they certainly won't for several generations) would mean more cars on the road. Not only would cars be making all the trips they do today, but they'd be making millions of additional (unoccupied) trips to get from one user to another.
44 North
Senior Member
This is my theory, but only to an extent. Because getting the cars onto and off the freeway is an inevitable and never-ending issue that still has a big impact on pedestrians. They'll always be jammed at peak no matter what. Which is why I think maybe we could do away with the Jarvis and Sherbourne ramps. So the freeway is not so much a route into/out of the east-core, more a bypass.