Toronto GO Transit: Davenport Diamond Grade Separation | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx

Visually the electrification supports on that overpass are going to be a much bigger issue than the overpass itself, and that only from viewpoints that are far enough to see over the overpass edge.

A GO/RER station at Lansdowne would be net good news for the city I'd say.
  • The vacation streetcar yard ~250m north might just get a bit more enticing for a buyer.
  • With a good design/favourable site plan of a combined structure you might get an accessible second exit/transfer for Lansdowne Subway.
  • For UofT commuters from York region a few stops on the BD line might work better than backtracking from Union or using the Spadina line from Downsview Park.
  • Might kick off another gentrification row of course
  • Some light industrial/employment land would likely be lost unless those roofing businesses were relocated to the aforementioned streetcar yard. A bigger project than a few strips of concrete, for sure.
 
dowlingm said:
Visually the electrification supports on that overpass are going to be a much bigger issue than the overpass itself, and that only from viewpoints that are far enough to see over the overpass edge.

A GO/RER station at Lansdowne would be net good news for the city I'd say.
  • The vacation streetcar yard ~250m north might just get a bit more enticing for a buyer.
  • With a good design/favourable site plan of a combined structure you might get an accessible second exit/transfer for Lansdowne Subway.
  • For UofT commuters from York region a few stops on the BD line might work better than backtracking from Union or using the Spadina line from Downsview Park.
  • Might kick off another gentrification row of course
  • Some light industrial/employment land would likely be lost unless those roofing businesses were relocated to the aforementioned streetcar yard. A bigger project than a few strips of concrete, for sure.
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Lansdowne Subway is placed east of Lansdowne (second exit is at Emerson). Ideally they move this station west to merge the stations. But we've seen how much TTC wants to have a connected station with their inactivity at Dundas West. Nor their desire to even as for these funds in a meaningful fashion.

Gentrification can only occur if they get rid of the ugly concrete embankments on both sides of the rail underpass...kills the walkability of Bloor St in this area
 
their "inactivity at Dundas West" is about not handing Crossways Mall a ridiculously large bag with $ on it, just something the City can live with.

While Lansdowne does have more than one exit, true, it does not yet have an accessible exit. For Lansdowne that is 2021 which means maybe some scheduling room to build a facility as described above in the event that a GO station does happen.
 

The structure Metrolinx has proposed is unprecedented in North America.

"Metrolinx wants to drop a Gardiner for GO Trains in the middle of Davenport, literally within metres of playgrounds, houses, and coffee shops. It's devastating," said committee chair Laura Zeglen. "We absolutely support expanding the Barrie GO line. Just put it underground like the city has asked.

http://www.newswire.ca/news-release...rough-residential-neighbourhood-558981511.htm

How is a railway bridge like this unprecedented in North America? There are many examples of rail bridges in North America. This Options for Davenport group would lend more credence to their cause if they actually did some research instead of spewing half truths. Also if the city wants it underground, they should be prepared to pay the costs of putting it underground.
 
Adjei said:
The structure Metrolinx has proposed is unprecedented in North America.
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If that's what they want to believe, then I have a bridge to sell.

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Not exactly related, but in keeping with the issue of grade-separating GO lines. What's the criteria for a road/rail grade-separation? Will all our RER lines have to be grade-separated? Is it only if the line is under 15mins, 7.5mins, or if a road sees x amount of many cars/hr?
 
And let's not forget that this line will be electrified eventually, rendering this nothing more than an EL. Which already exists in several places in Toronto.
 
nfitz said:
Can you point to the houses, schools, and coffee shops adjacent to that structure?
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Yeah, I agree the residents group is being hyperbolic but it's disingenuous to suggest that the UPX is the same thing. There are real concerns that should be addressed related to building a rail bridge through an existing neighbourhood and responding to their hyperbole with hyperbole is a bit hypocritical.
 
44 North said:
Not exactly related, but in keeping with the issue of grade-separating GO lines. What's the criteria for a road/rail grade-separation? Will all our RER lines have to be grade-separated? Is it only if the line is under 15mins, 7.5mins, or if a road sees x amount of many cars/hr?
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As a *goal*, the entire network should be totally grade separated. As a matter of *priority*, we should be working inwards to outwards, with the two criteria being a) tackle the most serious car-vs-train exposues first, b) create the longest no-slow-track stretches (crossings often have speed restrictions applied). There should be a continuing capital budget for this, which should be longstanding and outside any specific project envelope for a particular RER upgrade proposal.

Re impact on Davenport community - as previously stated, the added visual impact of electrification should be part of the debate from the start. Don't flash pictures of the Bloor Subway or the UPX Airport Spur as models of how innocuous the elevated line is, without adding graphics to demonstrate what a bilevel-capable, overhead-catenary line looks like. The single-level 'no-wires' look is as hyperbolic and misleading as the residents' efforts in the opposite direction. Leaving this unstated is exactly what creates mistrust about ML's proposal.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
Re impact on Davenport community - as previously stated, the added visual impact of electrification should be part of the debate from the start. Don't flash pictures of the Bloor Subway or the UPX Airport Spur as models of how innocuous the elevated line is, without adding graphics to demonstrate what a bilevel-capable, overhead-catenary line looks like. The single-level 'no-wires' look is as hyperbolic and misleading as the residents' efforts in the opposite direction. Leaving this unstated is exactly what creates mistrust about ML's proposal.
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I agree with the need for realism in depictions - but at the same time, going through the land uses proximate to the line, it's pretty obvious that a good chunk of it is industrial/transitional industrial and most of the housing actually faces away from the corridor in the first place. The fear is overblown.

As to the residents concerns - a good chunk of them just wanted to have it buried as the solution, instead of even considering beautification.

AoD
 
crs1026 said:
As a *goal*, the entire network should be totally grade separated. As a matter of *priority*, we should be working inwards to outwards, with the two criteria being a) tackle the most serious car-vs-train exposues first, b) create the longest no-slow-track stretches (crossings often have speed restrictions applied). There should be a continuing capital budget for this, which should be longstanding and outside any specific project envelope for a particular RER upgrade proposal.
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Okay, interesting. Because it seems to me SmartTrack East / Stouffville RER will be our biggest challenge. Danforth, Havendale, Huntingwood, Finch, McNicoll, Passmore, Steeles, Kennedy, Dennison. That's a substantial number, so I'm wondering which ones will by law have to be grade-separated for the service proposed. Or if there's any law in place. Then the costs! Naturally I think we'll simply group some crossings into one long viaduct similar to what's proposed for Davenport. But is this worth it? If a service is merely AD2W diesel can we get by with the crossings as-is?
 
wolfewood said:
Yeah, I agree the residents group is being hyperbolic but it's disingenuous to suggest that the UPX is the same thing. There are real concerns that should be addressed related to building a rail bridge through an existing neighbourhood and responding to their hyperbole with hyperbole is a bit hypocritical.
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It is beside an existing neighbourhood...not "through" one. They are separate neighbourhoods on either side of the tracks right now.

If it is below grade it will not be "buried" but an open trench. So limited connections across even after.

If it is above-grade you can actually walk between the 2 neighbourhoods for the first time in a hundred years! Which ones creates better connections?
 
Surely the biggest issue if that if you elevate rail through the neighbourhood, you'll have huge sound issues, compared to at surface, or in a trench.
 
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