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

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Officially closed the Campbell construction entrance:
 
A local group that has continued to advocate for the connection between Lappin and Antler is hosting an event next weekend.

I want to be optimistic that the connection could happen, because of how I would benefit from it personally. But I've been reading the UT forums for long enough now to know what the most likely outcome is :(

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lappin-antler-spring-cleanup-tickets-870611511467
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evanb said:
A local group that has continued to advocate for the connection between Lappin and Antler is hosting an event next weekend.

I want to be optimistic that the connection could happen, because of how I would benefit from it personally. But I've been reading the UT forums for long enough now to know what the most likely outcome is :(

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lappin-antler-spring-cleanup-tickets-870611511467
View attachment 556397
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I live in the Junction Triangle and I don't understand the fixation people have with this connection. If you walk or cycle, you can get to the other side through Campbell park, which is adjacent to Antler. If you drive, just go to Wallace. By car, that's not even 20 seconds.

Last year, when the Bloor-Lansdowne GO Station's funding was up for review, I tried to rally support from members of the community to make sure that station gets built, and people were telling me that the Lappin connection is where we should concentrate our efforts!!! People were willing to sacrifice a $150M neighbourhood enhancement for 5 metres of road!

@evanb, why is this connection important to you? I honestly want to understand what is so animating about connecting these two roads when you can so easily access the other side.
 
Mrgeosim said:
I live in the Junction Triangle and I don't understand the fixation people have with this connection. If you walk or cycle, you can get to the other side through Campbell park, which is adjacent to Antler. If you drive, just go to Wallace. By car, that's not even 20 seconds.

Last year, when the Bloor-Lansdowne GO Station's funding was up for review, I tried to rally support from members of the community to make sure that station gets built, and people were telling me that the Lappin connection is where we should concentrate our efforts!!! People were willing to sacrifice a $150M neighbourhood enhancement for 5 metres of road!

@evanb, why is this connection important to you? I honestly want to understand what is so animating about connecting these two roads when you can so easily access the other side.
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You won't be able to get completely through to the other side of the tracks anywhere between Wallace and Dupont. It's all private property. If that Antler/Lappin connections is made, then it shortens the connection for many people who may want to get to Campbell Park (or from the Campbell side to Lansdowne/Lappin, etc).

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Red: Private property line / fences
Green: Existing crossings of the corridor
Orange: The additional crossing that many people want

Edit to add: I don't think anyone is requesting to open up the Antler-Lappin connection to cars (that would be a shit idea), but it sure would be nice to be able to walk/bike across there.
 
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vic said:
You won't be able to get completely through to the other side of the tracks anywhere between Wallace and Dupont. It's all private property. If that Antler/Lappin connections is made, then it shortens the connection for many people who may want to get to Campbell Park (or from the Campbell side to Lansdowne/Lappin, etc).

View attachment 556596
Red: Private property line / fences
Green: Existing crossings of the corridor
Orange: The additional crossing that many people want

Edit to add: I don't think anyone is requesting to open up the Antler-Lappin connection to cars (that would be a shit idea), but it sure would be nice to be able to walk/bike across there.
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Ah, I never noticed that it was fenced along that entire corridor. The condo north of Lappin and the Ubisoft parking lot might open up for the convenience of residents and employees, but a public access point makes a lot of sense. I stand corrected. I can see why people want this access point, but I still don't understand why the neighbors I spoke to thought this was more important than the GO station.

Thanks for the clarification, @vic

Also, yes, car access through Antler would be a terrible idea!
 
Yeah, I would love it if there were more entrances into this trail. Would benefit many. I can see why private property owners would be hesitant though. Don't think they would want just anyone walking or cycling through their parking lots.

Good examples of this existing nearby though - e.g. the Henderson entrance to the West Toronto Railpath.

Agree about the GO station!
 
Bloor Lansdowne GO station is certainly more important than this one connection under the guideway, but @vic did a good job of showing why the connection would be helpful to the neighbourhood. As it stands, to access the Junction Triangle from the east side of the corridor, we have to use either Dupont (an unpleasant car sewer) or Wallace, which is surprisingly busy with high car speeds and narrow sidewalks for a neighbourhood street.

While it's not a simple matter from a legal/land ownership perspective, since the guideway has gone up, the only remaining physical barrier to the connection is fencing. I think that's part of why it gets people animated. We're so close! Even though we're technically not.
 
This connection would rank 68 (out of 307) in my Crossing the Line analysis, but that ranking gives no weight to residential density / proximity. I'd expect it to climb higher factoring that in. The analysis currently identifies it as a 'realized' connection because I thought this was going to happen. One more thing to update whenever I get around to refreshing it.
 
A connection here is so desired because it connects The Greater Junction Area to Shaw St through Lappin and Hallam to downtown and the waterfront. It's funny to outsiders because it seems like such a teeny tiny connection. If Wallace went further East to Shaw this wouldn't really be an issue.

Lappin + Hallam + Shaw + Harbord + Downtown
(Shaw + Trinity + Waterfront)

By far faster and least amount of car traffic than any alternative, and also it's a route younger children can safely bike with their families without being pushed onto Bloor or Dupont. It also doesn't help that visually you can see the fastest route as you approach Lansdowne travelling West on Lappin but have to traverse on busier routes with buses and more signals. It really is a teeny tiny pet peeve, and it's something you never really stop noticing.

With this little connection you could get from Keele and Eglinton to Downtown's waterfront without backtracking once while travelling entirely on side streets.
 
Just curious if there has been an update on the plan for the parks/greenway? Can't find any progress updates online anywhere, or even anything on the Metrolinx website. Was really looking forward to that part of the project!
 
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