H
Hydrogen
Guest
Apparently, the trucks carrying animals off to the abattoir would have to move down Bathurst if this bridge is built.
It looks very unsympathetic for the area.
It looks very unsympathetic for the area.
Toronto Strachan Avenue Overpass | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx
- Thread starter yvocam
- Start date
RedRocket191
Senior Member
Biking Toronto is reporting that the City of Toronto's preferred option will be the plan moving forward. This suggests that we, as a society, are willing to spend more money for a project that has a higher cost but has better urban design benefits. Strachan will remain at grade and the railway corridor will be lowered below its current alignment.
catcher_of_cats
Active Member
I am in shock that the City actually won this battle. A huge thanks to anyone here who aided this result.
scrappyTO
Active Member
Nice news for a change. I am glad I reached out to many friends via Facebook and my condo board to get people to write and petition. 
Automation Gallery
Superstar
Fantastic news,
Mike in TO
Senior Member
Update:
- The “super bridge†cutting off Strachan Avenue from Douro Street and Wellington Street west is gone.
- The rail corridor will be lowered and the intersection will be raised 1.1 metres higher
- Cycling lanes and pedestrian sidewalks have also been included in the new proposal
- The estimated cost in the report to realign 800 metres of railway and build a 33-metre long bridge is $125 million (versus the initial overpass estimate of $50 million)
Automation Gallery
Superstar
Residents stop the bridge that went too far
Who says you can't fight the system?
Residents of my neighbourhood in Liberty Village not only fought but, it seems, have won a battle against a proposed hideous super-bridge over the train tracks on Strachan Ave., south of King St.
The bridge would have cut off the community, increased traffic on King Street and blocked pedestrian access to the lakeshore. Residents decried it as a mini Gardiner Expressway.
But, after fierce opposition, Metrolinx has offered a compromise that will see the super bridge scrapped. And it was thanks to some community mobilization -- largely through the Internet.
"It was a crescendo of concern," Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone tells me. "The community showed up in droves to say: 'What they hell are you guys doing?' "
Those guys would be Metrolinx. And the bridge they proposed, part of the expansion of the Georgetown GO line, was in direct opposition to what the city and the community had already sought -- which was to lower the train tracks and keep Strachan a level crossing.
Now, Metrolinx has presented a solution much closer to the city and residents' plan: Lower the Georgetown and Milton rail lines by five metres and raise the Strachan crossing by four metres, approximately one foot higher than what the city originally proposed.
David Grant, a condo owner in the neighbourhood, spearheaded the web campaign to get Metrolinx listening. Residents joined online communities, wrote letters, signed a petition, sent e-mails, and generally shocked the heck out of Metrolinx with their passion and determination to preserve their new neighbourhood.
"It was a unique experience," Pantalone says. "Whenever there's any new issue in a neighbourhood, people are often initially upset and then they go away because they give up. They care, but they're not going to go to the wall for it. This was not the case." The power of the Internet, when coupled with community outrage, should never be underestimated. Pantalone kept the community informed with regular e-blasts. His office provided renderings of the proposed bridge to help residents understand exactly what the structure would do to the neighbourhood.
Rob Prichard, President and CEO of Metrolinx, says input from the deputy mayor, the city planner and the community brought about the compromise.
"The community was active and articulate and participated and was part of the solution -- and that's the nature of this process; to work through issues and find the best solution," Prichard says.
Some people who don't live in or near Liberty Village have cried NIMBY at residents' opposition to the bridge. Others suggest if new condo owners didn't want to live near the train tracks, they shouldn't have moved into the neighbourhood in the first place.
But this issue was never about the train tracks. Condo dwellers, myself included, would have had to be blind to not notice we are bounded on two sides by tracks. This wasn't about trying to keep progress out of our neighbourhood. This was about fighting to plan Toronto properly.
Time and again, our city goes with the quick and dirty options, with an eye to the costs today without a thought to the impact tomorrow.
Metrolinx estimates the new plan will be more expensive than the super bridge, but less expensive than the city's original plan for the crossing.
Whatever the final cost, the compromise is an investment, both in the neighbourhood and for livability of the city. The fact it was achieved by government and residents working together makes it an even more resounding victory.
DON'T GIVE UP
"Democracy can and does work. People should not give up, but they should have an intelligent approach to their fight," says Pantalone. "The system doesn't have to be the enemy -- it can be the opponent."
Residents already have a new campaign on their hands: The electrification of the GO Train lines and a move away from the polluting diesel engines.
It will be a tough fight, but something tells me the people of Liberty Village are up for it.
RACHEL.SA@SUNMEDIA.CA
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/rachel_sa/2009/06/07/9703096-sun.html
Who says you can't fight the system?
Residents of my neighbourhood in Liberty Village not only fought but, it seems, have won a battle against a proposed hideous super-bridge over the train tracks on Strachan Ave., south of King St.
The bridge would have cut off the community, increased traffic on King Street and blocked pedestrian access to the lakeshore. Residents decried it as a mini Gardiner Expressway.
But, after fierce opposition, Metrolinx has offered a compromise that will see the super bridge scrapped. And it was thanks to some community mobilization -- largely through the Internet.
"It was a crescendo of concern," Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone tells me. "The community showed up in droves to say: 'What they hell are you guys doing?' "
Those guys would be Metrolinx. And the bridge they proposed, part of the expansion of the Georgetown GO line, was in direct opposition to what the city and the community had already sought -- which was to lower the train tracks and keep Strachan a level crossing.
Now, Metrolinx has presented a solution much closer to the city and residents' plan: Lower the Georgetown and Milton rail lines by five metres and raise the Strachan crossing by four metres, approximately one foot higher than what the city originally proposed.
David Grant, a condo owner in the neighbourhood, spearheaded the web campaign to get Metrolinx listening. Residents joined online communities, wrote letters, signed a petition, sent e-mails, and generally shocked the heck out of Metrolinx with their passion and determination to preserve their new neighbourhood.
"It was a unique experience," Pantalone says. "Whenever there's any new issue in a neighbourhood, people are often initially upset and then they go away because they give up. They care, but they're not going to go to the wall for it. This was not the case." The power of the Internet, when coupled with community outrage, should never be underestimated. Pantalone kept the community informed with regular e-blasts. His office provided renderings of the proposed bridge to help residents understand exactly what the structure would do to the neighbourhood.
Rob Prichard, President and CEO of Metrolinx, says input from the deputy mayor, the city planner and the community brought about the compromise.
"The community was active and articulate and participated and was part of the solution -- and that's the nature of this process; to work through issues and find the best solution," Prichard says.
Some people who don't live in or near Liberty Village have cried NIMBY at residents' opposition to the bridge. Others suggest if new condo owners didn't want to live near the train tracks, they shouldn't have moved into the neighbourhood in the first place.
But this issue was never about the train tracks. Condo dwellers, myself included, would have had to be blind to not notice we are bounded on two sides by tracks. This wasn't about trying to keep progress out of our neighbourhood. This was about fighting to plan Toronto properly.
Time and again, our city goes with the quick and dirty options, with an eye to the costs today without a thought to the impact tomorrow.
Metrolinx estimates the new plan will be more expensive than the super bridge, but less expensive than the city's original plan for the crossing.
Whatever the final cost, the compromise is an investment, both in the neighbourhood and for livability of the city. The fact it was achieved by government and residents working together makes it an even more resounding victory.
DON'T GIVE UP
"Democracy can and does work. People should not give up, but they should have an intelligent approach to their fight," says Pantalone. "The system doesn't have to be the enemy -- it can be the opponent."
Residents already have a new campaign on their hands: The electrification of the GO Train lines and a move away from the polluting diesel engines.
It will be a tough fight, but something tells me the people of Liberty Village are up for it.
RACHEL.SA@SUNMEDIA.CA
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/rachel_sa/2009/06/07/9703096-sun.html
CapitalSeven
Senior Member
I think the compromise plan is the best solution given the physical and monetary constraints, but can someone please explain to me what was hideous about the bridge? And why it was a "superbridge," not just a bridge?
For the love of dog, it was a simple railway overpass, no more or no less. Not as nice as a rail underpass, but a lot cheaper. All this rhetoric suggests they were planning a scaled-up copy of the Gardiner built from the bones of dead babies (killed by diesel fumes...).
For the love of dog, it was a simple railway overpass, no more or no less. Not as nice as a rail underpass, but a lot cheaper. All this rhetoric suggests they were planning a scaled-up copy of the Gardiner built from the bones of dead babies (killed by diesel fumes...).
RedRocket191
Senior Member
In my humble opinion, you said it - rhetoric.
bizlady
New Member
There is a great mock sketch of the plan that Metrolinx accepted on the smsbsa website: http://toronto.typepad.com/strachanbridge/
Automation Gallery
Superstar
I think constuction on this project officially has started, passed there this morning and a whole lot of action going on.
Inkarnate
Active Member
I think constuction on this project officially has started, passed there this morning and a whole lot of action going on.
Hmm, will have to check that out. Shouldn't be more than a 20-25 minute walk for me.
AgentOrange
New Member
Hmm, will have to check that out. Shouldn't be more than a 20-25 minute walk for me.
I live in Liberty Village and trust me there isn't much action or anything to be seen even if it is only a 20-25 minute walk for you.
They recently redid the sideway (double wide now) on the west side and there is a traffic cop (with some of those dividers in the middle of the street) while workers are doing some prep work or something to the intersection of Strachan and East Liberty street.
Inkarnate
Active Member
Haha yeah, I had gone to talk the dogs for a walk and went out there to see what was going on; well it's pretty much what you said, so...
SGHA504
New Member
Haha yeah, I had gone to talk the dogs for a walk and went out there to see what was going on; well it's pretty much what you said, so...
Yeah I checked it out too...the only construction along the corridor that I've noticed is the Queen/Dufferin project and some MOW vehicles moving spare/new track switches around in the corridor between Bathurst and Strachan. Haven't seen any sign of underpass progress yet...