Union Station: Northwest PATH Expansion

[Student99]

Isn't the Citibank building slated to be demo'd to make way for whatever Oxford decides to do with the entire city block?

wow, really? First I've heard. I wonder if the new restaurant on the corner knew about this before their renovations.

 

[DSC]

wow, really? First I've heard. I wonder if the new restaurant on the corner knew about this before their renovations.

Don't believe everything you read on UT. Any plans I know of are not touching Citibank but rather the building to its west. (151 Front West)

 

[Richard White]

Don't believe everything you read on UT. Any plans I know of are not touching Citibank but rather the building to its west.

The building where the East Side Marios was across from Joe Badalis is being turned into a condo. I doubt Citibank Place will be torn down but I would not be surprised really, that whole area is slowly becoming more residential. It is only a matter of time before places like Canyon Creek and Simcoe Place are turned into condos.

 

[TOareaFan]

The building where the East Side Marios was across from Joe Badalis is being turned into a condo. I doubt Citibank Place will be torn down but I would not be surprised really, that whole area is slowly becoming more residential. It is only a matter of time before places like Canyon Creek and Simcoe Place are turned into condos.

Isn’t the building that Canyon Creek is in part of the Cadillac Fairview office development?

If so, not sure how this fits with your condo trend.

 

[sikandar]

151 Front Street W is not being turned into a condo. It’s a major telecom hub with a major office development proposed immediately to the south of it.

http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2014/03/allied-reit-proposes-48-storey-union-centre-york-front

The building where the East Side Marios was across from Joe Badalis is being turned into a condo.

 

[DonValleyRainbow]

One of 1, 3 & 4 should be built - and 2 should be built as part of when 160 front west (is that the right one?) is built.

In my opinion all 4 achieve different things but I think the City are looking at only one, at least for the moment.

Agreed -- the city should build all four eventually.

• 2 connects the existing PATH network west of Simcoe Street, which is currently only connected through St Andrew Station
  • 160 Front
  • Simcoe Place
  • CBC
  • RBC Place
  • The Ritz
  • Metro Hall
  • Roy Thomson Hall
• 4 connects the PATH within the block bounded by Wellington, University, King and York, but being in a parking garage may limit any associated commercial stores
  • 145 King
  • 55 University
  • HSBC
• 3 is a useful elimination of a dead end, providing another alternative path from TD Plaza while providing more direct access to 95 Wellington
• 1 just creates an alternative route from TD Plaza, not a fan in terms of building connections

Given this, I agree 2 should be built as the primary connection, and 3 should be pursued shortly after. But a link under York between TD Plaza and HSBC needs to also be on the agenda (A).

 

[Mo-tage]

In the diagram above, if 3 were ever built the old tunnel between Union and the Royal York would become very useful.

 

[mdrejhon]

151 Front Street W

The closest thing to the center of Canada's Internet. Lots of Internet backbones meet here.

Any condo built next door will probably have the fastest residential gigabit fiber in Canada!

 

[Richard White]

4 is the only logical build really. It goes up a major street and connects to places people actually go to.

2 is only practical when they eventually build a connection WEST of Simcoe. Until then you would be building a connection that would end up as a stub for the time being.

1 is pointless. While the TD buildings are well used there are tons of connections there already. It is not exactly clamouring for another entrance to the PATH. Besides, I personally find that section of York Street to be drab, and a bit desolate compared to streets like Bay and University. The whole area around Metro Hall seems a little unloved at times.

3 would be nice in the overall grand scheme of things connecting Union to the main part of the PATH but where it connects is pointless. Piper St is a nothing street, just containing the loading dicks.

 

[Fritter]

In the diagram above, if 3 were ever built the old tunnel between Union and the Royal York would become very useful.

My understanding is that old tunnel needed to be permanently removed, as the configuration of the upgraded Union Subway station prevented it from remaining.

 

[DSC]

My understanding is that old tunnel needed to be permanently removed, as the configuration of the upgraded Union Subway station prevented it from remaining.

It is all rather mysterious. When they were rebuilding Front Street they were working in a large open pit in Front Street at about the east end of the Royal York. At that time I assume it was the Royale York tunnel but then it never re-opened. Is there a tunnel there? If so why is it closed?

 

[Richard White]

It is all rather mysterious. When they were rebuilding Front Street they were working in a large open pit in Front Street at about the east end of the Royal York. At that time I assume it was the Royale York tunnel but then it never re-opened. Is there a tunnel there? If so why is it closed?

I too heard somewhere it was permanently closed due to it being in disrepair. I could have swore it flooded or something to that effect and needed extensive repairs. It was also not accessible due to stairs being on either end.

My best guess is that when they lowered the moat they would have had to obliterate the tunnel like they did with the original subway connection. The Royal York Tunnel was not much farther under the road comparatively speaking to where the moat was lowered to.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Looks like Option 4 (University Avenue) is going to be it:

Recommended Alignment
Alignment #4 along University Avenue is the recommended alternative (see Figure 8 below). This route provides a direct link from Union station to 55 University Avenue (Sun Life Building), that is the most effective in servicing the north-west core while relieving pedestrian congestion concerns and accommodating the projected peak hour pedestrian volumes well into 2031

https://www.toronto.ca/services-pay...city-facilities/union-station/northwest-path/

Feedback Survey: http://cityoftoronto.fluidsurveys.com/s/nwpath/

AoD

 

[Richard White]

Looks like Option 4 (University Avenue) is going to be it:

Recommended Alignment
Alignment #4 along University Avenue is the recommended alternative (see Figure 8 below). This route provides a direct link from Union station to 55 University Avenue (Sun Life Building), that is the most effective in servicing the north-west core while relieving pedestrian congestion concerns and accommodating the projected peak hour pedestrian volumes well into 2031

https://www.toronto.ca/services-pay...city-facilities/union-station/northwest-path/

AoD

Not entirely upset about that. Option 4 is the better alternative for pedestrians.

 

[Allandale25]

^ And the next steps and construction start:

Next Steps
The recommended alignment will be presented to Toronto’s City Council in 2018. With Council approval, the Class EA Addendum will be submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) and a 30-day public review will be carried out, before moving to final design and construction procurement.

After the public review, and along with the completion of a detailed design, construction procurement, and coordination with the Major Capital Infrastructure Coordination Office schedule for downtown, construction is forecasted to start in 2021