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CityPlace: West One

The curves in the road are probably meant to slow traffic in order to keep all those cars on Spadina out of this area. Fat chance.
 
All those cars are generally going to the Gardiner, and some of them to Lakeshore. Neither would benefit from using Bremner.
 
Fort York will connect to Lakeshore via Dan Leckie, Bathurst and Fleet. I'd use it to avoid Spadina south of Bremner/Fort York.
 
Registration

Does anyone know when West One is scheduled to be registered? Is this bridge issue going to hold it up? And, does anyone have a guestimate as to closing costs?
 
February 24

WestOne and friends:
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Townhomes:

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Courtyard:
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A Linear Park:
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So it was West One I saw lit up last night! I was out by the Humber and noticed some lights in the skyline but couldn't make out what they were. Why arent all the other buildings lit up at night?
 
Conrad Black said:
A bridge too far leaves CityPlace owners in limbo

http://www.thestar.com/article/288615
Dec 29, 2007 04:30 Am
SARAH BARMAK
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Delays in building a bridge across the railway lands have made 2,200 condo buyers at CityPlace reluctant renters and raised the hackles of developers and city officials.

The bridge's completion is a requirement imposed by the city of Toronto for CityPlace to register its N1, N2, West One and Gallery condo towers, which sit in a block west of Spadina Ave. and south of Fort York Blvd. "We've got people moved in on one of our blocks, and they want to financially close and become owners and not tenants," says Alan Vihant, a vice-president at developer Concord Adex, which has agreed to finance the bridge.

The mess has infuriated local city councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), who says GO Transit – which must approve the bridge design – has rejected every proposed version of the bridge's support system.

"They're doing everything in their power to be obstructionist," Vaughan says. "Yes, their responsibility is to deliver transit services, but they have a role to play in helping us build the city. It's not fair. They don't care whether 2,200 people can live in their building."

The bridge at Portland St., east of Bathurst St., would link neighbourhoods north of Front St. to CityPlace and the waterfront, providing a path for pedestrians, joggers, cyclists, shoppers and tourists.

The bridge is one of the community improvements Concord Adex must make in order to develop the area south of the rail tracks. The developer must finance and build the bridge, with the city taking ownership on completion.

Vaughan says the bridge is an important project in his ward and will play an essential role in renewing the waterfront "in a way that's built on a pedestrian scale."

Dan Francey, GO Transit's manager of transportation planning and development, says that while talks are progressing, it is up to the city to either agree to a design that works for GO or scrap the bridge idea entirely. The existing plan, which calls for a supporting column near the rails, could interfere with the sightlines for train signals, Francey says.

"We haven't seen a version that works for our future plans or our flexibility," he says, adding that GO has proposed a clear-span (no supporting columns) design, an idea that doesn't seem to work for either Concord Adex or the city.

"That's ridiculous," Vaughan says. "They know the only way to build a clear-span bridge is to shut down service for three to four months. They won't let that happen."

While Vihant says the clear-span idea is "completely unacceptable," he doesn't think the city is doing enough to help his 2,200 residents who are caught in limbo. He wants the condos registered now and the bridge made a requirement for future development.

"The obligation to get approval to build that bridge is the city of Toronto's," Vihant says. "GO is saying, `we want more time.' We've offered up a solution that goes like this: Allow this existing block of developments to be closed and we will resolve matters on the next block."

Concord Adex can appeal to the OMB on the matter, a road that Vihant says it will take if it must.

The delay has been a pain for residents, many of whom moved in months ago and don't know how much longer they'll be paying interim occupancy fees.

For sisters Melissa and Carolyn Lawrence, 26 and 25, respectively, who moved into their N1 shared condo on the earliest date they could, Oct. 1, "it sucks ... we're paying a phantom mortgage."

They said they lost a plum 4.6 per cent interest rate on a mortgage in May when they failed to take ownership. They currently pay a combined $1,690 per month in fees.

"It's great that the city wants this beautiful thing," Melissa Lawrence says. "But if it wasn't for us, they wouldn't even be able to have a bridge."
Click to expand...

What a mess...what happened with this? Anyone know when owners will be able to close on these units?
 
GO has every right in protecting their interests but there seems to be a lack of communication between the sides.

Why can't GO and Concord Adex sit at a table with a structural engineer and come to an agreement where the pillar will go?

Why not build something like Humber bridge? Why would this require closing down the GO tracks for 4 months?

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This site provides a description of how the Humber Bridge was built, consistent with what I had in mind for the Portland bridge:

1 - Manufacture the parts off site
2 - Assemble the arches immediately near the site
3 - Raise each arch, one at a time via a crane and fit them into place. This would require shutting down the tracks – for safety purposes – for several hours... not weeks.

Now here's where the bridge would be built specifically with a method for building above the tracks without interrupting its schedule...

4 - Once the arches were set and the concrete cured, a high tension cable would be hooked near the base of each arch to the other side of the span. You'd have two cables running parallel across the span.
5 - Lay a protective net or wooden planks along those cables to protect trains/people below from construction hazards on the bridge.

(The feet of the bridge would be further apart than the centre like the Humber Bridge. Hence, a net reaching all four feet would cover the entire construction area above. Hooks would be built into the feet for this purpose.)

6 - Finish the bridge with the peace of mind of the protective net/planks
7 - Remove net/planks and cables

.... now, I'm not an engineer but this seems like a very reasonable and doable method for building a free spanning bridge without closing GO tracks "for weeks". :rolleyes:
 
From my post in the Montage/Neo thread http://urbantoronto.ca/showthread.php?t=787&page=40

"And yes, the pedestrian bridge to Portland St. is getting built. An agreement was made with GO to allow a bridge with a support column halfway across the tracks. All the people involved (City, GO, Concord, etc.) all gathered in Adam Vaughan's office and Vaughan laid it out and got an agreement. GO's concerns were the height of the bridge over the tracks and construction issues. GO needs the bridge to be high enough above the tracks for when some of the tracks are electrified there is enough space for the wires, poles, conductors, etc. This would put the end of the bridge about 5 feet above street level at Front and Portland so a bit of engineering would be needed somewhere. Both Vaughan and the Concord VP said the bridge will be well designed architecturally and should begin construction when GO begins work on adding a third flyover track. Should be within the year when work begins."

The pillar will be in the area of the flyover tracks. GO has the need to provide transportation for people from the burbs to downtown while Adam Vaughan needs transportation issues resolved to provide transportation for poeple from downtown to downtown.
 
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This would be a perfect spot to pack in lots of retail at grade to add some street life to this desolate area. Is that the plan?
 
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