Downtown Markham

[benbola]

It's progressing very slowly. The only new near-term project I'm aware of is the York Condos. That being said, once people move into the Signature and Aviva buildings, that could double the daytime office workers while also increasing the area residential population to a much lesser degree (10% maybe?). And development is also happening along 7 just North of here, further increasing the density within a short walking distance.

 

[Waterloo_Guy]

And development is also happening along 7 just North of here, further increasing the density within a short walking distance.

I think walking distance is the crucial element, as long as it's a welcoming walk.

 

[MafaldaBoy]

How much of the planned development in this area is expected to happen in the near future? It would be good to get a critical mass of people here.

As benbola said above currently York Condos is the next phase in DT Markham. The next phase after that might be a 35-storey tower adjacent to Signature, of which the only reference I can find is a notice of an incoming application to Council in October 2015. I can only speculate but I have a feeling that Remington is waiting for height restrictions to be lifted when Buttonville Airport closes, which won't happen until at least Fall 2017.

 

[Sam!]

I swear that we received a invitation to a public meeting about the zoning amendment for this building a few months back.

Development is indeed slow - the Signature building have been in progress for 3 years now and I can't imagine a move-in date within 2016. Even when the York University campus comes in (anticipated date - Sept 2020), I think the pace will not change much. You're still relying on a single developer to push projects along.

 

[iloveyiyi]

Does anyone know what the project (construction) directly across from Cineplex/Kiu is called? Thanks!

 

[benbola]

Does anyone know what the project (construction) directly across from Cineplex/Kiu is called? Thanks!

"The Signature"

 

[iloveyiyi]

"The Signature"

Thank you very much Benbola.

 

[innsertnamehere]

there are a couple of other developers over towards Unionville GO, but most of them are waiting on Buttonville to close. And that keeps getting delayed, too. I think cadillac fairview is just waiting on an OMB ruling at this point though, and then they will close the airport. The hearing is scheduled for next July, so probably a ruling by the end of the year and construction can start after that.

 

[Sam!]

They've been working on a new mural for the past couple weeks now on the east wall. Seems a bit more colourful and family friendly than the previous. Hope this one lasts a bit longer..

PSA: Seems like Nexus buildings finally decided to lock down the gates going into Upper Duke.

 

[benbola]

The new mural is being painted, whereas the one before was just printed on vinyl or something. The longevity should be better.

Don't understand why they keep hiring mural artists from NY for these. There are plenty of very good Canadians, including many from the Toronto area.

Here's the artists's Instagram page. The daily updates by the older guy are amusing. "Good evening my peeps!"

 

[CLF0708]

They've been working on a new mural for the past couple weeks now on the east wall. Seems a bit more colourful and family friendly than the previous. Hope this one lasts a bit longer..

PSA: Seems like Nexus buildings finally decided to lock down the gates going into Upper Duke.

Yes, the Upper Duke gates at the Nexus Building are now LOCKED to all outsiders.
No more freeloaders trespassing on private property just to save a few minutes on their drive. No more using our driveway for FREE when the people of the Nexus Building are the ones who pay the property taxes for the driveway, the maintenance and repairs, and snow removal in the winter. No more clogging up our driveway during rush hour mornings and afternoons. No more putting resident's safety at risk by speeding through the driveway. No more honking your horns at us and our guests when you are the ones who are trespassing. This was a big issue for residents at our last Annual General Meeting. We tried putting up signs that say "No Trespassing" but that didn't work, we tried posting a security guard out there for a week to educate drivers that this was private property, but that didn't work. So enough is enough, it was time to just lock the gate down and finally kick all you bums out for good!!!

 

[benbola]

Now if only they'd do something about all of the people who stop in the middle of Birchmount to make a u-turn to get into your building ... that would be GREAT.

The section of Birchmount between Enterprise and Nexus is so bizarre. I've never seen so many people pulled over for blowing through stop signs. Until very recently I saw someone getting ticketed (or simply running the sign, if no cop was around) pretty much every time I walked past that corner. This is not an exaggeration -- I'd literally be popping into Aroma or Me-Va-Me, and would see one person pulled over on the way there, and another on the way back.

Recently I've noticed that some drivers will stop at the bus street at night when the light at Enterprise is red, and only proceed through the bus intersection when the light a block away turns green. I can't even ...

 

[gabe]

Taking my life in my hands trying to drive/walk anywhere in Markham. They are the worst drivers.

 

[wilson_wu]

Now if only they'd do something about all of the people who stop in the middle of Birchmount to make a u-turn to get into your building ... that would be GREAT.

The section of Birchmount between Enterprise and Nexus is so bizarre. I've never seen so many people pulled over for blowing through stop signs. Until very recently I saw someone getting ticketed (or simply running the sign, if no cop was around) pretty much every time I walked past that corner. This is not an exaggeration -- I'd literally be popping into Aroma or Me-Va-Me, and would see one person pulled over on the way there, and another on the way back.

Recently I've noticed that some drivers will stop at the bus street at night when the light at Enterprise is red, and only proceed through the bus intersection when the light a block away turns green. I can't even ...

Have the fixed the visibility issues for the stop sign at Birchmount / Viva Busway yet?

People aren't intentionally running this stop sign because they want to save time. They literally can't see the stop sign. I havn't driven there in a while but the last time I was there, the road is far too wide for a 4-way stop. For example, if a truck is in the right lane, it blocks all visibility for the stop signs on the right. They need to put a GIANT stop sign in the centre of the road and the right hand side if they want to maintain this 4-way stop for a 4 (almost 5 lane roadway)

 

[benbola]

Ack, I didn't mean to suggest they were running the stop sign intentionally but I can see why you interpreted it that way.

Yeah, I think they need to put a flashing red light across the top of the Viva Busway. Stop signs on their own aren't enough IMO because there is too much going on at that intersection. The only two stop signs anywhere on Birchmount north of St. Clair are the ones in Downtown Markham, and to your point it's a very wide street. So I think the first issue is that people simply aren't accustomed to seeing stop signs at intersections of those sizes. On top of this, there are a lot of distractions in the area. The Enterprise traffic light seems to cause some Southbound drivers to get tunnel vision. The drivers who I've seen lately that stop at the busway when there's a red at Enterprise are an example of this, but I think it's even more common that drivers simply over-focus on that light and drive right through the busway as a result.

Given the number of distractions, a flashing red strikes me as the best approach here. I think it's disingenuous of the police and Markham city planners to just sit and rake in money from traffic tickets when there are clearly design/context issues with everything going on in the area.