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

nfitz said:
When you write the bid documents, you get to set conditions, such as the use of such equipment. The contractor is going to go with the cheapest method that fulfills all the clauses of the contract.
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Exactly. And that's why hindsight is 20/20. GO should strive to do better in the future and should try to introduce the technology here. Not going to argue with you at all.

But I don't think it helps anyone to pile on GO for what they did in the past (sorry the pun). Only what they plan to do in the future.
 
I thought the City was banning the use of vibrating pile-drivers after complaints at the Minto Yonge Eglinton site? That was pretty fun as well, you could feel the earth vibrating a block away.
 
RedRocket191 said:
I am in favour of more 416 stations. I'm not sure if anything should be done about Dupont and Davenport, but if changes need to be made to those crossings they should strive to be better than they were before. All in all I think it's pretty reasonable and I hope the message doesn't get corrupted by your more militant neighbours.
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Yeah, me too. I was thinking about ways to integrate the GO system into the TTC at least within the 416. Maybe having fare controlled areas with turnstiles for all GO train stations within the city of Toronto would be a start, and then maybe having some sort of fare-sharing agreement with the TTC.

They could also run trains within the 416 that would be joint GO/TTC ventures that complements existing GO runs. For example, the TTC could run a train between Long Branch and Rouge Hill every hour so that you have at least half-hourly service within Toronto on the Lakeshore line.

Well, I'm pretty sure the TTC would nix that idea because they are about as progressive these days as a Southern senator. But, whatevs, I'm dreamin' here!
 
Hipster Duck said:
Yeah, me too. I was thinking about ways to integrate the GO system into the TTC at least within the 416. Maybe having fare controlled areas with turnstiles for all GO train stations within the city of Toronto would be a start, and then maybe having some sort of fare-sharing agreement with the TTC.

They could also run trains within the 416 that would be joint GO/TTC ventures that complements existing GO runs. For example, the TTC could run a train between Long Branch and Rouge Hill every hour so that you have at least half-hourly service within Toronto on the Lakeshore line.

Well, I'm pretty sure the TTC would nix that idea because they are about as progressive these days as a Southern senator. But, whatevs, I'm dreamin' here!
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I think a single fare system solves most of those problems without going to all that trouble, but unfortunately the change might have to be imposed upon the TTC if they continue their current MO (I would welcome change). Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on which side you are on) the Metrolinx law gives Queens Park the power to impose such measures through provincial policy statements.
 
Davenport Diamond update

Just got this email from GO. Posted on our neighbourhood website at:
http://www.southjunctiontriangle.ca/node/488



Phone: (416) 869-3600 ext. 5211
Fax: (416) 869-1563
E-mail: Greg.Ashbee@gotransit.com

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Dear Vic:

Subject: Environmental Assessment study update

Davenport Diamond rail-to-rail grade separation
City of Toronto


In the letter we sent you on April 30, we promised to give you an update about the status of the Davenport Diamond project this fall.

At the public sessions we held in April, the feedback you provided and the interest you showed about this project proved just how important this project is to your community. We took your comments about this project into consideration and thanks to your input, we are planning on proceeding with an Environmental Assessment (EA) that will include the Davenport Diamond, the proposed new station at Saint Clair Avenue, and the future rail service expansion on Barrie GO line. For this reason, we will be cancelling the current Davenport Diamond process, in favour of a larger, more comprehensive EA on the Barrie GO line, which will include the Davenport Diamond.

Our next step will be to tender and award a consultant assignment for this new, larger project scope the spring of 2010. We will be coming back to your community to host public open houses and to conduct a feasibility study over the next year, and with the plan to issue a Notice of Commencement in 2011.

To find the most up-to-date information about this project, please visit www.gotransit.com and click on the Projects & Studies button.

We value your insight and I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Yours very truly,

Greg Ashbee, P. Eng
Manager, Infrastructure Expansion Planning
 
Hmmm...where is this "Saint" Clair Avenue they speak of? Any relation to St. Clair Ave.??

They sure are well informed about the community they are working in when they can't even spell the name of a major Toronto thoroughfare correctly.
 
So is folding this EA into the Barrie Line expansion EA a good thing or a bad thing?
 
I think it will likely be bad overall. As a limited scope EA they were focused on getting the grade separation done in the short term and the focus was on how the grade separation will impact the community. As part of a bigger EA there will be a delay as they document the entire corridor and the improvements required for all day service and when it comes time for public sessions the issues of a few residents in the area of the diamond will be drowned out by the benefits and changes elsewhere. The larger EA was going to come eventually any ways but now they are waiting for it. I hope the GO Barrie line goes under the CP tracks as that would be best for the neighbourhood but I suspect it wont.
 
EnviroTO said:
I think it will likely be bad overall. As a limited scope EA they were focused on getting the grade separation done in the short term and the focus was on how the grade separation will impact the community. As part of a bigger EA there will be a delay as they document the entire corridor and the improvements required for all day service and when it comes time for public sessions the issues of a few residents in the area of the diamond will be drowned out by the benefits and changes elsewhere.
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Yeah, I have to say I'm puzzled by this. I'm assuming everyone showed up at the previous meeting and screamed and hollered about how dropping a carbon copy of the Snider separation in their backyard would damage their property values, and there was a general demand GO "prove" it has traffic demands that can't be accomodated by the status quo.

So now we wait a year to get a report where the first page or two says "yes, it does" and moves on. And the residents are no closer to getting a grade-separation that fits the needs of the community.


I hope the GO Barrie line goes under the CP tracks as that would be best for the neighbourhood but I suspect it wont.
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Considering the relief of the Lake Iroquois shoreline to the north of the tracks, the track geometry and earth moving needed to pull off an underpass is bound to be either straight-up impossible or possible only at outlandish expense.

I say take the opposite approach: instead of trying to hide the train, do a nice brick viaduct that fits in well with the architecture of that area and pop Bloor, Davenport and Dupont out of their dugouts under the existing bridges so there can be smooth continuous streetscapes.

The one obstacle to this approach last time was the uphill grade needed south of Bloor wouldn't have been freight-friendly (they actually drafted a worst-of-all-possible-worlds option that had elevated GO side-by-side a preserved and unchanged freight track). If GO buys the whole Newmarket sub from CN as has been rumoured, though, it's plausible freight could be banned from moving south of S[ain]t Clair, or if a through movement option is absolutely essential, add in a N-to-E wye with the CP North Toronto Sub and keep freights off the hilly bit.

A broader Barrie line EA is bound to be interesting, though, as to my eye it's hands-down the line with the most potential in the system. Unlike, say, Lakeshore East, its stations are already overwhelmingly located in well-urbanized cores or have a strong potential to become such. Not only that, but off-hand I can think of 5 or so rather good sites for infill stations on it.
 
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