Toronto Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR

[EastYorkTTCFan]

Maybe they could put screens up in 'the Montreal way' - FACING the platform from the far side or middle of the tracks.

That maybe what they are looking into doing. the only problem is the "artwork" on the other side which is a whole other can of worms.

 

[tnarduzzi]

... new maps have been added.

They really need to stop identifying the West Wing as on the same floor as the GO York Concourse on the official maps. This is really confusing and not at all how the station is laid out. There are effectively three levels to the new Union.

G - GROUND LEVEL
- North Entrance via Front St at street level
- Great Hall
- East Wing
- West Wing
- Platforms
- Union-Pearson Express air-rail link
- Connection to GO Bus Station via Platform 3
- Connection to CN Tower, Rogers Centre, and Ripley's Aquarium via Skywalk

B1 - CONCOURSE LEVEL
- GO York Concourse (new!)
- GO Bay Concourse
- VIA Concourse
- York St Promenade (new!)
- Front St Promenade
- Connection to Citigroup Place at 123 Front St
- Connection to PATH system via Royal York Hotel (closed, possibly demolished)
- Connection to PATH system via York St PATH tunnel (proposed)
- Connection to Air Canada Centre
- East Entrances via Bay St Teamway (new!)
- West Entrances via York St Teamway (new!)
- South Entrance via Maple Leaf Square (temporary)

B2 - PATH LEVEL
- York St Food Court (new!)
- Central/Market Food Court (new!)
- Bay St Retail (new!)
- Bay St Promenade (new!)
- Connection to PATH system via Royal Bank Building
- Connection to TTC Union Station
- South Entrance via Maple Leaf Square (new!)

 

[tnarduzzi]

Stairs to the GO Concourse - you can see the original ACC ramp beside it I think:

That ACC ramp or "blue route ramp" was taken out sometime early 2016.

@AlvinofDiaspar, when I look closer I think these stairs are leading from Bay Promenade up to Bay Teamway. Not much to go on from the picture but if I had to guess I would say the picture was taken from Front St looking south over the moat. These stairs would be "as drawn" the set of two located where the old GO ticket office was, and then a temporary construction access ramp behind them.

Stairs.
View attachment 119122

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

That ACC ramp or "blue route ramp" was taken out sometime early 2016.

@AlvinofDiaspar, when I look closer I think these stairs are leading from Bay Promenade up to Bay Teamway. Not much to go on from the picture but if I had to guess I would say the picture was taken from Front St looking south over the moat. These stairs would be "as drawn" the set of two located where the old GO ticket office was, and then a temporary construction access ramp behind them.

You are most likely right!

AoD

 

[DSC]

You are most likely right!

AoD

It certainly is, the photo was clearly shot over the 'parapet' along Front Street and through the large opening over the (future) doors in the east Front Street moat - now partially bricked in.

 

[Richard White]

That ACC ramp or "blue route ramp" was taken out sometime early 2016.

So how will ACC access work post renovation? I assume they will route everyone via Maple Leaf Square?

 

[tnarduzzi]

So how will ACC access work post renovation? I assume they will route everyone via Maple Leaf Square?

New access to the ACC will be via the PATH level (B2).

If you look at the plans it is somewhat confusing because they drew the different floor plates on the same plan view... but... if you follow me here: there will be a corridor on the lowest level (the new basement level) that will lead almost directly south from the TTC to the ACC. This corridor will go through the new Union retail/PATH element bypassing underneath the new GO Bay Concourse. The corridor will be at the TTC/PATH (B2) level until just north of the former Blue Route doors from the ACC where it will three stairs and two escalators will rise to the join the ACC and Bay South Concourse for platforms 24 - 27.

Ps. If you go to the South Bay Concourse (the east waiting area for platforms 24 to 27) and look at the ceiling in the hallway that runs east/west you can already see the new ceiling panels have been applied to match the hallway which runs east/west just south of GO York Concourse and VIA Concourse. Post construction this east/west connector hallway will run right through from Bay Street doors, past the ACC, past the VIA Concourse, and past both GO concourses. This east/west connector hallway will likely become an artery for commuters looking to bypass the shops and foodcourts. After thinking about this a little bit more and visualizing the layout of the station I no longer believe the east/west hallway will run the full width of the building. There is a grade change of about 10 ft between VIA grade and ACC/GO South grade. My best guest is that the hallway will swing north and dump into GO Bay via a ramp (mirror image of ramp at other end dumping into GO York). Then you would have to walk around the escalator atrium on the New Blue Route and then likely take a small set of three or four steps down further to join the existing GO South (these 3 or 4 steps will likely be same height as those leading from York Teamway to GO York).

 

[tnarduzzi]

New access to the ACC will be via the PATH level (B2).

If you look at the plans it is somewhat confusing because they drew the different floor plates on the same plan view... but... if you follow me here: there will be a corridor on the lowest level (the new basement level) that will lead almost directly south from the TTC to the ACC. This corridor will go through the new Union retail/PATH element bypassing underneath the new GO Bay Concourse. The corridor will be at the TTC/PATH (B2) level until just north of the former Blue Route doors from the ACC where it will three stairs and two escalators will rise to the join the ACC and Bay South Concourse for platforms 24 - 27.

Ps. If you go to the South Bay Concourse (the east waiting area for platforms 24 to 27) and look at the ceiling in the hallway that runs east/west you can already see the new ceiling panels have been applied to match the hallway which runs east/west just south of GO York Concourse and VIA Concourse. Post construction this east/west connector hallway will run right through from Bay Street doors, past the ACC, past the VIA Concourse, and past both GO concourses. This east/west connector hallway will likely become an artery for commuters looking to bypass the shops and foodcourts.

@Richard White I whipped up the attached graphic to help with my above description.

NEW BLUE ROUTE

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

So how will ACC access work post renovation? I assume they will route everyone via Maple Leaf Square?

Old method (for reference): Recall there were some 2 and 3 step up stairs strewn through out the old GO Concourse. Also that the connection between the Union subway station and Union station proper involved a ~6 foot elevation change with stairs.

New GO concourse will be level with the Union subway concourse level and slightly lower than the ACC (ahem Scotia Bank Arena) and such will have a set of stairs bringing you up to the arena level roughly where the Ford tunnel used to be.

This was probably the most difficult thing for me to visualize in my mind

 

[interchange42]

That's not quite right @Woodbridge_Heights. The new GO (Bay) Concourse will be a full floor above the Union subway concourse level; it's the Bay Street retail which will be on (nearly*) the same level as the Union subway concourse.

At the south end of the Bay Street retail, @tnarduzzi is right, there will be stairs/escalators between the retail level and the ACC.

Meanwhile, as the south end there will also be a few steps up from ACC level to the new GO Bay Concourse. It'll be at approximately the same height as the GO York Concourse is over on the west side of the station.

42

* In the moat area at the exit from Union subway, the access to the Bay retail ramps downwards slightly. They simply aren't able to eliminate all the grade changes in the rebuild!

 

[DSC]

They have just finished unloading the columns (all?) for the canopy over the east side Front Street Moat. I assume that they will install them and then maybe bring in the cross-pieces. I assume the east side moat will remain open until spring 2018. The glazing of the west side Front Street moat has still not started. They continue to install LED lighting above it and are still working on the east end of it where they partly demolished the parapet a while ago and where they still need a couple more cross pieces.

 

[DSC]

You can now leave the TTC station and walk across the East Front Street moat and enter the Bay Street Promenade. turning right (west) before going up the stairs to the other stairs etc and into Union. Though the passage is fenced off with cloth you can now really see the size of the Bay Street Promenade and Bay Concourse.

 

[tnarduzzi]

You can now leave the TTC station and walk across the East Front Street moat and enter the Bay Street Promenade. turning right (west) before going up the stairs to the other stairs etc and into Union. Though the passage is fenced off with cloth you can now really see the size of the Bay Street Promenade and Bay Concourse.

@DSC Did you manage to grab any pictures? I am interested in the details of how they are doing this. I predicted something similar about exactly one year ago now

Mark my words this is happening. Scaffolding is being moved into this area just east of the leather-shop-bypass and under the former Purdy's. The moat is excavated and the at-grade doorways from Union to the TTC have already been cut out of the foundation wall. The area under the former Purdy's is now fully underpinned and new steel columns are installed. I am pretty sure we will soon see the remaining Bay concourse closed and demo'ed once pax are routed through a new diversion into the TTC..

@interchange42 I agree here, the preferable option would have been to route passengers through the moat, down the stairs, and into the TTC. Completely avoiding the construction areas. But. For reasons unknown the Front Street moat is seriously delayed. Also you must consider that the "bypass/leather shop" route cannot support a rush hour load via those two double-doors. Stairs widened or not.

In light of that predicament instead of slowing down the overall project timeline I would concentrate preliminary excavation and structural work around the "front doors" to the TTC. Get the sub level in and knock out the future doors in the front headwall. At that point you can continue working all around as pax pass through hoardings until the moat finally does open.

Nothing confirmed here. Just my two cents.

 

[DonValleyRainbow]

You can now leave the TTC station and walk across the East Front Street moat and enter the Bay Street Promenade. turning right (west) before going up the stairs to the other stairs etc and into Union. Though the passage is fenced off with cloth you can now really see the size of the Bay Street Promenade and Bay Concourse.

I'm lost.

 

[tnarduzzi]

I'm lost.

I think he's saying you can now cross the moat "straight on" when you leave the TTC and enter the new level under GO Bay. My assumption is they have built the stairs (or temp stairs in their place) that lead back to the level under the Great Hall (entering at the hoarding near old LCBO). I would wager something like this... orange is what opened today, green is the temporary stairs and leather shop bypass, violet is indicative of the grade change between Concourse (B1) and PATH (B2) levels.