mickael
Active Member
Harbour
Toronto Queens Quay & Water's Edge Revitalization | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto
- Thread starter AlvinofDiaspar
- Start date
drum118
Superstar
They just rebuilt it. The rest of it east of Yonge Street still has to be built and that is at least a decade or more away.
MetroMan
Senior Member
Waterfront Toronto today tweeted about their next Queens Quay projects: bridges over the slips from Portland to Parliament and a boardwalk along the East Bayfront, the Sugar Beach segment in front of Corus, George Brown and Sherbourne Common:
Here’s a blog post from January with more details: http://blog.waterfrontoronto.ca/nbe...her-Step-Towards-a-Continuous-Waterfront-Walk
From the sounds of it, the bridges are still in design but the boardwalk is starting construction later this year.
Here’s a blog post from January with more details: http://blog.waterfrontoronto.ca/nbe...her-Step-Towards-a-Continuous-Waterfront-Walk
From the sounds of it, the bridges are still in design but the boardwalk is starting construction later this year.
Tuscani01
Senior Member
FINALLY!
smably
Senior Member
The funded section of the boardwalk is a 158-metre section at the foot of Sherbourne Common that is being built as part of a stormwater treatment project. As far as I know, there is no funding source for the remainder of the boardwalk, nor the timber bridges. It's a tough nut to crack because WT's funding model is based on unlocking land value by building infrastructure, but all the land value of the central waterfront has already been unlocked.
Northern Light
Superstar
Worth saying that at least the Spadina Quay bridge was funded, but proved to be unpopular w/the locals and the decision was made to fund other priorities w/the money at the time.
irishboy
New Member
This idea really needs to be considered. I don't know if the cost to tear out the concrete and replace with grass/sedum would be offset by the reduction of people driving on the tracks...but you can probably make a case for it. The economic impact of having streetcars decommissioned for half a day, repairs needed to tracks and tow services are all financial drains to the city. And, since they seem to happen 2x a year, they are a gift that keeps giving.
Grass/sedum on the streetcar lines is more befitting our waterfront and would have as dramatic an affect as any building could. Honestly, this should have always been part of the QQ revitalization. It will eliminate confusion for drivers on all parts of QQ, increase safety and look absolutely brilliant. It can serve to attract even more tourists and generate more income for the city.
Northern Light
Superstar
What burns.............it was in the original design and was removed.
EYorker
New Member
With the way Queens Quay has been functioning post rebuild, I have a feeling that if grass was used along the PROW, we would be seeing many TTC service alerts like this:
"509 Harbourfront/510 Spadina: Streetcars are currently turning back at Spadina/Queens Quay loop due to picnickers blocking the tracks"
MetroMan
Senior Member
The grass was an integral part of how Queens Quay was designed to function. Removing it had a cascading effect that's affected how every user from pedestrians to drivers to cyclists perceive how Queens Quay should be used. Removing that one element broke the intuitiveness of the street. It didn't break a small part, it broke it entirely.
I think, putting the grass back would make it a lot clearer to drivers because it would create visual funnels into where drivers are supposed to turn into. When turning left from York on to Queens Quay for example, drivers are confronted with a span of what looks like road with multiple choices and they have to rely on signage to decide where to go. Grass in the streetcar ROW would make it clear which lane they're supposed to go into.
It becomes very clear once you compare the two:
There's another missing element: the double row of trees create a separation from the pedestrian realm and the streetcar corridor. It would be very clear to pedestrians that the grass in the streetcar ROW is not for them, because they would have to cross two thresholds of trees, with a bike lane in the middle, to get to the streetcar corridor. Once those trees grow out, the separation will be more obvious and the street will become more intuitive. Having looked at trees late last year, as early as this Summer, this canopy effect will start to become evident. Give it another couple more years and it'll look a lot like this picture.
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Nadnev
New Member
From Waterfront Toronto, 9 March:
Writing the next chapter in the story of our waterfront
Writing the next chapter in the story of our waterfront
robmausser
Senior Member
I just dont see a version of this without some kind of barrier, albeit even a small knee high fence, between the pedestrian area and streetcar tracks, where QQ is safe. Grass will make the situation worse, because pedestrians will want to walk on it.
the number of times ive been biking down there and see a streetcar have to slam on its brakes for a person walking on the tracks, or people walking dangerously close to the streetcars, I cant believe no ones been killed yet.
The only reason is the permanent slow order the TTC has put on this area. We cripple our transit simply for aesthetics.
That's why I'd like to see some low-growing plants other than grass, so that it's not welcoming to step on.
42
Northern Light
Superstar
Its important to note that in the grass scenario, as with ballast, the railway ties and rails are substantially exposed, that tends to make for a pretty crappy walking surface; one that's uneven and bumpy. As a low point in the topography it would also be prone to being muddy.
One might want some kind of curb or fence anyway, as the soil/trackbed would be a step down from the adjacent area in all liklihood and therefore might be a tripping hazzard.
There are other plant option as opposed to grass, but relatively few offer the same advantages; I think only sedum might be completely comparable.
I mean you could plant Virginia Creeper.....which people would find a trip, ahem.
But then....if you do that....you'll probably have it all over the bike trail, the trees......maybe a lane of traffic...........
** It occurs to me, ya could be really mean and plant Poison Ivy...........................**
Towered
Senior Member
LOL - I thought the bridges and remaining slips were cancelled 10 years ago. Suddenly they're a thing again out of nowhere?