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GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

^ Thats good.

Regarding the new act introduced by the province - does anyone know what exactly it does? I mean the government passed a regulation reduction law for infrastructure projects, what, 3 months ago? Why do they need yet another one?

A quick read through seems to allow Metrolinx to enter into binding agreements with private developers easier for Transit Oriented Development, and allow easier expropriation for GO projects. The second one was passed for highway projects in the first bill 3 months ago, not sure why this stuff wasn't just in that law.
 
^ We won’t know until the Bill turns up in Hansard, which hasn’t happened as of just now.

My suspicion is that it gives ML the right to overrule municipal planning processes around station development.

RER does not have that many expropriation needs to upgrade rights of ways (unlike new subway or highway construction). But station development may be a different matter. And we know how much Doug cares about municipal government. The municipalities may not even care, as a) they can’t be blamed for what happens and b) they get the benefits of the greater tax assessment sooner.

If it leads to more focussed development around GO stations, I might even be OK with that. Of course, given ML’s solid track record of non-transparency, we may never know what deals get made. This would be a fundamentally unacceptable state of affairs, even if the results are attractive.

- Paul
 
The bill is here

The most striking clauses are
4 (1) The Minister may, subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, establish, acquire, manage, participate in or otherwise deal with corporations, partnerships, joint ventures or other entities for the purpose of investing assets in, supporting or developing transit-oriented community projects related to provincial transit projects prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of the definition of “priority transit project”.
Click to expand...

and

5 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,
  1. (a) prescribing provincial transit projects for the purpose of the definition of “priority transit project”;
  2. (b) prescribing and governing any additional powers that the Minister may require in order to carry out the activities set out in subsection 4 (1);
  3. (c) prescribing and governing any limitations to permitted activities for the purposes of subsection4(1);
  4. (d) prescribing provisions of the Corporations Act, Business Corporations Act and Corporations Information Act that apply or do not apply to any particular corporation referred to in subsection 4 (1) and, in the case of provisions prescribed as applying, prescribing such modifications of those provisions as the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers necessary or advisable;
  5. (e) providing that a nentity referred to in subsection4(1) is or is not a Crown agent;
  6. (f) prescribingandrespectingthegovernancestructure,purposes,powersordutiesforapartnership,jointventureorother entity referred to in subsection 4 (1) that is not a corporation;
  7. (g) prescribing public bodies for the purpose of paragraph 2 of subsection 4 (4) and governing and providing for other matters relating to the prescribing of public bodies for the purpose of that provision;
  8. (h) respecting any other matter that the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers necessary or advisable for the purposes of section 4, including to ensure that an entity referred to in subsection 4 (1) may effectively carry out its purposes, powers and duties.
Same
(2) The Minister may make regulations delegating the Minister’s powers for the purpose of subsection 4 (4), and prescribing conditions and restrictions that apply to the delegation.
Click to expand...

That reads like pretty wide power to conduct transit projects in the same expedited way as the four subway projects.

- Paul
 
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This will support the GO Platform for the new station

Overnight GO Bridge Girder Installation at Weston Rd and Eglinton Ave W
October 28 & 30, 2020


Crews at Mount Dennis Station & the Rail Corridor will be conducting overnight work for GO bridge girder fabrication and installation on Wednesday October 28 and Friday October 30. On Wednesday October 28, the westbound lanes on Eglinton Ave W will be closed from Black Creek Dr to Weston Rd. On Friday October 30, the eastbound lanes will be closed from Weston Rd to Keelesdale Rd. Lanes will be closed on both nights from as early as 8:00pm until 6:00am. Upon completion of the installation, Eglinton Ave W will reopen.


What to Expect
Crews will be fabricating and installing GO bridge girders overnight. Work is expected to take two nights to complete. Noise levels will remain the same as regular construction activity. Noise from construction equipment such as trucks or and machinery can be expected


Hours of Work
Crews will be working overnight from as early as 8:00pm until 6:00am.
Work may be rescheduled due to weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances
The contractor may not always work during the permitted hours but may do so at its discretion
This work may take longer or shorter than expected.
Traffic & Pedestrian Details
The westbound lane on Eglinton Ave W will be closed from Black Creek Dr to Weston Rd on Wednesday October 28
The eastbound lane on Eglinton Ave W will be closed from Weston Rd to Keelesdale Rd on Friday October 30
Advanced notifications will be provided to inform the traffic of the closures
All current pedestrian restrictions will remain in place
Access to businesses and properties will be maintained

Transit Information
TTC bus routes will divert south of Eglinton Ave W, on Black Creek Dr and Weston Rd
TTC bus stops will be temporarily relocated around Weston Rd and Eglinton Ave W, and Black Creek and Eglinton Ave W
 
There may be a better thread for this, but - seeing as back around message 7943 we started discussing this here, so I will pick this up here - at a Community Town Hall last night, City staff indicated that the City is reviewing the cost-benefit of the Portlands Spur. Ports Toronto feels it may never be needed again.

One less bit of trackage down around Wilson Yard.

- Paul
 
Why not use the CN storage track which is not being used across the Don river bridge east of Wilson Yard. They could store 3 trainsets there.
 
^Those who like taking rare mileage excursions should be aware that VIA will detour its Toronto-Windsor trains over the CN Halton Subdivision via Georgetown, Milton, and Burlington Nov 27-30 due to this line closure on the Oakville Sub.

- Paul
 
Interesting to hear that Metrolinx is trying out some new switch types. It says that the new switches will permit a higher speed than the old ones, but doesn't say how fast that is. From what I've seen, all of the switches on the GO network have turnout speeds of 45 mph (72 km/h) or lower. Here in the Netherlands, there are many switches which allow trains to diverge at track speed (140 km/h). For example, I go through this one on the way to work, and the train typically diverges around 130 km/h.

I came across this article describing a new type of hydraulic switch that ProRail (national railway infrastructure manager) was testing in 2015. This particular type of switch is described as having a length of 135 m, a diverging angle of 1:29 and a diverging speed of 140 km/h.

Track speed turnouts would be particularly useful at junctions where trains commonly need to switch between the local and express tracks, such as at Canpa Junction where eastbound local trains split off onto the fourth track.
 
reaperexpress said:
Interesting to hear that Metrolinx is trying out some new switch types. It says that the new switches will permit a higher speed than the old ones, but doesn't say how fast that is. From what I've seen, all of the switches on the GO network have turnout speeds of 45 mph (72 km/h) or lower. Here in the Netherlands, there are many switches which allow trains to diverge at track speed (140 km/h). For example, I go through this one on the way to work, and the train typically diverges around 130 km/h.
Click to expand...

As frequently the case, the marketing wank from Metrolinx is running thick.

They are replacing the #12 crossovers at Canpa with #20s - which are the same design as has been used elsewhere on the CN and Metrolinx system for many, many years. They allow for 45mph in the diverging route.

They also claim that this is the first installation in North America, which......maybe for THIS specific design of #20, but certainly not for concrete tie turnouts on mainline railways.

It would be nice to see higher-speed turnouts and crossovers being used, as there are a couple of AREMA standards that have had hundreds of installations by Amtrak on several of their corridors, but alas, it appears that we're not quite there yet.

Dan
 
reaperexpress said:
Interesting to hear that Metrolinx is trying out some new switch types. It says that the new switches will permit a higher speed than the old ones, but doesn't say how fast that is. From what I've seen, all of the switches on the GO network have turnout speeds of 45 mph (72 km/h) or lower. Here in the Netherlands, there are many switches which allow trains to diverge at track speed (140 km/h). For example, I go through this one on the way to work, and the train typically diverges around 130 km/h.

I came across this article describing a new type of hydraulic switch that ProRail (national railway infrastructure manager) was testing in 2015. This particular type of switch is described as having a length of 135 m, a diverging angle of 1:29 and a diverging speed of 140 km/h.

Track speed turnouts would be particularly useful at junctions where trains commonly need to switch between the local and express tracks, such as at Canpa Junction where eastbound local trains split off onto the fourth track.
Click to expand...

The place where we need this most is Union station. Trains crawl through that mess of track.

But I think the speed restrictions are because of the archaic signaling system
 
robmausser said:
The place where we need this most is Union station. Trains crawl through that mess of track.

But I think the speed restrictions are because of the archaic signaling system
Click to expand...
Metrolinx has been working to address that one for what seems like a decade. I believe the plan is to upgrade the switches to 45mph switches as Dan mentioned though.. which while not 75mph like @reaperexpress has mentioned, is a significant improvement on the existing switches which I'm guessing operate at around 10mph.

Last I heard the switch installation in the USRC is complete, and once the signaling upgrades are done track speeds can improve significantly. I don't think that is scheduled until late 2021 or early 2022 though.
 
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