PShells
Active Member
Agreed. Perhaps my /s sarcasm tag was missed.
My last few posts have been facetious in nature.
|
|
|
GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)
- Thread starter drum118
- Start date
Agreed. Perhaps my /s sarcasm tag was missed.
My last few posts have been facetious in nature.
cplchanb
Senior Member
The gap from the pier to the existing track looks tighter than where the future track will be to the other pier so i dont buy their excuses. Regardles this is all bullshit... how on earth are they taking 6 years just to design a bridge extension. They freakn built while viaducts through MOUNTAINS in the same time.
This is not about technical challenge. Its purely partisan games by fcking CP/CN and ML not having the balls to get it done.
Just complete fail and a betrayal to an entire generation of riders. Yet Noone will be held accountable for this
guavadelic
Active Member
cplchanb
Senior Member
Its beyond likely. Its an absolutely must if we are to recover in our lifetimes. People tend to forget that projects like these set the stage for decades to come. Whatever the next govt does won't be felt until after 2040. Ill be old by then. What the current ML organization and ont govt has done has sabotaged the entire generation of riders.
dowlingm
Senior Member
And what happens when the house is cleaned at Metrolinx and the new GO managers come in and sit at their desks and find in the top drawer an envelope with a note saying “Doug spent all the money on Ontario Line; there’s no money for you to build or buy, any more than there was for us”
PShells
Active Member
In the last 12-18 months has there not been significant turnover in Metrolinx management?
CEO out. New head of CPG. Half a dozen managers involved in Eglinton Crosstown let go around the time Verster fired etc. I think the mindset of everything will be better if [only a new CEO, new Premier, new Minister of Transportation] etc. will only end in tears. It's never worked out like that in my experience.
crs1026
Superstar
The reset needs to start with a publicly accessible scope document showing what work is currently funded and being pursued.
That should lead to
a) public debate and disclosure about what reasonable expectations can be set around delivery dates for that committed work (ie if work is not funded and in the procurement/execution queue, the tcd becomes "not before xx". This is where the bandaid needs to be ripped off e.g. Kitcherner-Waterloo and Stouffville have been told that they are getting full 2WAD however one can see that there are missing links (small m, small l) in the design/ procure/ construct world that guarantee this will not be reached for some time
b) debate about the priority for securing funding for the remaining work - to get things back in the queue for execution, and give a more transparent and factual public understanding about how far the budget can be stretched. Arguably, we have been dreaming all along as the GO Expansion program has probably exceeded the cash flow available to any government in any year
To that list I would add - Changes to the Metrolinx Act to
a) remove the Minister from control of dialogue and information disclosure between ML and the public
b) require that all direction toML from the Ministry and Cabinet to ML be minuted and discoverable (with customary but disciplined exclusion of legitimate "confidential" business eg personnel matters, labour relations, actual and valid input to litigation, etc)
c) require ML to document project scope and funding publicly
d) require ML to report "signficiant change" to project scopes and project execution parameters (Cost, timeline, unforeseens)
e) require ML to conduct Board meetings in public session with only the same limited exceptions as above
- Paul
PS - I am not active for any party politically, but jeez.... why the opposition parties can't offer a detailed action plan for Metrolinx that is better and more on point than what we social media observers are offering.... Ford's survival is pretty much guaranteed by the incompetence of our opposition parties, who can't seem to offer a better platform
Last edited:
dowlingm
Senior Member
Last year Doug called an election and ended up with MORE seats and MORE votes and it wasn't just because of what platform the opposition was offering. We are a province richly stocked with people who are only looking out for themselves - some for selfish motives, some because the property bubble and precarious work have left them feeling that no party will make a difference in their lives irrespective of what their platform says. The media have covered a lot of Metrolinx failings and nothing about it seems to make a difference politically. I know that's a bit fatalist but clearly we don't understand why the electorate don't care about the huge amounts of public $ Metrolinx spends and the opposition haven't worked it out either.
hw621
Senior Member
Typical ML tactics. Do something minimum and portrait it as progress, without improving any service level or quality...
kaptrice
New Member
Getting the impression that things could move much, much faster if everyone was willing to swallow the pain of a half-year's closure of a line at a time.
Northern Light
Superstar
While that would certainly help, its frankly possible to move much, much faster than they are without that degree of pain and inconvenience.
1) Focus on fewer projects at one time.
2) Deliver projects essential to achieve the next level of service, in sequential, logical order.
3) Deploy much larger crews to any any given project. We've seen what they can do when they are determined to deliver a major piece of work within a weekend; they need to do that on every project where a weekend closure occurs, not just those where track has to be back in service by 5:30am Monday.
cplchanb
Senior Member
also do not simply go with the lowest bidder and go with the fastest timeline at reasonable cost. they think they can save a nickel on the dollar by stretching the project out but it has ALWAYS led to the timeline and budget being stretched even more.
kotsy
Senior Member
Big pour happening on the LSE Eastern bridge today.
From last evening:
This morning:
East Harbour Station:
From last evening:
This morning:
East Harbour Station:
Yeltsa Kcir
New Member
Maybe it's been asked before, but when are people here estimating the restoration of the third/fourth LE track here is going to happen?
PShells
Active Member
I’m going to lay out sections of third and fourth track that need to come online before they can fully go into service. Perhaps summer 2028? I may be missing some details on the following path dependencies.
USRC to East Harbour station
- The 3rd track needs to be reinstalled as you cross the DVP and approach East Harbour. There is room for a fourth track but would need to be connected to the USRC via switch upgrades.
East Harbour station
- The platforms need to be built. The current 2nd track is laid where a platform will be so it needs to be ripped up and moved north.
- The second half of the new Broadview Street bridge needs to be started and finished, which could (likely?) impact the current two GO train tracks in service, so we get the new 3rd and 4th tracks in service but immediately need to take tracks 1 and 2 out of service for no net improvement for riders until East Harbour station is done in a couple years.
East Harbour to Gerrard
- The third and fourth tracks are being installed now. They’re expected to be finished by the end of May. This doesn’t mean they’re entering service on June 1, 2026.
Gerrard to Danforth GO
- The third track is installed already, but isn’t in use west of the station due to the construction in the corridor. It’ll be connected all the way to East Harbour station, but as mentioned no full connection to the USRC until East Harbour station is completed.
- The fourth track will go into service ONLY to store construction equipment for the time being.
Danforth GO
- Construction kicks off in the fall to put a fourth track and new platform on the southern edge of the station. The existing three tracks will be shifted south and the new fourth track installed on the western side of the station will connect to the northern platform. On the eastern side of the station the new fourth track will be on the northern side of the corridor, so the tracks will have a marginal bend as they pass through the platforms.
- Switches need to be upgraded in the area.
Danforth GO to Scarborough GO
- The new fourth track will be on the northern side of the platform.
- The current third track (most northern track) is about to be taken out of service for the Birchmount bridge replacement. The irony here is all the work to install 3rd and 4th tracks will result in the corridor returning to 2 tracks for the next few years anyways.
Scarborough GO
- Construction kicking off here for the fourth track too. I can’t remember the details.
- I haven’t seen a new plan for what the Scarborough Junction will look like to connect the Stouffville line since the flyunder was cancelled 5 years ago.