I love how random dudes waiting for their SOs are treated like an expert panel in this article.
GO eyes 3-level parking
Markham
Jul 24, 2008 07:51 PM
Structure could hold more than 500 cars at Centennial Station
By: Joe Fantauzzi
A small building lent some shade to the four men chatting at Centennial GO station Tuesday.
Ross Presta lightheartedly called the track-side quartet a “social club†— one comprised of men waiting for loved ones to arrive on a green and white train just before 5 p.m.
Not far from the platform atop which Mr. Presta, Michael Jodha, Lester Lue and Eddie Johnstone had gathered, a three-storey concrete and brick parking garage is proposed to rise from the ground.
The structure will provide spaces for about 540 vehicles; hundreds more than are currently available.
It is expected the garage, which will serve the McCowan Road and Bullock Drive GO station, will take approximately six months to put up.
During the building period, the 200 parking spaces now at the complex will not be available, according to a report on the proposed garage.
A spokesperson from GO could not be reached by the Economist & Sun’s deadline to answer questions about costs, construction timeline or how they’ll deal with parking during the construction phase.
News of the proposed garage came as a surprise to the men.
Mr. Jodha predicted the garage would cause a change on the ground — namely, a lot more traffic in the area.
He added the proposal is “not a bad idea†but noted for about five minutes, when people get off the trains, vehicles will idle their exhaust into the air.
The men did appear to reach a consensus on the need for an increase in places for GO riders to put their vehicles at the station.
“There’s obviously a need for parking space — this is such a huge community,†Mr. Presta said, adding a number of stations serve the Markham area.
“A lot of people are going to come here,†Mr. Jodha said.
However, when commuters discover the parking spots have disappeared during the building phase of the proposed garage they will find other options, Mr. Presta said.
“When they realize what is going on, they are going to go somewhere else,†he said.
The loss of the spots will be “devastatingâ€, Mr. Jodha said.
Some riders have already adapted to parking issues at the station.
They include those parking at Markville Shopping Centre, which lies just south of the station across Bullock Drive, according to Mr. Johnstone.
GO is working with nearby businesses to accommodate riders during the construction phase, according to the report.
“They should probably make an arrangement with the mall,†Mr. Lue said.
A few commuters are even climbing aboard earlier trains “just to get the parking†at Centennial, Mr. Jodha said.
The parking spaces will be available to the users of the nearby Centennial Community Centre during evenings and weekends, the report shows.
If a passenger drop-off area were to be placed just south of the proposed concrete and brick structure, some trees would be lost on the land, according to the report.
To address the loss of those trees, the town has asked for additional landscaping.
“The parking garage is going to encourage more people to use the GO train system,†town spokesperson Dennis Flaherty said.
The structure fits into the town’s plans for building intensification, as well as the reduction of traffic and greenhouse gases, he added.
“It is using the land within Markham proper in a much more efficient manner,†he said, adding he believes the community is generally supportive of the project.
While the Unionville Ratepayers Association is pleased about the move to create more parking at the Centennial station, the group’s president Richard Talbot called the project “too little too late.â€
He said the Unionville GO station is already beyond parking capacity and needs work, too.
Some commuters are using parking spots on Unionville’s Main Street — a problem he predicted would spill over to Main Street in Markham village while the proposed garage is being built.
“I think we’re going to see a major traffic problem during the (construction) phase,†Mr. Talbot said.
The town acknowledges that during a public meeting in August 2006, area residents north of the train tracks raised concerns about the proposed project which included noise, traffic, lighting and parking during construction.
“Our members’ concerns about the lights are particularly relevant from the upper floors as they will impact a much larger area than surface parking especially at 5 a.m.,†Mr. Talbot said.
In an effort to deal with light escaping into the surrounding neighbourhood from the garage, the town has asked that residents to the north of the structure be shielded from exterior lighting and lights inside the garage — which includes vehicle headlamp light.
Along with the changes on the ground the proposed parking garage is expected to bring, Mr. Jodha predicted changes in the air as well. “That is going to change the wole skyline,†he said.
