Roads: Gardiner Expressway catch-all, incl. Hybrid Design (2015-onwards)

[kotsy]

July 3rd update.

A few bent caps have been poured at the West side of the site while forms have been built for 5 others.
Meanwhile, road bed/steal demolition has advanced to the next bent.

 

[nfitz]

I was just walking past it, and was wondering if the elevations are changing.

 

[CapitalSeven]

Nice to see this being built back with so exactly the same thoughtful attention to design aesthetics as the original.

 

[turbanplanner]

July 3rd update.

A few bent caps have been poured at the West side of the site while forms have been built for 5 others.
Meanwhile, road bed/steal demolition has advanced to the next bent.

View attachment 577481View attachment 577482

I'm impressed! I was wondering would they do any work/checking on the ground between demolishing and the rebuilding segment

 

[turbanplanner]

Nice to see this being built back with so exactly the same thoughtful attention to design aesthetics as the original.

I'm curious, what would you change? My only gripe is it'll probably be a dingy fenced off area with bad lighting

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Yeah I was in one of the "worst" Neighbourhoods in Japan Nishinari, barred windows everywhere etc. The worst behaviour I saw was a ticketed and ilegally parked car. Japan is insane, no talking on the trains, all the airbnb's I stayed at were silent even though the walls were so thin I could hear hear someone cough. Contrast this to the townhouse I live in where my neighbours play music so loud I can hear it showering but the board and 311 don't care!

Japan is probably too high a bar to aim for; Germany is probably a more reasonable take. Anyways, a bit OT.

AoD

 

[nfitz]

I'm curious, what would you change? My only gripe is it'll probably be a dingy fenced off area with bad lighting

It's difficult to change much, without completely replacing the bents - which would significantly increase cost.

This location is effectively in the centre of a small TTC storage area - I'm not sure if it would even be wise to add public access! There's a lot of other places that should be improved.

 

[Natika33]

I'd like to see the entire area under the Gardiner thoughtfully designed going forward. It would make sense for low/obstructed areas to be completely walled off to the general public (locked storage would be okay though), and higher, more open areas to be designed for a good pedestrian experience (i.e. like the Bentway or the retail around Bathurst/Housey, etc). It's a waste not to better use the space and sad that it's been seen as a no man's land that cuts off the lake for so long when actually removing the cars from the same area as pedestrians should be a good thing.

 

[reinventingthewheel]

I'd like to see the entire area under the Gardiner thoughtfully designed going forward. It would make sense for low/obstructed areas to be completely walled off to the general public (locked storage would be okay though), and higher, more open areas to be designed for a good pedestrian experience (i.e. like the Bentway or the retail around Bathurst/Housey, etc). It's a waste not to better use the space and sad that it's been seen as a no man's land that cuts off the lake for so long when actually removing the cars from the same area as pedestrians should be a good thing.

Retrofitting anything under here would be unnecessarily expensive when there is so much underutilized space on the south side (eg. every surface parking lot in Exhibition).

Adding more north/south pedestrian access is tricky considering you’ll need to go over or under the rail corridor in addition to the highway. And again, it only leads to exhibition grounds for now. This idea should be tabled for another 20 years in my opinion.

 

[Natika33]

Retrofitting anything under here would be unnecessarily expensive when there is so much underutilized space on the south side (eg. every surface parking lot in Exhibition).

Adding more north/south pedestrian access is tricky considering you’ll need to go over or under the rail corridor in addition to the highway. And again, it only leads to exhibition grounds for now. This idea should be tabled for another 20 years in my opinion.

Apologies, but I was not speaking of just the section by the Ex and I also specifically stated that some areas would be better walled off (like maybe some parts by the Ex). I suppose there would be some cost, but is it really that expensive to enclose areas that currently mostly just act as blown in litter collection areas and where there's no particularly better option either?

 

[reinventingthewheel]

Apologies, but I was not speaking of just the section by the Ex and I also specifically stated that some areas would be better walled off (like maybe some parts by the Ex). I suppose there would be some cost, but is it really that expensive to enclose areas that currently mostly just act as blown in litter collection areas and where there's no particularly better option either?

Ah, in that case we are in agreement.

 

[HousingNowTO]

GARDINER next to EXHIBITION streetcar loop.

 

[kotsy]

Another larger than necessary update from this weekend.

They seem to be waiting to take apart the bent caps from above the GO passageway and West end of the streetcar loop.

 

[generalcanada]

Plan to ‘significantly’ speed Gardiner construction in the works, says city manager

Paul Johnson intends for ‘significant’ reduction in wait for completion but he warns against unreasonable expectations.

www.thestar.com

Not too much new here, but "its coming" and "significant decrease in construction time"

 

[innsertnamehere]

Basically the province is paying for it now and has the deeper pockets to pay the premium for rush work.

Why it's good that the Gardiner and DVP got uploaded - they are getting the same treatment 400-series highways get already with premium contracts for lower-disruption construction.