Toronto CityPlace Puente de Luz Bridge | ?m | ?s | Concord Adex | Francisco Gazitua

^^^ Fun video!

Does anyone have a firm date and time for when the second half of the bridge will be lifted into place?
 
hawc said:
^^^ Fun video!

Does anyone have a firm date and time for when the second half of the bridge will be lifted into place?
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Supposed to be the 2nd weekend in Sept and the same hours as the first one. Weather will play a part as to the assembly of the bridge as well the erection. Any wind over 30km will stop or kill the lift.
 
New bridge 25 long years in the making

In 1986, the city of Toronto agreed with Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways' plans to redevelop their rail yards as a neighbourhood, on condition they build, among other things, roads, a school, library, park - and a pedestrian bridge linking the community to Front Street, about halfway between the existing crossings at Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street.

At present, many of the towers are up; on the site Monday, I met a real estate agent with a Russian accent selling condos in a new tower completed last month, near Spadina and Fort York Boulevard. Beside us, cranes lifted buckets of cement for a new 44-storey cylindrical condo tower rising just west, at the southern tip of the bridge. These towers count 1,600 units in all.

"You should buy one," the agent told me.

The bridge job hit many snags, not least of which was a demand from GO/Metrolinx that the bridge be higher than planned - to protect its train signal sight lines - which inspired CN to demand that the city purchase the air rights above the train tracks for a cool $700,000. In early 2009, city lawyers shot back: " 'Nil' would be an appropriate valuation." But CN got its way, and the city paid the railway $512,500 for the bridge air rights.

"The money didn't come from city coffers," clarifies Lynda Macdonald, manager of planning for west downtown. "As developers all the way to Bay Street have been asking for additional heights and density, the developers have been providing cash contributions to the city to be used for other improvements."

More....http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/bridge+long+years+making/5225481/story.html
 
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1036421--finally-light-at-the-end-of-the-bridge-project

Finally, light at the end of the bridge project

Published On Mon Aug 08 2011
Wendy Gillis
Staff Reporter

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The bridge — named Puente de Luz, Spanish for “Bridge of Light” — is something condominium developer Concord Adex is obligated to provide, in exchange for the rights to develop the area south of the rail tracks. A 1985 land rights agreement says the land developer must finance and build the bridge, with the city taking ownership upon completion.
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But the project became mired in conflicts when disagreements about the bridge’s design arose with GO Transit and CN Rail.

In 2009, it was decided that the bridge had to be built higher than anticipated, to protect GO and CN rail signal sight lines. Then, the agreed-upon height — 11.7 meters — brought the bridge into air space owned by CN Rail.

After discussions with the rail company, the city ultimately paid CN Rail $500,000, using money from other developments.
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Now finally being built — the first section went up this past weekend — the walkway brings a shock of yellow to the area’s typically brown, grey and black urban backdrop.

The structure is modelled after a series of similarly golden-hued bridges in Pittsburgh, and the design is by Chilean artist Francisco Gazitua, whose sculptures also appear at condo projects in Liberty Village.
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The Puente de Luz project should be completed by 2012.
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For goodness sake...hopefully they will at least have a brand spanking new sidewalk on the south side of Front street by then.

The Puente de Luz project should be completed by 2012.
 
Automation Gallery said:
New bridge 25 long years in the making
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The 25 year headline is silly and misleading. There wasn't even any development of that area of the railway lands 'till what 2005? So the bridge couldn't have been built 25 years ago. If anything maybe the bridge is 6 months 'late'.

Funny thing with CityPlace that a lot of people forget... it's still being built, it's not finished yet. Critics, are like, where's the retails, where are the schools, where are the libraries, where are the pedestrian bridges? It's not even finished yet! I think it's amazing we've got as many services as we already do in CityPlace (CIBC, RBC, BMO, Sobeys, Fox & Fiddle) considering there are still a whole bunch of buildings still under consturction.

The pedestrian bridge that will be complete in September bascially still empties out onto an active construction site on the south side. If you built it a few years ago, it would literally be dumping people into big holes in the ground that are the current under construction towers.

The bridge is great. CityPlace is great. And everything is moving along just fine thank you very much.
 
I believed the official ribbon cutting is Nov 4, 2011, well before 2012. Don't hold me to that date, since I heard it in a conversation Friday night.

The only way it can happen for 2012, is having the weather we are having today been the same for rest of the year as well major snow storm taking place weekly starting in Oct.

This is a city under construction and still years to go, to complete it.
 
The agreed-upon height — 11.7 meters — brought the bridge into air space owned by CN Rail. After discussions with the rail company, the city ultimately paid CN Rail $500,000.
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I thought I read in this thread somewhere that The City told CN to go take a flying leap when they wanted money for air rights above railway tracks - which couldn't be developed on top of anyway.

I'm confused.
 
hawc said:
Funny thing with CityPlace that a lot of people forget... it's still being built, it's not finished yet. Critics, are like, where's the retails, where are the schools, where are the libraries, where are the pedestrian bridges? It's not even finished yet! I think it's amazing we've got as many services as we already do in CityPlace (CIBC, RBC, BMO, Sobeys, Fox & Fiddle) considering there are still a whole bunch of buildings still under consturction.
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You're absolutely right...looks like they are now adding more retail to the already developed areas..:cool:

315 BREMNER BLVD

Condominium Approval 11 254054 STE 20 CD Ward 20
- Tor & E.York Aug 9, 2011 --- --- --- ---

Standard draft plan of condo application for 9 new commercial condos located on different parcles of land. (9-11 Navy Wharf, 11,15 and 17 Spadina Ave, 311 - 321, 323, 329 to 331, 351 355 361 and 363 Bremner Blvd)
 
hawc said:
Funny thing with CityPlace that a lot of people forget... it's still being built, it's not finished yet. Critics, are like, where's the retails, where are the schools, where are the libraries, where are the pedestrian bridges? It's not even finished yet! I think it's amazing we've got as many services as we already do in CityPlace (CIBC, RBC, BMO, Sobeys, Fox & Fiddle) considering there are still a whole bunch of buildings still under consturction.
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Well, bravo. Bank branches and a bigbox franchise bar. The kind of retail you'd expect from a condo development in Mississauga City Centre. Well done. :rolleyes:

It will take considerably more time to see if this neighbourhood can evolve from a bland suburan enclave at the heart of the city to a vibrant community. This bridge is an important step in the right diection because it will alleviate some of the isolation, but it won't transform Cityplace from a deadzone into Greenwich Village overnight. I think the library branch and mixed-income family dwellings will help a lot, though.
 
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The bridge looks spectacular in person.

Cityplace also has an independent coffee shop (which is so much better than starbucks in my opinion), a japanese restaurant, and a soon to come Liberty Shawarma. A new pharmacy is opening up as well.

People calling it suburban sound like hateful hipsters/hippies, really. A community where the vast majority of the people walk to the grocery store, coffee shop, etc. on a regular basis, that's minutes walk from the financial district, served by a streeetcar line, etc. is in no way suburban.

It has a corporate feel and it isn't an attraction, but that's about as much criticism you can give without coming across as a very bitter person.
 
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