Toronto Lower Don Lands Redevelopment | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto

Now, when do we expect to see Cherry St North road bridge if the area is to be open for use by Aug???
 
From the Board Meeting Agenda noted above, the update on accomplished items to date:

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There are lots of updated photos in the Board meeting agenda, I will select just a couple I find novel for us here, or otherwise exceptionally interesting; for the full set, see this link:


Photos begin on p.75

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Notes on this one (above) ......I spoke to people who would know...........this photo was taken in December, so the ground wasn't actually frozen; and the tree is not being planted to be
kept alive, this one will be a snag (it will be drowned when the water fills the channel to create a habitat for wildlife; when this is done, tree is referred to as a 'snag')


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Northern Light said:
Subject to Committee and Council approval, a report to next week's Executive Ctte meeting will kill off the Harbour Lead (the railway within Lake Shore Blvd East that once served Toronto Water and the Port area.

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Yes, the shoe has dropped!

EX31.13
ACTION​
​
​
Ward: 14​
Removal of Harbour Lead Line and Keating Rail Yard​
Origin​
(March 16, 2022) Report from the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services​
Recommendations​
The Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services recommends that City Council:

1. City Council authorize the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services to negotiate and enter into any necessary agreements and to seek the necessary approvals to remove the Harbour Lead Line and Keating Rail Yard on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Deputy City Manager and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

2. City Council request the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services to, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO, and other relevant stakeholders, develop an implementation plan for removing the Harbour Lead Line and Keating Rail Yard.

3. Request that the Board of Directors of CreateTO request the CEO CreateTO working in partnership with City staff, to report to the CreateTO Board with a summary of the implications and opportunities resulting from the removal of the Harbour Lead Line and Keating Rail Yard.​
It is really quite bizarre how long it took for this to be brought to a conclusion. The line has been being maintained (at some cost) for well over a decade even though nothing has used it after the Ashbridges Bay Water Treatment plant turn-off and it has been totally out of commission since the Canada Post building on Leslie & Commissioners was built over part of its former tracks. Planning for the bridges over the Don and the upgrades to Lake Shore Blvd east of the Don have been impacted by having to 'pretend' it was still going to be maintained. One may argue that using rail to service, at least, the Ashbridges Bay water treatment was better that trucks but ...
 
AMOR said:
It's a shame that the pedestrian promenade won't extend over the Don River (as part of the new Lake Shore bridges). The abrupt bottleneck interrupts the otherwise fluid approach to the public realm Waterfront Toronto is working so effectively to create.View attachment 380459
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with the proposed removal Harbour Lead Line and Keating Rail Yard (which is wonderful news), is there potential to shift the lake shore bridges a few feet north? i think this is so absolutely important "stitch" that the city has needed for decades.
 
It would have been interesting to creatively preserve the Harbour Lead as part of the planning for the redevelopment of the Port Lands. It gives the area character. Not having the freight connection will mean more trucks in the area, which is worse than the occasional train.
 
junctionist said:
It would have been interesting to creatively preserve the Harbour Lead as part of the planning for the redevelopment of the Port Lands. It gives the area character. Not having the freight connection will mean more trucks in the area, which is worse than the occasional train.
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The redevelopment of the Port Lands is unlikely to bring in more industry and the usage of it when there was more there was VERY low. I agree that it's a pity to move any heavy freight from rail to road but that boat (or train) has long sailed.

This from the Staff report:

Over the past 10 to 15 years, the main user of the Harbour Lead Line has been Toronto Water, with deliveries to the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant. The last shipment to PortsToronto's 8 Unwin Avenue facility was in 2010. The last shipment to the CanRoof facility at 560 Commissioners Street was in 2014.
 
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