Toronto Lower Simcoe Ramp | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto

hawc said:
Went over to check out the foot of the Simcoe off ramp today. Man that is one major ramp! Three lanes wide at the bottom! That whole intersection looks so pedestrian unfriendly. So many lanes of traffic to cross. I still maintain the biggest barrier to pedestrians isn't the Gardiner. It's the Gardiner's on and off ramps and the enormously wide and spread out Lake Shore Boulevard. Simcoe intersection is perhaps the least pedestrian friendly intersection in the downtown after Lake Shore and Spadina.
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The whole point of having the Gardiner is the offramps, so it is a little nonsensical to talk about how the barriers are something else - it is that way because of it.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
The whole point of having the Gardiner is the offramps, so it is a little nonsensical to talk about how the barriers are something else - it is that way because of it.

AoD
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Perhaps, rather than people pressing for the Gardiner removal they should press for RAMP removal. If that were fully achieved there would be no vehicles on the Gardiner itself and then there would be no group who would be negatively affected by its removal too! :->
 
DSC said:
Perhaps, rather than people pressing for the Gardiner removal they should press for RAMP removal. If that were fully achieved there would be no vehicles on the Gardiner itself and then there would be no group who would be negatively affected by its removal too! :->
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Finally, the express subway downtown deserves /s.

This does beg the question whether or not the Gardiner is more of an eyesore than a pedestrian barrier. If the Gardiner didn’t have any on and off ramps from let’s say Jameson to Lake Shore/Eastern, would it still have a purpose? It would act as a pilot to see whether or not an underground Gardiner with no exits will serve the city well. Of course, like many pilot projects, there will be backlash.
 
On another note, from the WT December Board Meeting CEO Report:

York St. and Rees St. Parks Pre-Design Phase
• Following a collaborative process between City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation (PF&R) and WT it was determined that the delivery of York St. and Rees St. Parks will be co-led by staff from these two organizations. This will commence with a public engagement process and release of RFQ/RFP to procure two design teams for the parks for later this year/early in 2018.

http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/nbe/...&CACHEID=de4dfb34-f6be-4f7b-961f-d43d17cca860

AoD
 
December 5, 2017:

At long last, they finally ripped up the protruding concrete corner this morning (south-west corner that is), making way for the south lane extension eastward through the York Street/Harbour intersection.
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Was talking to a few Guild people today and it was stated the ramp will not open as plan. Lots of work taking place at Simcoe with some new boxes installed, but a lot of duct tubing being push under Simcoe on the north side to be follow by being done under Lake Shore to the new road.

Asphalt sidewalk being place between York and Simcoe as well access to Harbour from the condos. Asphalt sidewalk in place on the east side of York for pedestrians now. Major work to relocate the existing vaults on the west side where the sidewalk has been removed before they can build the rest of the road to connect to York.

Looks like light post support being place between York and Bay next to the existing sidewalk. More Silva cells have been installed west of the driveway toward York. Was going to look at Bay, but got side track.

Photos to follow when I have time and at the tail end I shot today.
 
They had so many opportunities to finish this project ahead of schedule. Instead, they are way behind. Doing things piecemeal. A lot of "finished" places already have cracks. They have clearly given up any hope of completing this project on time since they placed all that temporary asphalt. Best case scenario, they will open the ramp in January with lots of restrictions in place until they can finish it next spring.
 
Panontario said:
They had so many opportunities to finish this project ahead of schedule. Instead, they are way behind. Doing things piecemeal. A lot of "finished" places already have cracks. They have clearly given up any hope of completing this project on time since they placed all that temporary asphalt. Best case scenario, they will open the ramp in January with lots of restrictions in place until they can finish it next spring.
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Yes, it all seems quite sloppy; at one point the site was teeming with workers - not so much now. The demolition (surely a fairly complex operation) was ahead of schedule so why the delay on the rest of it. We heard from Tory about how the demo was faster than expected (doubtless due to him); not a word out of him now! They not only have to finish the south side but also the north side from York to Bay.
 
The contractor hands are tied since they can't complete the project correctly, because various City departments are so late in doing the work as well making changes on the fly.

If everything was in order and schedule correctly, the new ramp and lanes would been open a few weeks already, not this it "MAYBE" with a lot work being done next spring, including a repaving program. It's nice to see some asphalt for sidewalks not in use, but need it where it is needed today.
 
drum118 said:
The contractor hands are tied since they can't complete the project correctly, because various City departments are so late in doing the work as well making changes on the fly.

If everything was in order and schedule correctly, the new ramp and lanes would been open a few weeks already, not this it "MAYBE" with a lot work being done next spring, including a repaving program. It's nice to see some asphalt for sidewalks not in use, but need it where it is needed today.
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Yeah. Typical Toronto BS.
One other thing I noticed... various downtown streets (eg Front and Lake Shore East) were repaved over the last couple weeks. The paving quality is suboptimal with multiple places already crumbling and uneven. I don't understand why this work couldn't be done during warmer months and done with better quality. What's the point of spending hundreds of thousands to pave multiple roads in the winter only having to redo everything in couple years. Sigh.
 
Panontario said:
Yeah. Typical Toronto BS.
One other thing I noticed... various downtown streets (eg Front and Lake Shore East) were repaved over the last couple weeks. The paving quality is suboptimal with multiple places already crumbling and uneven. I don't understand why this work couldn't be done during warmer months and done with better quality. What's the point of spending hundreds of thousands to pave multiple roads in the winter only having to redo everything in couple years. Sigh.
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They repave in 2 layers, the under one is rough but the top is smooth They did Lower Jarvis from The Esplanade to Front a few weeeks ago and the second coat looks prety good.
 
^it would go better if the two guys trying to figure out the pylon spacing would just help with the curb conversation!
 
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