For the benefit of anyone who is thinking that our complaints about ML are petty or meanspirited, I am offering a list of “critical and urgent things Metrolinx didn’t get right, and/or issn’t getting done at warp speed”.
While completing the Ontario Line is arguably urgent, so are…..
1) Failure to complete the Agincourt creek bridges, preventing use of the past few years’ investment and delay to service improvement re double track to Unionville
2) Design and then cancelation of a flyunder junction at Scarborough Jct to manage conflicts between LSE, Stouffville, and VIA traffic (I personally feel it might still be the smarter option…)
3 Approval and then non-initiation of a new GO Woodbine station, which is a prerequisite to completing quad tracking on the Kitchener line and opening of an expensive set of tunnels sitting unuses under the 401/409
4) Failure to install switches connecting the east end of platforms at West harbour to the mainline, forcing a time consuming backup move for Niagara GO trains
5) Planning and then retracting a capital plan to extend LSW to Confederation station, With significant project delay and much change in scope including bridge construction at Confederation which may not be fully necessary given a downsized design
6) Slow pace and delayed construction of the rebuilding of trackage between Aldershot and Hamilton Jct, after initial completion of a third track bridge which sat unused for years - delaying the start of hourly service to Hamilton by years
7) Design and land expropriation for an Oshawa/Bowmanville routing which was ultimately abandoned, construction in the interim of a new Oshawa GO station which fit neither the original nor final plan, pursuit and promotion of other routings which were found to be substandard
8) Refusal to entertain a Park Lawn GO station to serve the dense and growing Humber Bay area, citing technical and engineering problems which ultimately were shown to be solvable
9) Decades of study and design proposals to reconfigure Union Station platforms, none actioned until after construction of new platforms at the south end which have since been demolished
10) Failure to complete negotiation of a solution with CN Bramalea-Silver despite Mr Verster’s public assurances some years ago that he was personally participating in negotiations and giving these top priority
11) Implementation of a London GO service over 30 mph track without a business case nor a capital improvement plan
Even if the end result of these reversals and detours was a better outcome, i challenge anyone to show which of these were managed with transparency, a sense of urgency, or even concern with staying the course on a plan to achieve fastest completion and lowest cost.
And I challenge anyone to show how these tortuous and unsuccessful ventures were delayed or impaired by crazy nimby’s or Boomers with antiquated ideas. Or City of Toronto intransigence. These failures are all on Metrolinx.
One can understand why with this track record ML might want to prove that they can “get one right the first time” - but rework, obstacles, and unforeseens plague all megaprojects The test is whether the right thing - or a reasonable thing - emerged in the end.
In the scope of all the wasted effort and money that I have cited above, fixing Osgoode properly is small change and small delay.
- Paul
