Toronto Strachan Avenue Overpass | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx

Tracks are been upgraded as well switches.

In the coming weeks, the current 3 tracks on the south side will have to be shift or 3 new tracks built so the lines can be place over the green bridges at Queen St as well over the new Dufferin St underpass so rest of the underpass can be built to connect with Queen St.

At the same time, tracks at Bathurst St yard have to be extended to the west for the 12 car trains that will be store there during the day.

Then there is the building of the new 3rd track for the fly under.

CN in the last few weeks have been doing a lot of work for Bathurst Yard that they now have 5 tracks fully connected to Union Station with 2 more to be install. Up to then, there were next to no tracks or switches.

Expect to see another open house for this project before construction starts with time line how it will be built.
 
Strachan Overpass reaches Phase 2

It takes a great deal of planning and construction coordination to lower an entire corridor of railway tracks by eight meters (about 25 feet) below grade.
The Strachan Avenue Overpass is one of the grade separations involved in Metrolinx's GO Transit Georgetown South Project: Strachan Avenue, south of King Street West, will be raised by two metres to pass over the rail corridor and the corridor will be lowered from Bathurst Street to King Street West.

It takes massive drill rigs, specialized boring equipment, moving roads - then moving them back again - but a level crossing was important to the community.

The Strachan overpass wasn't originally planned to be below grade, but through public consultation and talking to the surrounding communities feedback indicated there was a desire for the rail corridor to be below grade.

"So we went back and modified," explained Carmen Nisbet, community relations and issues specialist for the Georgetown South Project Strachan Community Office. "That is where the current design came from with the lowering of the corridor instead."

Lowering of the corridor will begin at Bathurst and be lowered bit-by-bit to the lowest point at Strachan and then back up gradually until it reaches grade again where the tracks meet King Street West.

"For the Strachan overpass, this level crossing will be gone," Nisbet said. "We will be dropping the (rail) corridor and raising the road by about two meters, so we are keeping it as level as possible."

Therefore vehicles will travel over the rail corridor, she said.

"Some of the big benefits of the overpass is that the level crossing will be gone, traffic flow will be improved and emergency vehicles won't be held up," Nisbet said.

Overall, the Georgetown South Project will provide infrastructure improvements to meet existing GO Transit ridership demand and future growth as well as accommodate the new Air Rail Link between Toronto's Union Station and Pearson International Airport.
More...............http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/1251486--strachan-overpass-reaches-phase-2
 
Pics taken July 8, 2013


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Hi W. K. Lis. The pics were taken around 11:30 am July 8, 2013.
 
Looks like trains are still scheduled to switch to the lowered tracks in November.

Update from the Liberty Village Residents' Association:
Seeing the ongoing traffic melee at East Liberty and Strachan however, a solution was needed much sooner, so I met with Councillor Layton a few months ago and raised the possibility of a temporary traffic light installation once the trains are moved into the northern, lowered section of the rail corridor (to occur this November) - as the original excuse for no traffic light (coordination with at grade trains) was no longer relevant. Once again, Councillor Layton heard our concerns loud and clear and we are excited to announce that we will have an operational traffic light at East Liberty and Strachan before the end of 2013!!

A final timeline and logistics are to be determined as the intersection it at an odd angle and poses certain difficulties. It will not be pretty - think wood posts and lots of electrical wires, but it will eliminate the need for traffic officers and hopefully allow for more efficient and safer traffic patterns for cars, cyclists and pedestrians alike!! Like any new piece of infrastructure, I am sure there will be a learning curve and adjustments to be made (and lessons to be learned), but we think the community will benefit tremendously from this.

More good news from them:

Secondly, and you will no doubt be hearing much more about this in the coming months, Councillor Layton's office and GO are in discussions to create an integrated ticket that will give LV residents a much needed alternative to the King Streetcar. As many of you know, currently, GO does not stop at LV before 11am, however, beginning soon, it will stop every 30 minutes beginning at 6am. The goal is to create a ticket that will allow you to hop on a scheduled GO train, get to Union Station in 4 mins, and then effortlessly proceed into the TTC on the same ticket. Exact pricing (expected to be lower than the $5 current GO cost - which is ridiculous for a 3km ride, but higher than the $3 TTC cost) and details are still to be worked out, but this is an exciting development that smartly uses existing infrastructure to improve local transit and the LVRA supports it wholeheartedly.
 
I assume they are talking about Exhibition Station when they say this:
As many of you know, currently, GO does not stop at LV before 11am, however, beginning soon, it will stop every 30 minutes beginning at 6am. The goal is to create a ticket that will allow you to hop on a scheduled GO train, get to Union Station in 4 mins, and then effortlessly proceed into the TTC on the same ticket.

The 30 minute headways on Lakeshore are already in place for GO trains.
 
Great project that isn't publicized enough. I guess there's so much going on that something this significant can easily be missed.
 
I assume they are talking about Exhibition Station when they say this:

The 30 minute headways on Lakeshore are already in place for GO trains.

Yes, but many inbound morning rush- and outbound afternoon rush-hour trains did not and do not stop at Exhibition Station. This is slowly being fixed.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
Yes, but many inbound morning rush- and outbound afternoon rush-hour trains did not and do not stop at Exhibition Station. This is slowly being fixed.
There were a couple of outbound trains that still skipped Exhibition, that was fixed earlier this year. Four inbound trains still skip Exhibition between 6 AM and 7:30 AM, however this get's fixed on the new schedule out next week. There's still some express trains that also skip Mimico, Long Branch, and Port Credit - but that's not changing.

Not sure what the doesn't stop at LV before 11 AM is from ... I don't think that's been true for a decade or more.

I'm not sure how they are going to get GO to fix the minimum fare structure or provide free transfers to the subway ... something needs to be done, and not just at Exhibition. I'd think there'd be complaints if Exhibition riders get free transfers to the subway, and those boarding at Danforth don't.
 
There were a couple of outbound trains that still skipped Exhibition, that was fixed earlier this year. Four inbound trains still skip Exhibition between 6 AM and 7:30 AM, however this get's fixed on the new schedule out next week. There's still some express trains that also skip Mimico, Long Branch, and Port Credit - but that's not changing.

Not sure what the doesn't stop at LV before 11 AM is from ... I don't think that's been true for a decade or more.

I'm not sure how they are going to get GO to fix the minimum fare structure or provide free transfers to the subway ... something needs to be done, and not just at Exhibition. I'd think there'd be complaints if Exhibition riders get free transfers to the subway, and those boarding at Danforth don't.

Every line has stops within the 416 don't they? So should people boarding at Weston, etc. not be afforded the same rights/privileges with regards to the TTC transfer policy?

Since, presumably, this transfer is going to happen at Union perhaps it would be a nice little presto boost if the free transfer policy was exclusive to presto card users.
 

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