Toronto Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR

The 9 meter rule is useless - it gets violated with wild abandon outside hospitals (even at a cancer hospital). We love to call ourselves rule-followers, but really, we are rather laissez faire about it and always gets caught off guard when someone decided to break the rules and find that there is little or no consequences to doing so.

It would be pretty awesome if they could just turn the whole property smoke-free and make it simple. I'm not usually against smokers but this is one instance where they are a bloody nuisance.
 
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It would be pretty awesome if they could just turn the whole property smoke-free and make it simple. I'm not usually against smokers but this is one instance where they are a bloody nuisance.
I bet that once they build the canopy things over the moat it will be all no smoking - now the real interior areas are 99% OK and I think smokers think they can smoke there now because it is 'outside'.
 
Is there direct access to the bicycle parking room from the street? It would be inconvenient if you had to enter the York Concourse and walk your bicycle to the room.
 
It looks like it is about 10 feet from the entrance to the building. So you would have to walk your bike in, but not very far.
 
Is there direct access to the bicycle parking room from the street? It would be inconvenient if you had to enter the York Concourse and walk your bicycle to the room.

There is access from within the York Promenade and access directly outside. The door that leads directly outside has a wicket/ticket window and leads to the moat just north of the York East Teamway.
 
It would be pretty awesome if they could just turn the whole property smoke-free and make it simple. I'm not usually against smokers but this is one instance where they are a bloody nuisance.

Certainly smoking is prohibited in the GO portion- see s. 27 of the GO Transit passenger rules and regs:

27. SMOKING
Smoking is NOT permitted on GO Transit property, except in exterior parking areas or other locations specifi cally designated and signed as smoking areas.

www.gotransit.com/public/en/docs/Tariff_EN.pdf

Now it might be that the walkway leading up to the teamway is owned and regulated by the city...

AoD
 
I agree with your assessment here. I can confirm that excavation is already taking place on both sides of the remaining entrance to the old Bay Concourse. Below are pics from behind the hoardings where Purdy's used to be located.

View attachment 64852 View attachment 64853 View attachment 64854 View attachment 64855

I wonder how long it will be before they close off what is left of the Bay Concourse to excavate it. My big concern is that they will close what is left of the Bay Concourse, remove the stairs, extend the hoarding that is there now and create a bottleneck.

What I hope they will do is excavate the moat and finish it off so people can use it until the Bay Concourse is completed. I am not holding my breath however.
 
... excavate the moat and finish it off so people can use it until the Bay Concourse is completed. I am not holding my breath however.

Still trying to imagine a solution to the challenge they have in creating new access from the TTC collectors level up to the central moat and the "Front St Promenade" -- while building the new Bay Concourse levels.

I gather the latest guess is temporary access (with stairs) from the extreme west doors (still at collectors level) up through where McDonald's, or rather the former variety store, was to the beginning of the Front Promenade....

It's been demonstrated that those two doors at the western ramps are inadequate for peak traffic. To put it politely.
 
Certainly smoking is prohibited in the GO portion- see s. 27 of the GO Transit passenger rules and regs:



www.gotransit.com/public/en/docs/Tariff_EN.pdf

Now it might be that the walkway leading up to the teamway is owned and regulated by the city...

AoD

Unfortunately, "No smoking" seems to be rarely enforced. Officers seem to be hesitant to do anything about it. I've only seen GO officers speak to people about it when I make a point of indicating it, and even then, it's just a warning.

The year + that the GO platforms have gone without roof structure has made people think it's OK to smoke there. I counted FIVE people smoking Sunday evening after climbing stairs to the platform from the York concourse.
 
Unfortunately, "No smoking" seems to be rarely enforced. Officers seem to be hesitant to do anything about it. I've only seen GO officers speak to people about it when I make a point of indicating it, and even then, it's just a warning.

The year + that the GO platforms have gone without roof structure has made people think it's OK to smoke there. I counted FIVE people smoking Sunday evening after climbing stairs to the platform from the York concourse.

The lack of enforcement is throughout the transit system. I see it all the time on TTC property right beside a no smoking sign at a subway stop. Quite often there are even TTC employees who smoke by the no smoking signs as well (and hence why there is a lack of enforcement). I then walk into the subway stop and there is no attendant...he's out there smoking during rush hour (8-9 am).
 
The latest on the lower level at the north end, from yesterday:

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Ramps for accessibility…
05DSC08862.jpg


Inside, open all the way to the York Street moat:
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Back inside, closed to the Front Street moat:
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I'm really looking forward to seeing the moat get covered here.

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The latest on the upper level at the north end, from yesterday, starting on the west side and looking east:

14DSC08874.jpg
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This room really is coming together beautifully:
17DSC08877.jpg


Nice to have three stairways back in working order here again:
18DSC08880.jpg


The scaffolding at either end of the Great Hall makes for some interesting geography in here at the moment!
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West side:
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East side:
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Looking west again:
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Preparing to head out!
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The latest on the lower level at the north end, from yesterday:

View attachment 65245 View attachment 65246 View attachment 65247 View attachment 65248

Ramps for accessibility…
View attachment 65249

Inside, open all the way to the York Street moat:
View attachment 65250 View attachment 65251 View attachment 65252 View attachment 65253

Back inside, closed to the Front Street moat:
View attachment 65254 View attachment 65255 View attachment 65256

I'm really looking forward to seeing the moat get covered here.

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This is starting to make alot of sense now in terms of why they are digging out the stairs. IIRC the Subway and the Bay Concourse were to have level access and no doubt this is the start of creating that.

With that in mind, the rest of the Bay Concourse is likely to close shortly to complete more of the work. The whole reason for creating the access point from the subway to the arrivals concourse was so that when the last bits of the Bay Concourse were walled off people could still access the station without having to go upstairs via the Great Hall.

Short term pain for long term gain?
 
Absolutely.

I assume, however, that the remaining walkway through the Bay Concourse will not close until such time as the new, permanent, full staircase from TTC level is built in the area they are currently digging out. Right now, it's half its future width, and only accessed via that narrow, hoarded-off area:

01DSC08889.jpg


Once they can fit more people through that access between the subway and the rail station, they can then afford to close the access through the old Bay Concourse, and get digging it out.

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