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

Article from Canadian Architect on the food court design by PARTISANS:

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Things are Looking Up: Union Station Food Court, Toronto, Ontario

PROJECT Union Station Food Court, Toronto, Ontario ARCHITECTS PARTISANS in collaboration with DIALOG and GH+A Cultivating a future client Seven years ago, I bought a ticket to a Charlie Burger event—one of those secret dinners where they fly in a renowned chef. I was seated across from a tall...
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AoD
 
Front Street Moat.

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I was wandering around the northwest corner of Union station a bit yesterday.

From inside the edge of the Skywalk at Simcoe Street, I was planning to go down to the moat and that new tunnel that goes to the north side of University/York. But I couldn't see a way to get down to the moat or even the York East Teamway from the inside. Did I miss something, or is something still closed for construction? I ended up in the Great Hall, and going down the old main (west) stairs ... seems to me there should be something more direct.

I see they've added some green to the hard-to-find doors from the Skywalk to the York West Teamway - and the doors were propped open too - I think they used to nondescript and closed!
 
nfitz said:
I was wandering around the northwest corner of Union station a bit yesterday.

From inside the edge of the Skywalk at Simcoe Street, I was planning to go down to the moat and that new tunnel that goes to the north side of University/York. But I couldn't see a way to get down to the moat or even the York East Teamway from the inside. Did I miss something, or is something still closed for construction? I ended up in the Great Hall, and going down the old main (west) stairs ... seems to me there should be something more direct.

I see they've added some green to the hard-to-find doors from the Skywalk to the York West Teamway - and the doors were propped open too - I think they used to nondescript and closed!
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They're currently working on the granite floors in the York st moat, thus entry to the west Front st moat is only permitted from the Tim Hortons kiosk for now.
 
raptor said:
They're currently working on the granite floors in the York st moat, thus entry to the west Front st moat is only permitted from the Tim Hortons kiosk for now.
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I had no problem getting into the Front Street Moat from inside (and yes, could see that the doors along the west side into that piece of the moat were closed).

But how you get there from the Skywalk over Simcoe, without having to walk all the way into the Great Hall, and down the stairs there, and back again - or going out the doors at the NW corner of the station to Front Street, walking south on York, and down the (still closed) outdoor stairs?
 
nfitz said:
I had no problem getting into the Front Street Moat from inside (and yes, could see that the doors along the west side into that piece of the moat were closed).

But how you get there from the Skywalk over Simcoe, without having to walk all the way into the Great Hall, and down the stairs there, and back again - or going out the doors at the NW corner of the station to Front Street, walking south on York, and down the (still closed) outdoor stairs?
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This is one of my issues with the accessibility of Union Station. The lack of connectivity between the UPX and York Concourse is bad. There really should be a set of stairs next to Tim Hortons Kiosk or Union Chicken makes it difficult to transfer/move through the station. If only Platform 3 had stairs where Starbucks is located. The Skywalk really should also have access to both York Teamways.

Side question: Will both CIBC Square North and South bridges connecting to Scotiabank Arena and Union Station have east access to the Bay Teamways?
 
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Leo_Chan said:
This is one of my issues with the accessibility of Union Station. The lack of connectivity between the UPX and York Concourse is bad. There really should be a set of stairs next to Tim Hortons Kiosk or Union Chicken makes it difficult to transfer/move through the station. If only Platform 3 had stairs where Starbucks is located.
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There is a (staff-only) walkway from the CORRECTION. WEST END of platform 1 to the UPX arrival/departure area. Not sure it could be made wide enough to become public but if it could that would allow UPX traffic to use it and thus access the stairs, elevator and ramp to/from Platform 1. (And provide an indoor connection to (at least the current ) Union Bus Station too..
 
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Leo_Chan said:
This is one of my issues with the accessibility of Union Station. The lack of connectivity between the UPX and York Concourse is bad. There really should be a set of stairs next to Tim Hortons Kiosk or Union Chicken makes it difficult to transfer/move through the station. If only Platform 3 had stairs where Starbucks is located.
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To be fair, there wasn't as much need historically - with the old York teamway being not particularly accessible at all. But now it's an integral part of the station and there's the PATH connections out of the moat, it seems more important.

Is there nothing still to open to ease that walk? I tried to look at the (now quite dated) plans, but it's all very hard to read in detail.
 
I took VIARail to Montreal this week and I was just so disappointed by the VIA concourse.

It's dark and cramped, the cheap lights on the ceiling are harsh and blinding, the floor doesn't appear to have been replaced, the tiling on the pillars is so poorly done, with misalignments and overall crooked lines and perhaps the worst, leaving aesthetics aside, the operations are terrible. They missed an opportunity to install a PA system and check in desks so that passengers can sit in the waiting areas, hear their boarding call and walk to the gate, perhaps called by car. Instead, VIA Rail workers have to shout out orders which is barely audible because of the echo and passengers are corralled in an improvised lineup with stanchions. This place was renovated? Seriously?

It was such an unpleasant and disappointing experience that I've now reconsidered my plan to travel more by rail instead of flying everywhere. No way. Maybe I'm spoiled but airports are far more pleasant than VIA's Union Station concourse.... and that's saying a lot given the poor reputation airports have.

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This is how they can fix it:

Aesthetics: Replace the harsh ceiling lights with recessed alcove lighting along the ceiling lines. Install wall light fixtures in the style of gas lanterns to maintain the existing look of the station. Install a false ceiling with a mirrored finish to give an impression of height and perforated to help eliminate echo. The wall at the end should be removed. Why is it even there? I'm hoping that that is yet to come as they open up the walls leading up to Maple Leaf Square. That might bring in some natural light.

Logistics: Install a PA system and an asynchronous check in and boarding procedure. As you arrive at the concourse down the ramp, you use a terminal to print your tickets and weigh your bag, getting a tag to attach to it. Roaming workers help with check ins and ensure nobody is cheating the system. You wait in the waiting areas rather than in a line. The screens at the gates show the gate number, destination, status and boarding time. When boarding starts, announcements come on the PA: Now boarding car 5 to Montreal at Gate 9. Announcements should also sound in the Great Hall so that it becomes another larger waiting area to keep crowding in the concourse down. After they go through all the cars, an announcement stating that general boarding is now open so that people can just walk up to the platform. No need to wait in lines.

If this sounds familiar, that's because it is. The airline industry has long figured this out and done boarding pretty well for decades.
 
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