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

Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
They should open a Del Taco. Never tried them yet. Maybe they’re better than Taco Bell
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Before you turn them into a national chain, maybe you could try them for us and report back in one of the food threads on whether they're any good!

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Also, is it possible to be worse than Taco Bell?
 
Northern Light said:
Before you turn them into a national chain, maybe you could try them for us and report back in one of the food threads on whether they're any good!

****

Also, is it possible to be worse than Taco Bell?
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Well Grace and Frankie liked going to Del Taco, but I never got around to trying it whenever I've been in California. Oh well.
 
DSC said:
The new TD building has a (new) link below Simcoe St into Simcoe Place, one day it will connect east as well when a suitable development happens. The Pinnacle buildings will be linked to PATH via CIBC Square. PATH connections are built as opportunities arise.
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Would’ve been amazing to have a PATH connection to The Well. Hopefully as Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Union Park, and the parcel on Front and Spadina are developed over the next decades PATH extensions are considered.

Would’ve been cool to see Nobu and 55 Mercer connected to Metro Hall too, but I imagine there’s little to no incentive for private developers to pay for that.
 
daptive said:
Would’ve been amazing to have a PATH connection to The Well. Hopefully as Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Union Park, and the parcel on Front and Spadina are developed over the next decades PATH extensions are considered.

Would’ve been cool to see Nobu and 55 Mercer connected to Metro Hall too, but I imagine there’s little to no incentive for private developers to pay for that.
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Well, the proposed Spadina station can help with the access issue.

AoD
 
daptive said:
Would’ve been cool to see Nobu and 55 Mercer connected to Metro Hall too, but I imagine there’s little to no incentive for private developers to pay for that.
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I'm not sure I agree.

I think it's important to consider than the traditional 'PATH' is primarily connected through commercial buildings which by and large offer significant retail in the 'PATH'.

Residential condominiums, away from the Financial District, by and large shouldn't have vast underground malls, and really we want people out and about walking the streets, not underneath them.

Suffice to say, you require not simply a knock-out panel in the wall of the underground parking garage.......as why would anyone want to have access from the subway to a residential parking garage?; moreover that would be a security issue.

You need that subterranean level to which the PATH connects to be commercial/retail in nature. I just don't see that making sense here.

Let me add, the existing connection to Metro Hall, from St. Andrew Station is actually pretty poor too, it's devoid of retail entirely, and is just an endless cavern, but for the section by Roy Thomson Hall's sunken courtyard.

The PATH can certainly be handy at times, and in areas of strong pedestrian traffic/congestion, be a good supplement to the at-grade sidewalks.

However, I think we ought to be retrained in where we build it out, making sure we don't hollow out street retail and don't create vast, mostly empty corridors that cost a lot to build and maintain, unless they are providing something tangible and useful.

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If you wanted westdowntown connections, it would make sense to follow Front street through the Convention Centre site and then perhaps a brief tunnel over to the 400 Front site (Slate's property). There's very little street retail there to kill, and the crowd volumes can be high, particularly w/Dome events.
 
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daptive said:
Would’ve been amazing to have a PATH connection to The Well. Hopefully as Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Union Park, and the parcel on Front and Spadina are developed over the next decades PATH extensions are considered.

Would’ve been cool to see Nobu and 55 Mercer connected to Metro Hall too, but I imagine there’s little to no incentive for private developers to pay for that.
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Private properties without retail are generally not too keen to be linked into PATH for security issue and, of course, the huge cost.
 
I assume nobody asked any of us what is wrong with the existing signage or how to improve it!

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Request for Proposal
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Solicitation
number:		Doc4207675073
Commodity:Goods and Services, Signs
Description:Request for Quotations for the Union Station Signage and Wayfinding Package
Request for Quotations for the Union Station Signage and Wayfinding Package
Issue date:November 3, 2023
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Closing date:November 24, 2023
at 12:00 Noon
Notes:Attachment
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NOIP Doc4207675073.pdf (237 Kbytes) - Posted on 11/03/2023 11:56:15 AM
Pre-bid meeting:N/A
Buyer:Parker, Max
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Phone number:416-397-7251
Email:Max.Parker@toronto.ca
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Location:City Hall, 19th Floor West Tower
Client Division:Corporate Real Estate Management
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Scope of work:
This Request for Quotation (the “RFQ”) is an invitation by the City of Toronto (the“City”) to prospective Suppliers to submit bids for Fabrication and Installation of Signage & Wayfinding at Union Station, as further described in Part 3 and the Contract (the “Deliverables”).

Please see Ariba link below for more details:

https://discovery.ariba.com/rfx/17911902
 
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I'm hoping that this doesn't include the invention of a new wayfinding flavour. If we can focus on the Metrolinx standard, maybe putting a little more thought into what direction arrows point in various circumstances, that would be great. The RFP should have a skill testing set of questions:

Answer the following using ↖⬆↗⬅⤵➡↙⬇↘:
1. The destination is down the stairs directly in front of this sign.
2. The destination is behind you if you are facing this sign.
3. The destination is up the stairs to the right of this sign.
4. The destination is down the stairs to the left of this sign.
5. The destination is ahead of this sign.
6. The destination is ahead of this sign on the right.
7. The destination is to the left of this sign.
8. The destination is up the stairs directly ahead of this sign.

You would think this is obvious but unfortunately there are examples on the latest signs on the Eglinton line where they got this wrong.
 
ShonTron said:
One thing that has really bothered me about Union Station is the lack of escalator access or even easily-visible elevator access between the Great Hall/UP Express level and the lower concourse level.

Try getting from the UP Express to the subway with heavy luggage without having to carry it downstairs.
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This is actually huge. The barest minimum signage leading to, from and within the lifts for those with bags, strollers, scooters or walkers.
I have tried to go through the channels for years now but the City’s accessible wayfinding has always been so inexplicably absent that I can’t handle pondering it for long. Historic signage regs in the Great Hall do not explain away the dereliction.
Is there no relevant party, position or committee at the City that is accountable for this? Is there no accessibility rep/ombud/advocate?
“Grrrrrr” is putting it exceedingly politely.
 
The good news is this elevator exists (next to the TD behind the escalators) and goes to the promenade level and the new east wing. The bad news is this only elevator that does all three levels in the station, and there isn't a bank of two or three, there is only a single one. Actually that is a concern I have with the accessibility design in most of the stations... the assumption that one is good enough and no backup required.
 
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