According to Ward 18 Councillor Adam Giambrone's latest newsletter (April 2, 2008), the West Toronto Railpath is set to begin construction this spring. The first phase of the project will create a 2.1km path from along an unused section of railway corridor from Cariboo Ave (North of Dupont) to the Dundas and College area.
You can read Adam Giambrone's comments from his newsletter below.
West Toronto Railpath Park Begins Construction this Spring:
The City of Toronto has approved the construction of a railpath park trail which is approximately 2.1 kilometres long, running from the Cariboo Avenue in the north (Cariboo is one block north of Dupont) to Dundas Street in the south.
The design consists of a lit, asphalt trail which winds through the site with concrete paved plazas at street intersections. Planting will consist of native tree species. Where possible, existing trees along the site will be protected and incorporated into the design. Native grasses and wildflower seeds from the site were collected in the fall of 2006 and will be replanted in 2009. Planting adjacent to the path and under the trees will consist of low grasses and wildflowers. This will maintain the 'wild' character of the existing site while providing habitat for birds, insects and small mammals. The low heights of new plants will provide open sight lines through the site for a safe and comfortable experience for all trail users.
The tender for the project has closed and by the end of April the contract will have been awarded to the winning bidder. Construction should start early in May, although the timing of construction north of Dupont Street is still to be sorted out. Negotiations with Go Transit are ongoing regarding coordinating access to these lands due to their ongoing rail grade separation project in the same area. Our work will start this spring regardless. Anticipated completion of the project is June 2009.
The City also plans to construct a second phase of this trail, running from Dundas St. to King St, in future years. Negotiations with CN Rail are ongoing to purchase the land needed for phase two of the project, and provisions are being made for the trail in current planning processes, such as leaving space for the trail in the Dufferin Jog Tunnel project set to begin construction later this year.
For more information about the West Toronto Railpath Park, please contact my office or visit www.railpath.ca.
Comments
Kevin Love (not verified)
Winds?
Sat, 04/05/2008 - 07:07I presume that "winds its way" is just a BS rhetorical flourish and that this path is really as straight and level as the railway right-of-way that it is on.
Aidan
Wends?
Sat, 04/05/2008 - 07:36'Wends it’s way'? It's a common mondagreen: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mondagreen
Svend
I'd rather it was
Sat, 04/05/2008 - 10:32I'd rather it was refurbished as part of a larger speedy light rail system. Since that won't happen I'll gladly use it as an alternative to the road.
I dream of the day that every road is converted to combinations of pedestrian, streetcar and cycling use.
hamish wilson (not verified)
yes, transit is better here
Sun, 04/06/2008 - 13:10I quite agree with Svend, that the higher and better use of the corridor is for transit, a subway-spaced service cutting on the diagonal into the core and into Union via Front St..
It's not a new idea - the Downtown Relief Line is c. 1985 - but we are steadfastly ignoring such a possibility as it might interfere with the blessed Front St. Extension, and the Blue 22 line, which is less viable. See westoncommunitycoalition and stevemunro.ca for more details.
However the bike path has helped keep the corridor, and maybe we'll be able to get both some decade in this greenhouse century.
I've actually gotten more critical of this project, more because it lets a Big Wad of money be spent on "downtown" cyclists, though it won't do too much to truly make commuting safer - and the better use of funds would be on a Bloor St. bike lane, at least in this area to Ossington.
I know we have to start somewhere, but we need to have more of a network ahead of this.
A.R. (not verified)
RE:
Mon, 04/07/2008 - 16:04I want better transit too, but in the end, it's a subway, and it can go underground. As cheap as the DRL theoretically is to build, they're not building it. I believe that urban communities deserve more green options of transportation, that other rail corridors should give up some land for these kinds of paths. Future rail services should be electrified, and therefore capable of running in tunnels along parts of their route. Both are ultimately needed if we are to become leaders in facilitating alternative forms of transportation..
Also, I highly doubt that what's stopping bike lanes from being painted on Bloor is the matter of the cost.
A.R. (not verified)
*
Mon, 04/07/2008 - 16:06Also, what does a bike lane on Bloor have to do with the Railpath in the first place? They wouldn't even run parallel to each and serve much different purposes.
Svend
I agree, the cost of doing a
Mon, 04/07/2008 - 19:09I agree, the cost of doing a Bloor/Danforth bike lane isn't the obstacle, nor is the physical difficulty.
It should be a breeze to implement whether in small stages or in one quick swoop at the same time other projects are happening.
hamish (not verified)
Bloor relevance to railpath
Tue, 04/08/2008 - 00:12Over the entire distance of the proposal, yes, Bloor doesn't really relate too well to the railpath, but in the segment that's being built, there's enough of an east-west travel demand with only one option between College/Dundas and Dupont eg. Bloor, that it is pretty closely linked. We need to provide a network, and there are questions as to what next? at the end of the railpath.
I'm sure eventually it will be quite nice and good, but we need on-street, and the west end is short-changed.
Svend
Converting railways to pedestrian and cycling use
Wed, 04/09/2008 - 18:19I'm impressed by this project in Poughkeepsie, New York spanning a mile and a quarter over the Hudson River.
All around the world cities are developing new ideas like this, yet we are struggling to get a few more bike lanes.
http://www.walkway.org/pdf/FinalPublicMeetingPresentForWeb.pdf