Fasten your seat belts… it’s going to be a bumpy ride for transit passengers this year.
Thanks, in part, to large investments by the Government of Canada and Province of Ontario to support municipal infrastructure projects, regions, cities and towns throughout the Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton and the Golden Horseshoe will be under construction for much of the spring, summer and fall this year.
Usually, municipalities plan to rebuild roadways, or install water projects on a regular basis each year and some of those projects are going ahead as planned. However, by taking advantage of the Infrastructure Stimulus Funds, municipalities have to get shovels in the ground as soon as possible and have most projects substantially finished by March 2011. That’s only just a year away.
With extra funds suddenly available, some municipalities are also proceeding with projects that they didn’t expect to start for several years from now.
While the federal and provincial funds are supporting some municipalities in building or rebuilding major transit facilities — all municipalities are using the money to rebuild roadways, sidewalks and curbs or install sewers and watermains. That means, no matter where you travel by transit throughout the area this year, roads will be closed and you’ll likely face detours and delays, as the projects proceed.
In this post and the two following posts, we’ll detail some of the major projects (that we’re aware of) that will likely affect your commute this year. In an upcoming post, we’ll review smaller projects that are taking place now. Every month we hope to update that list of ongoing projects to help you — and us — keep track of what’s going on.
Let’s start by looking at regional transportation projects that support GO Transit services.
Union Station
In an earlier post, we already described the extensive renovations that GO is undertaking to upgrade Union Station so that it’s ready to accommodate even more train service than it handles now.
Expanding the tracks
GO will likely have finished all 12 projects that formed GO-Trip — the GO Transit Rail Improvement Program — this year. Most are finished already.
Since 2006, GO has been expanding its tracks, improving junctions and extending the platforms at stations to accommodate longer trains. Twelve-car — instead of ten-car — trains now serve the stations along the 21 Milton line and GO continues to enlarge platforms along other lines so that they can receive longer trains.
Lakeshore lines
A third set of tracks along the Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East corridors allows GO to operate trains more reliably without other train traffic interfering with the service. During the past several years, GO has built this set of tracks that its trains use exclusively between Bayview Junction — just west of Hamilton — and Burlington GO Station in the west and between Eglinton and Union Stations in the east. It’s putting the finishing touch on another phase of this project between Kerr Street in Oakville and Port Credit GO Station over the next few months.
Georgetown line
On the north end of the line, GO is working to provide more track on Canadian National Railway’s Halton and Weston Subdivisions (the northwest part of the Georgetown line) between Malton GO Station and Winston Churchill Boulevard and twin several train bridges — at Etobicoke and Fletcher’s Creeks, and Dixie, Kennedy and McLaughlin Roads.
With more track options and fewer conflicts with freight trains, passengers at Malton, Bramalea, Brampton and Mount Pleasant GO Stations will soon benefit from more frequent service because GO can extend the weekday Monday-to-Friday midday train service beyond Bramalea to Mount Pleasant. GO Trains will be on time even more often.
Construction started at Brampton Station in March 2008. The project includes building a new platform south of the station tracks with a mini-platform, canopy and shelters, a new west tunnel and improves the east tunnel to provide pedestrian and elevator access to both platforms.
Construction started at Malton Station in August 2008. The project includes building a new south platform, a new west tunnel with canopies, shelters and an elevator and a new staircase from the east tunnel to the centre platform.
Construction will likely end at both stations shortly.
On the south end of the line, GO continues to work on a project at the West Toronto Diamond — where the tracks of the CN Weston subdivision cross the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Galt subdivision. GO continues to work on building an overpass at this junction to carry the CP freight tracks across the GO line. Nearby residents are legally challenging GO’s activities here and the Canadian Transportation Agency has ordered to lessen the continuous noise of driving piles to support the new bridge.
Stouffville line
Passengers should expect some delays as the TTC, GO and the City of Toronto start to work on an overpass to carry the tracks across Sheppard Avenue East near Agincourt Station — part of the Sheppard East light rail Transit City project.
What’s happening in area municipalities? Check the following posts for information on infrastructure projects that may disrupt transit services throughout the Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton and the Golden Horseshoe in 2010.
Part 1 describes projects in Ajax, Barrie, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Brampton, Burlington, Cambridge, Clarington, Georgina, Guelph, Halton Hills, Hamilton and Kitchener.
Part 2 lists projects in Markham, Milton, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara Falls, Peterborough, Oakville, Orangeville, Oshawa, St. Catharines, Thorold, Toronto, Vaughan, Waterloo (city), Whitby and Whitchurch Stouffville.
Subscribe to our news feed: (
