LRT | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘LRT’

swirling around the Science Centre

Posted: April 30, 2023 in construction, landmarks, locations, transportation
Tags: building, concrete, Crosstown, development, Don Mills, Doug Ford, Eglinton, housing, LRT, politics, rock, Science Centre, transportation

Rumours swirling that is…. because the Ontario Science Centre has been in the news lately. Doug Ford (and the Provincial PC’s) have said that they are going to move it from its Don Mills and Eglinton location to Ontario Place down by the Exhibition Grounds. What then becomes of the Science Centre LRT station? It hasn’t even opened yet and its already obsolete? And needs a new name? …..that’s assuming that the Eglinton Crosstown LRT ever gets done. But hush, no one is talking about that, that’s a secret……

below: Behind fences, the new Science Centre LRT station and transit hub remains unfinished. It is a very quiet construction site. Not a soul to be seen.

One of the arguments for moving the Science Centre is to open up the land for housing. Let’s ring some bells and say ‘housing’. Who can oppose housing, right?

below: This is southeast corner of Don Mills and Eglinton where a development notice stands. Apparently two towers are planned for this location – 26 and 48 storeys high. (The Science Centre is on the west side of Don Mills Road).

In fact, on the east side of Don Mills Road, south of Eglinton (i.e. across the street from the Science Centre), there are two other properties with development notice signs.

Four new towers, as infill, have been proposed for these sites.

AND

What is now the upper parking lot for the Science Centre is already on the books as new housing. This is at the southwest corner of Don Mills and Eglinton. The sign may have been flattened but that doesn’t make the plan disappear!

below: Blocked sidewalk on the south side of Eglinton, upper parking lot is on the left side in the picture

below: View looking south from the upper parking lot towards the Science Centre

AND (Yes, there’s more)

There is a 60 acre development on the northwest corner of Don Mills and Eglinton (the old IBM/Celestica site) that is in the midst of being transformed into the Crosstown neighbourhood.

below: This is a picture that I found (and have blatantly swiped from) on an Urban Toronto web page – It shows the development and infill at Flemingdon Park among the existing structures. The planned buildings are slightly transparent – perhaps 14 of them?? (and that doesn’t include all of Crosstown) The Science Centre is bottom centre.

So which developer whispered sweet nothings in Doug Ford’s ear?

Who thought that moving the Science Centre was a good idea?

Who owns the land now? Did you know that 81 acres of the land that the Science Centre is on is owned by the TRCA? That’s the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority. The rest of the land (a tiny sliver along Eglinton & Don Mills) is owned by the city of Toronto. TRCA and the City of Toronto jointly leased the property to the Ontario Science Centre for a 99-year term, expiring on June 30, 2064.

The TRCA owns the land because of the terrain – steep slopes, ravines, and waterways – i.e. not land suitable for housing. Doug Ford’s announcement came as a surprise to the TRCA – but does that surprise anyone?

below: Another image that I found online that describes the area better than any words that I could write. This is a map of the area showing who owns what. Source: TRCA website

BUT

What else is happening here?

The new subway/LRT line, the Ontario Line, Doug Ford’s favorite line, is also being built here. It is the transit line that runs south from the Science Centre to close to the lakeshore before turning west through downtown (Queen Street closed for 4 years for construction!!) and ending at Ontario Place.

Work has already started in the ravine south of the Science Centre where there will be stops for both Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park. The whole north section of the Ontario Line will be elevated. Between the Science Centre and Flemingdon stations it will run above the street and sidewalk (Don Mills Rd). At some point between Flemingdon and Thorncliffe Park there will have to be a bridge over the West Don River.

below: Where the Science Centre meets the West Don Trail

Some other photos from the area

below: The Science Centre has interesting trash bins on its grounds. Maybe they could teach the city a thing or two?

below: West side of Don Mills Road

below: The southwest entrance to the Science Centre station from another angle

below: Looking west on Eglinton towards Don Mills

below: Walking home after school

It was four years ago that demolition of the old IBM buildings began. On the surface it doesn’t look like much is happening.

Out of Service. Nothing happening here.

Sorry, but I have a few more questions and comments about this thing I encountered at Don Mills & Eglinton ….

What is this? A phallic rock in a concrete circle …. or Doug Ford giving the city the finger? To those who design and build public art (if that’s what it is)…. that concrete circle is just a large garbage can. It will collect trash. It will fill with rain water. It will be an unsightly mess. It’s too low for a bench and it blocks the sidewalk. There’s no sign and no explanation. I can’t find anything about it online either.

Eglinton & Oakwood

Posted: July 14, 2021 in construction, locations, stores, transportation
Tags: construction, Crosstown, Eglinton West, LRT, sidewalk, stores, traffic cones

Another Crosstown update…. The first of the new LRV trains are going through tests on the eastern end of the Crosstown line where the tracks are above ground. Work continues on the underground portion. Although Eglinton Avenue isn’t as much of an obstacle course through orange cones as it used to be, there is still a lot of work to be done. This is what it looks like at the moment at Eglinton West and Oakwood.

below: Still working on Oakwood station.

below: Looking west along the north side of Eglinton from Oakwood

below: Asian Massage Therapy Center seems to have survived the upheaval but many storefronts are empty.

below: Dodging orange cones and traffic

below: Canadian Korean Buddhist Association and Nadines Hair Studio along with some good news perhaps – an “opening soon” sign on Betta Yaad seafood catering. If google is correct, ‘yaad’ is Jamaican patois for ‘home’.

below: The River Restaurant & Bar beside Weemedical Society.

below: Peoples Choice Grocery, Casual International Hair Salon, and a few porta-potties

The most exact information that I can find for an opening date for the Crosstown LRT is 2022.

on a mission to Kennedy station

Posted: June 5, 2021 in locations, transportation
Tags: Crosstown, Eglinton, graffiti, Kennedy, LRT, stores, train, TTC

Sometimes I choose my walks randomly and sometimes I am on a mission to find something in particular. The other day, June 1st, definitely falls in the latter category. I have been following the Crosstown LRT/subway construction so when I heard that the new LRT trains were arriving for testing near Kennedy I knew that I had to see it for myself. While I was there, why not check out the area?

below: On Eglinton, east of Kennedy

below: It’s not the most pedestrian friendly stretch of road but it’s also a bridge over railway tracks.

below: Kennedy station is already a GO train station. The east end of line 2 (Bloor-Danforth line) swings north as it crosses Scarborough. By Kennedy it is at Eglinton Ave and here it connects with the above ground TTC line 3 (Sheppard line). The blue train is the latter.

below: Looking west towards the intersection of Kennedy and Eglinton.

below: Northwest corner of Kennedy and Eglinton

below: The Crosstown LRT tracks are on the surface for
most of the Scarborough portion of its route. Just west of Kennedy station they go underground.

below: A new LRT train on the tracks between Ionview and Kennedy stations. It had been unloaded from a truck minutes before I arrived. At least two other trains where scheduled to arrive that day.

below: Ionview station

below: Traffic flow

below: That’s one way to use a construction sign. Whether Mike is responsible or has been pranked is anybody’s guess

below: The new Kennedy LRT station (at the eastern end of the line) is almost complete. The LRT is scheduled to be operational “sometime in 2022”.

below: What people keep on their dashboards…..

below: Kiss ‘n Ride at Kennedy station

below: TTC subway train, line 3, enters Kennedy station.

below: Danger due to yetis

below: Parking for an underground church? Or underground parking for a church?

Keep Smiling!

Wynford and vicinity

Posted: April 20, 2020 in construction, locations, transportation, windows and walls
Tags: buildings, chair, construction, Crosstown, Crosstown Community, demolition, development, Don Mlls, IBM, lights, LRT, machinery, parking lot, railway

I’ve been keeping an eye on the old IBM building at the corner of Don Mills and Eglinton. It was built in 1951 as IBM’s Canadian manufacturing plant and head office.

It’s been empty for a long time but recently work has begun on the site.

The IBM complex sits on 60 acres and the whole site will be redeveloped in the coming months. The white tower in the background is also on the site, right beside the CPR tracks that mark the northern boundary.

below: A Canada goose struts near one of the entrances to the old IBM building that is being demolished.

below: 1954

an old black and white photo of the IBM building on Don Mills Road in 1954

photo credit – taken from ‘Urban Toronto’ online article about this development

below: Apparently the plan is to build a mix of residential and commercial buildings on the site ranging from 3 to 44 storeys. A new community centre and park are also included in the planned Crosstown Community.

In terms of construction and development, this intersection is very busy as it is also the location of the future Science Centre LRT station. It has been a mess for so long that I can’t remember how long it’s been. There are signs of progress starting to emerge from the chaos so perhaps there is hope for a 2021 opening of the Crosstown LRT.

below: The new bus bays on the northeast corner are starting to take shape.

below: More of the NE corner.

below: Looking across Eglinton towards the Mormon church and other buildings on the south east corner.

below: A sign of the times. Covid-19 dos and don’ts.

below: New tracks being laid where the LRT comes back to the surface east of Don Mills Road (looking east towards the DVP). The Science Centre station is underground even though the tracks on both the east and west side are above ground.

below: From the NE corner (black building is/was the Ontario Federation of Labour) looking south. All buildings are on the east side of Don Mills Road.

below: A sidewalk, temporary, lined with cones, along Eglinton.

There are other buildings being torn down. The building in the background is 1200 Eglinton Ave East. It was an office building with a parking structure beside it. This is the view from Wynford Drive.

The same building a few days later when I went back to check on the demolition’s progress. The parking structure is now just piles of rubble and more of the exterior walls of the other building are gone.

below: The large, almost empty, parking lot behind the Bell building on Wynford.

below: With a few exceptions, most of the buildings around Wynford are products of the 1960s and 1970s.

below: Another empty parking lot. This picture was taken on a Saturday afternoon which might explain the lack of cars but as I drive around the city I see lots of empty parking lots even during the work week. A sign of the times.

below: Looking across the Don Valley Parkway

below: CPR tracks behind Wynford.

below: Rusty metal spirals, tightly wound, found amongst the gravel along the train tracks.

below: Looking east along the tracks just before they cross the DVP. If you follow the tracks, they lead you to the CPR marshaling yard at McCowan and Sheppard. So, that’s where I went next…. (scroll down!)

EMSF walk about

Posted: May 27, 2019 in events, transportation
Tags: Crosstown, Eglinton, EMSF, light rail, light rail vehicles, LRT, maintenance, Metrolinx, Mt Dennis, public transit, train, transit, TTC

Open Doors was this past weekend in Toronto. For one day only, the new maintenance facility for the Eglinton Crosstown in Mt Dennis was open to the public, the EMSF (Eglinton Maintenace and Storage Facility). Although the new trains (aka light rail vehicles) are very much like the new TTC streetcars and the new maintenance buildings resemble the Leslie Barns, here are a few glimpses of what is to come.

below: The parking lot and pedestrian access to the EMSF is off Industry Street.

below: Exterior of new Crosstown light rail vehicle. Six new vehicles have been delivered from Bombardier so far. Another seventy are expected to arrive before the Crosstown opens in 2021.

below: Interior, looking towards the front.

below: The AVIS facility – Automated Vehicle Inspection Station

below: Looking into the maintenance building.

below: The site takes up 42 acres of land. There are 8.5 kms of track.

Not shown: There is also a building for Transit Operations.

East Bayside

Posted: May 17, 2019 in construction, old buildings, waterfront
Tags: chairs, condos, construction, development, film, lights, LRT, offices, pink umbrellas, sand, sugar beach

The other evening I was going to try some evening photography along the waterfront starting around Sugar Beach. As I walked down Lower Jarvis, this view caught my attention – looking west along Lakeshore Blvd. It’s a view that has been changing very rapidly. I counted at least seven cranes as I stood there waiting for some of the traffic to clear.

below: Sugar Beach. Unfortunately a film crew was already here so I didn’t stick around.

below: One of the buildings to the east of Sugar Beach is a new George Brown College building.

below: Film crew trucks ready to be loaded back up

The strip of green that you see on the right side of the above photo is part of Sherbourne Common (at the foot of Lower Sherbourne Street). From here east to Parliament is now being developed as East Bayside and is a continuation of the now completed development from Jarvis (Sugar Beach) to Sherbourne. East Bayside is bounded by Queens Quay and Lake Ontario as well as Sherbourne and Parliament. 1800 residences are planned in this space.

below: Some of the condos are under construction. Same old same old; yawn. They may look a little more interesting from a distance, but at street level they are hopelessly banal. If you want to buy a condo here, there are only a few left in the two buildings known as Aqualina and Aquabella. In the latter, only 3 are available, starting at a two bedroom suite for 2.8 million. Five million dollars will get you a three bedroom penthouse with two terraces but if you want to pay an additional 1 1/2 million you get 4,000 square feet on two floors (3 bedrooms and 2 terraces as well).

below: At least the “linear park” and waterfront path is being continued eastward along Lake Ontario.

below: Work is also underway on Queens Quay East. As a frame of reference, the tall building behind the billboard is in the Distillery District. Lakeshore Blvd and the Gardiner run behind the buildings with the blue trim.

What hasn’t yet been started is construction of two office buildings that will front on Queens Quay, called T3 Bayside. They are going to be made of wood which should be interesting.

There has been a lot of talk for the past 12 to 14 years about extending streetcar service along this route. So far a lot of planning and a lot of talk but that’s it. An LRT right of way running along the south side of the street has been approved but the East Bayfront LRT project, (aka Waterfront LRT) has stalled because of the usual political shenanigans and financial hiccups. A major part of the delay has been the question of how to link an East Bayfront LRT to Union station. The present tunnel is barely sufficient for the streetcars that use it now. Just recently (April 2019) the city released a report on how to address this issue. I haven’t read it all yet (it’s 40 pages long) but the gist of it is that the city is considering two options – 1. rebuilding the tunnel or 2. building an automated people moving system of some sort and leave all streetcars out of the tunnel.

below: There is a small trench down the center of the street.

Any ideas what’s being planned for the north side of Queens Quay?

below: Queens Quay turns towards Parliament Street. The blue building is a Sidewalk Labs information centre. The land that Sidewalk Labs wants to develop, Quayside, is close by – south of Lakeshore and east of Parliament. It also includes the little strip of land between Queens Quay and Lakeshore, i.e. that answers my question above about what happens on the north side of Queens Quay. There was some rumour (plan?) about Sidewalk Labs being involved in development of some of the Portlands but is that still on? As to what their plans are or where they are at now, I have no idea. That’s probably another blog post!

crosstown west

Posted: April 4, 2019 in construction
Tags: Black Creek, bridge, concrete, construction cranes, crane, Eglinton West, excavation, LRT, Mt Dennis, overpass, portal, railway, stores, transit, transportation, TTC, Weston Road, York

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT will be 19 km long once it’s finished in 2021. The other day I posted some pictures of the construction between Yonge & Victoria Park on the eastern section. This post covers the stretch from the Allen Expressway to Weston Road where the tracks end in the west.

below: A new way to ride. For a city on the move. Cringe worthy design.

below: Approaching the south end of the Allen Expressway as well as Eglinton West subway station from the east. Eglinton West station, on the Yonge University line, is low building with a flat concrete roofline. You can hardly see it in the photo, but it’s there. The interior of the present station is heavy on the concrete, a legacy from the 1970’s. As to whether or not this will be renovated, I don’t know.

below: No room for the sidewalk so it diverts through Ben Nobleton park.

below: Working under Eglinton Avenue in front of Eglinton West station. Once the Crosstown in open, this will become Cedarvale station.

below: The big green crane at Oakwood station

below: Beside Oakwood station with all the “Open for Business” signs. Businesses in the area are struggling.

below: At Dufferin, looking north towards Central Seventh Day Adventist Church. Fairbanks station will be at this intersection.

below: Also at Dufferin, this time looking south towards St. Hilda’s towers.

below: Photobombed!

below: Construction of Caledonia station in front of Westside mall. Because this station is adjacent to the Barrie corridor (GO train), plans are in the works to build a GO station here too.

below: A mural showing the evolution of TTC streetcars, painted by Jim Bravo in 2017, with supported from Fairbanks Village BIA, Josh Colle (city councillor), the City of Toronto., and Sherwin Williams paint.

below: Construction in front of York Memorial Collegiate (at Keele).

below: looking east along Eglinton from Keele.

below: Working on the westernmost section of the LRT after it emerges from underground between Keele Street and Black Creek Drive. As you can see, the tracks are elevated and cross over Black Creek before entering the terminal station at Weston Road (Mount Dennis station).

below: The western end of the line. The bridge is new. I am a bit annoyed because I didn’t pursue it – I don’t know where the road goes! It has to go somewhere because I saw at least two vehicles on it. A quick search on google maps plus a guess equals maybe it’s an extension of Photography Drive (named that because it’s where the old Kodak factory was).

below: There is pedestrian access to the bridge, or rather, there will be access.

Then Eglinton Avenue passes under the railway tracks (the same line that the Union Pearson Express runs on) and into Mount Dennis.

below: Construction of another access to Mt Dennis station to the west of the railway tracks.

below: The EMSF aka the Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility is almost finished. It’s the long low grey building in the photo; it is about the size of 4 football fields. Access is from a side street to the north of Eglinton. This isn’t the best photo of it. If you are interested, there is a better photo online (a ‘Toronto Now’ article) that is taken from an angle that I can’t access. The same article describes how the Mt Dennis station will be the second largest transit hub in the city (after Union Station) as it will service GO trains, the TTC, and the Union Pearson Express.

below: mural by Adrian Hayles at the northeastern corner of Weston Road and Eglinton Avenue.

crosstown to the east

Posted: March 31, 2019 in construction, intersections, locations, transportation
Tags: bridge, construction, Crosstown, development, dirt, Don Mills Road, Eglinton Ave., fence, Leslie St., LRT, pedestrian, plans, roads, sidewalk, street, traffic, workmen

Back before the winter snow had melted, I was at Yonge and Eglinton and noticed that the old bus bays at Eglinton station were gone. That structure had sat empty for a couple of years but now there is a big hole where they once stood. As I looked through the pictures that I took that day, I decided that it might be interesting to explore farther east to see what was happening with the Crosstown LRT construction that has messed up the traffic through midtown for so long now.

below: Southwest corner of Yonge & Eglinton.

below: There is still a lot of construction underway on Eglinton near Yonge.

below: A little father east and more holes in the ground. This is the intersection of Eglinton and Mt Pleasant taken from the SE corner looking towards the NW. At least the facade of the old Imperial Bank of Canada building on the NW corner was originally going to be used as the LRT station but have those plans changed? The building was demolished but apparently the facade was taken apart brick by brick and will be re-built later.

below: This is the plan for the Mt Pleasant station as seen on the Crosstown website.

below: Looking west from Mt. Pleasant.

below: Between Laird and Brentcliffe (east of Bayview). See those low rise brick apartment buildings? How long until they’re gone?

below: At Brentcliffe. The LRT is underground here and there is no station at this intersection. Laird, where there is a station, is only one block to the west.

below: From Brentcliffe, Eglinton goes downhill because of the Don River ravine system

below: Part way down the hill there is a section of concrete. At first I thought that this was where the LRT was going to come to the surface.

below: But then I wasn’t so sure. There is a concrete wall blocking what would be the exit. It’s difficult to get a closer look because there are two layers of fencing in the way. Nobody was working here. In addition, there is another section farther along that looks like the actual opening. Maybe this is part of the supporting infrastructure?

below: Still walking east along Eglinton…. Almost to the bottom of the hill at Leslie – looking east along Eglinton Avenue with E.T. Seton Park on the right and the railway bridge in the distance. Leslie Street, which ends at Eglinton, is on the very left side of the photo. There is talk that this intersection will be closed for two months this summer.

below: I turned around and took a picture of the hill that I had just come down. Here the LRT surfaces and the tracks run down the center of the road, with lanes of traffic on both sides of the tracks. I am fairly certain that you can see the entrance to the tunnel, the east portal, near the middle of this picture. From here to Kennedy station the tracks are above ground (except for a portion of the route at Don Mills).

below: The sidewalk on the south side ends at Leslie street. Here, I chatted with a policeman while we waited for the light to turn green. Once he did, he escorted me across Eglinton as we had to pass through part of the construction zone. This is where I also discovered that there are no bus stops between Brentcliffe and Don Mills Road. That’s only 2 km but it feels a lot longer!

below: A development proposal sign stands on the lawn of what used to be the Inn on the Park but what is now a Toyota dealership.

below: The station at Don Mills and Eglinton will be called “Science Center” and it will be under the intersection.

below: There will be a bus terminal on the northeast corner of Don Mills Road and Eglinton with underground access to the LRT station. This is what construction looks like on that corner at the moment.

Just east of Don Mills Road, the LRT surfaces again and remains above ground until Kennedy station. I took the bus from Don Mills Road to Victoria Park as there wasn’t as much to see in this stretch.

below: Looking east from Victoria Park Avenue.

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