Results tagged “infrastructure”

When you cycle from the lake up to Old Mill subway on the Humber trail, there is this interesting piece of architecture. It’s a disk on posts. Somewhat intended, it seems, as a shelter. It looks like a space ship landing pod, almost. What is it really for?

We've been following Metrolinx's Georgetown South Service Expansion and Union Pearson Rail Link project (GSSE/UPRL) since the beginning of the summer. For those unfamiliar, GSSE/UPRL is a major transit initiative that will result in the addition of several new sets of tracks to the rail corridor between Union Station and Malton for freight and commuter use. That's the GSSE part. The other part of the project, the UPRL, is exactly what it sounds like: a new rail link between Union Station and Pearson Airport (to be operated for profit by a private carrier). The reason we've been paying so much attention to this project is that it has been fraught with controversy for months—controversy that is now poised to come to a head.

The ongoing city workers' strike? Abuse of process? A mayor drunk on power? Socialism run amok? Cleaning up the Humber River? The haunting terrors of the MFP scandal? Pick your pet political cause of choice and someone, somewhere—or more accurately, one of the city councillors present at today's debate—will find a way to turn a discussion about streetcar funding into a discussion thereof. Mercifully, the umpteen hours of debate will eventually come to a close, a vote will be held on the actual matter at hand (we'll skip the introduction of motions that are promptly ruled out of order for being, inconveniently, on one of these other subjects), and a verdict will be rendered.

City Council is holding a special meeting today to debate funding for what has turned out to be a rather controversial fleet of new streetcars. Relocated from City Hall due to the strike, councillors convened at 10 a.m. at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to work through an agenda that consists of precisely one item: whether to rejig the TTC budget by delaying other planned capital expenditures and reallocate that money to 204 new Bombardier-built streetcars.

The next time somebody tells us that Toronto is in the midst of a war on cars we are going to buy them a plane ticket to Copenhagen. Or possibly Bogotá. New York if they want something closer to home. We will send them to one of the growing number of cities that are actually demonstrating the nerve to redefine their planning priorities in favour of liveability and environmental sustainability and dare the auto-obsessed malcontents to say that they aren't all the better for it. For all the recent controversies over Toronto's Bike Plan and Walking Strategy, over our notions of just talking about taking down one portion of one disastrous highway, and converting one traffic lane on a road that is not used to capacity [PDF] to allow five times the number of people to use it on their bikes, Toronto's initiatives are piddling, tentative, nibbling-around-the-edges sorts of things when compared with what is happening elsewhere in the world.

Ever wonder what distinguishes a good bicycle rack from a bad one? Or what the optimal buffer is between a bike lane and a parked car? If so, then last week's Bike Summit was the place for you, as active transportation activists, transportation planners, urban infrastructure experts, and assorted cycling gurus came together to consider these and other such questions. Organized by the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT), the second annual conference was a day-long extravaganza devoted to everything on two wheels.

City Council is wrapping up its monthly meeting (extended to a third day to accommodate a full agenda and some election-laced rhetoric), one which has been particularly action packed. In addition to banning new bars and restaurants on Ossington for a one year "cooling off" period, and passing a precedent-setting green roof requirement (the first in North America), Council has considered several proposals for addressing the balance—or redressing the imbalance—between the different modes of transit on our city streets. The Jarvis lane reallocation grabbed Monday's headlines, and today Council has voted to install sidewalk, transit, and cycling improvements on Roncesvalles, and also passed a comprehensive Walking Strategy which will (among many other excellent measures that have garnered almost no press) introduce pilot no-right-turn-on-red restrictions on ten especially pedestrian-heavy intersections. Given that the city has approximately 2,100 signalized intersections, this represents the smallest foray, an experiment really, in redistributing roadway space.

     

Toronto is getting the first of what are planned to be several new bicycle stations this morning, aimed at making cycling a more comfortable option for commuters. Nestled into the pedestrian underpass on York Street right by Union Station, the station provides secure, monitored storage for bicycles, as well as changing facilities, a repair stand, and a few other thoughtful amenities, like a vending machine that dispenses tubes and lights.

In its cover story this past Sunday, the Toronto Sun took a hammer to City Hall's transportation plan, slamming it for waging a "war on cars" and for having an "anti-car strategy" that leaves the issue of traffic congestion by the wayside. Prioritizing public transit, cycling, and pedestrians ahead of autos, the Sun claimed, is leading to serious economic and social consequences for both drivers and Toronto as a whole. Has City Hall taken a wrong turn? Should the municipal government make the expansion of automobile infrastructure a priority?

As predicted by Spacing—and now confirmed by the National Post—the federal government is set to pump around $1 billion into the Sheppard light-rail transit line, described as the most "shovel-ready" of the TTC's Transit City LRT routes (the Star reports that construction is now expected to begin this fall). Today's announcement, made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Dalton McGuinty at the Transit Commission's Hillcrest Complex, follows last month's commitment by the provincial government of $9 billion for Transit City and other Toronto-area public transit initiatives. Still no word on funding for the city's coveted Bombardier Flexity streetcars, however—a fact sure to keep Mayor David Miller and TTC Chair Adam Giambrone grumbling, though they'll likely tone their complaints down a notch, at least for today.

Score one for the cycling community. After an intense and late-breaking campaign, and with a crucial assist from Councillor Kyle Rae, bicycle advocates have successfully introduced bike lanes into a major redevelopment plan for Jarvis Street. Yesterday afternoon the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) voted to remove the centre, reversible-direction lane of traffic, and use the freed-up space to install bicycle lanes in both directions from Bloor to Queen.

At the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) meeting this morning, councillors debated the Roncesvalles revitalization project that has been under discussion in that community for the last while. (By some counts, the conversation has lasted at least five years.) The proposal calls for curb bump-outs and transit platforms, in the form of sidewalk extensions, at several points along the avenue. Though the environmental assessment of the streetscape plan has been a matter of some controversy within the community it was unanimously endorsed in today's vote, with all four members of PWIC present at the time (Councillors Carroll, Giambrone, Palacio, and Perks) speaking in its favour.

On first glance, the above shot could be a generic photo pulled from our Flickr pool to accompany any article about pedestrianism/cycling/active transportation/Toronto. But look at it for another moment, and you may notice that there's something amiss about the City's topiary logo alongside the Gardiner...

If you're ever having one of those blah days, the kind where your life seems decidedly lacking in excitement and you find yourself in need of an emotional jolt, might we suggest that you attend a community meeting as an antidote? Perhaps one devoted to an ambitious redesign of your neighbourhood? The depth and breadth of passion, indignation, frustration, hope, and fear on display will perk you right up.

By the 1880s, historian J.E. Middleton writes, "Toronto no longer felt itself a compact little city, but a straggling big one, outgrowing its civic services as rapidly as a small boy outgrows his pantaloons." Clearly the municipal government needed to adapt—by expanding its powers and influence over the lives of its citizens—to meet the needs of a bustling industrial city. While some emerging public services, such as public transit and the waterworks, could be developed by private investors, other less profitable—but equally essential—ventures were left to municipal officials. Thus, sewers became one of the first public works undertaken by city council. The scandal surrounding the construction of the Garrison Creek sewer in 1884-1885 illustrates the problems encountered when city officials stretched beyond the modest capabilities of their traditional function.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty released the government's budget plan today, entitled "Canada's Economic Action Plan" (a.k.a. "Money Can't Buy Me Happiness, But Maybe Massive Deficits Will"). While the broad strokes of the budget were all leaked ahead of time—tax cuts, massive infrastructure spending, support for the unemployed, increased regulation of the financial industry, and an $85 billion deficit over five years—a few details from Flaherty's speech are of interest to Toronto. Specifically, the federal government plans to pump cash into the revitalization of Union Station and augment the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal rail corridor in order to reduce travel time between Toronto and Montreal by thirty minutes. There was, however, no mention of funding for the TTC's Transit City plan. Maybe this snub will finally lead to the cage match between Jim Flaherty and David Miller we've all been waiting for. Two GTA politicians enter, only one leaves!

With the national economy struggling under the weight of a global economic crisis, Governor General Michaëlle Jean yesterday delivered a throne speech that was both incredibly brief (the English version contains just 750 words) and, due to the intense Ottawa cold, surrounded by hardly any of the usual vice-regal pomp and circumstance. Which was probably just as well, given that yesterday's speech was really just the pre-game show for today's main event, the federal budget.

Following her usual route home from work, Della Hazelton made her way down Yonge Street in the early evening of October 2, 1907. On the south side of Bloor, the forty-two year-old widow stepped off the curb and was part-way across the street when she was startled by an approaching streetcar. Jumping back, Hazelton was struck by a northbound car, thrown under its wheel, and killed instantly. Constable Hobbs, who'd been directing traffic at the intersection, and other witnesses testified at a subsequent coroner's inquest. They confirmed that the driver, Frank E. Mutton, had slowed his big touring car—and had even sounded his horn—as he approached the busy intersection.

This is the third in a three-part series exploring the effects of the global economic downturn on Toronto. Two weeks ago, economist Walid Hejazi gave an overview of what we're in for as the slowdown worsens. Last week, community activist John Campey explained how Toronto's most vulnerable residents might fare in the crisis. Today, the view from City Hall.

This is the second in a three-part series exploring the effects of the global economic downturn on Toronto. Last week, economist Walid Hejazi gave an overview of what we're in for as the slowdown worsens. Next week, a view from the halls of power.

Photo by Owen Byrne.

The last time we looked at accessible pedestrian signals (APS), those chirping and cuckooing crossing indicators for the visually-impaired, it was with some surprise at the city's claim that it simply couldn't afford to install APS at more than a handful of intersections each year. Instead of allocating enough money to improve availability of a fairly basic service to visually-impaired residents, the city instead looked for corporate sponsors to pick up some of the considerable slack, resulting in pedestrian signals "funded by IBM" and other organizations dotting the city, a virtual declaration that the city was abdicating its responsibilities.

A few weeks ago, we wondered about the presence of electricity meters placed randomly around the city, measuring power consumption for, well, something or other. We'd grown so perplexed by these meters that we felt compelled to ask Toronto Hydro for more information.