Regional News
November 28, 2008 04:49 PM
Yonge Street subway extension by 2016 a ‘dream come true’ for some residents. Others take a wait-and-see attitude
By David Fleischer, Staff Writer
The Post-It note seemed to say it all.
“Love it, hope it comes soon!” read the first of the yellow squares affixed to a map of the Yonge subway extension.
Over the course of the final public meeting for the project Wednesday night, the map would be papered with similar sentiments.
Dino and Maria Bourdos, 23-year residents of Clark Avenue, Thornhill were enthusiastic about being able to one day walk to the subway.
“It was a dream that is coming true,” Mr. Bourdos said.
He said his heart troubles ensure he makes regular trips to downtown’s St. Michael’s hospital, something that will be all too easy if he can walk to the subway and pop out at Queen Street.
“My wife won’t have to worry about getting in the car, driving to Finch, dropping off the car while I take the subway,” he said.
“It’s an interesting project and important. It brings the city farther north,” said Aldo Vettese, owner of a Yonge Street car dealership.
Cosmo D’Aguanna, who works at Yonge Street’s landmark Midway Diner, was among the first residents to lead the charge for a subway, rather than dedicated bus lanes on Yonge Street.
Looking at all the evidence of a dream on the verge of reality, he was still skeptical of how it will come together.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he said.
The subway was a dream as recently as May 2007, but Viva engineers have come a long way with their planning.
One diagram on display showed how a bus and subway station will fit underneath the Yonge-Steeles intersection.
Another showed what parts of the construction will be bored underground and what parts require “cut and cover” surface construction.
A concept drawing showed how a bridge will lift the subway and Yonge Street above the East Don River, allowing the valley below to be naturalized.
Noise studies will determine if the train, running below the roadway, is enclosed or open.
A live webcast of the event allowed people at home to watch fluid video alongside the same slideshow people in the ballroom saw.
They could also input questions, relayed to Viva staff and answered after the formal presentation.
Marion Matthias, of the Society for the Protection for Historic Thornhill, wanted to ensure the design is sympathetic to the heritage district and engineer Tom Middlebrook cautioned the design on display was preliminary.
“Our commitment regarding the bridge is that we’ve heard from the community (they want) a heritage-style bridge ... but we’ve taken it as far as we’re going to until funding is secured,” he said.
One focused on how the already-busy subway line will handle so many new riders.
The expanded Spadina line, which opens two to three years beforehand, should take more than 2,000 riders an hour off the Yonge line, Mr. Middlebrook said.
New automated TTC systems will allow trains to run as often as every 90 seconds during peak times, increasing capacity substantially.
They will also allow trains to stop more precisely so seven-car trains can fit at platforms that now fit six cars.
The 6.5 km extension will take the TTC subway from Finch Avenue up to Hwy. 7, with five new stations in between.
Stops at Cummer, Clark and Royal Orchard will be “line stations” that have street-level entrances only.
Langstaff/Longbridge serves a planned community of up to 30,000 and houses a 2,000-car parking lot which should be more than a blank patch of concrete.
The major bus terminals will be at Steeles, and the Richmond Hill Centre terminal at Hwy. 7.
Now home to a GO station, a Viva terminal and big box development, the centre is slated to become a major node for growth and transit in the GTA and the subway is key to that.
“What we hope to see in the future is integrated development (and) a very livable place to be,” Mr. Middlebook said.
More than half of the project’s $2.4-billion cost comes down to construction.
An environmental assessment is under way. If all goes according to plan, approval could come ahead of the spring provincial budget, meaning shovels will go in the ground before 2009 is over.
Six years of construction and a year of commissioning mean you should be able to board a Toronto-bound train by late-2016 or early 2017.
Staff left a basket of Post-It notes so visitors could comment on the project over the course of the night.
Perhaps the note best capturing where things are at now was the one reading, “Stop talking. Do it.”
For more information, including an archived version of the webcast visit www.vivayork.org