[Allandale25]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

FRESH NEW IDEAS: Create the West Scarborough Railpath to connect neighbourhoods, says Kevin Rupasinghe

Fresh New Ideas lets municipal candidates bring one proposal to improve their ward, city or school board directly to the public.

www.toronto.com

Map tweeted out by a candidate for Council:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1546967387227971584

 

[Northern Light]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

FRESH NEW IDEAS: Create the West Scarborough Railpath to connect neighbourhoods, says Kevin Rupasinghe

Fresh New Ideas lets municipal candidates bring one proposal to improve their ward, city or school board directly to the public.

www.toronto.com

Map tweeted out by a candidate for Council:

View attachment 413441

https://twitter.com/x/status/1546967387227971584

I like Kevin Rupasinghe, the candidate for Council in question; I also endorse the idea.

I am, however, bemused that its billed as either his idea, or new.......

Its been discussed since, at the very least, since the days of Michelle Berardinetti being the area Councillor. (certainly for over a decade).

It wasn't a priority for her and staff chose not to pursue it.

Its a perfectly good idea; though new money will need to be found for it as none is in the 10-year budget today.

I would prioritize the Warden to Kennedy section; though this part still has an active rail corridor along most of it, and that may have been a consideration in staff not pursuing it, I don't know.

Though the GECO sub is very low traffic, one or two late-night runs per week.

The Victoria Park to Warden section mostly duplicates the trail already in Warden Woods and the proposed trail through the Dentonia Golf Course, so I would consider that a lower priority.

 

[H4F33Z]

The Victoria Park to Warden section mostly duplicates the trail already in Warden Woods and the proposed trail through the Dentonia Golf Course, so I would consider that a lower priority.

Pretty sure that was just a diagram oversight. We aren't proposing to duplicate the current trail in Warden Woods, just connecting it to the rest of the railpath east of Warden and filling the gap between Victoria Park/Pharmacy.

Also, here's a picture of what it could look like.

I think a lot of people've seen this big green space and wondered, "why not put a trail here". Yes, it's definitely not his idea, but unfortunately, in this city, we literally have to get candidates elected that can push for these simple, yet effective overdue projects.

Yes, I am part of Kevin's team.

 

[Northern Light]

Apparently someone (Councillor Crawford) has been reading his opponent's campaign literature! LOL

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/mm/bgrd/backgroundfile-228795.pdf

From the above:

The trail segments that staff still have in the long-term plan for this area are show below:

Note that they include the Warden to Kennedy segment, and a segment to close the gap at the Dentonia golf course. The latter will not be in the hydro/ex-rail corridor, but on the current Golf Course lands, if it goes ahead.

The former area would follow the GECO spur.

 

[TwinHuey]

I took some drone shots of the Kennedy GO station yesterday and taking a second look at the images today I noticed what appears to be an abandoned rail line running just south of the station property. Got my curiosity up.

Thanks to @Northern Light I found this thread.

Here are a couple of the photos. You can see the line. Might be an excuse for me to capture some better drone shots.

I'm guessing it's the proposed West Scarborough Rail Path. Sounds like a fabulous idea.

 

[Northern Light]

I took some drone shots of the Kennedy GO station yesterday and taking a second look at the images today I noticed what appears to be an abandoned rail line running just south of the station property. Got my curiosity up.

Thanks to @Northern Light I found this thread.

Here are a couple of the photos. You can see the line. Might be an excuse for me to capture some better drone shots.

I'm guessing it's the proposed West Scarborough Rail Path. Sounds like a fabulous idea.

View attachment 521001
View attachment 521002

@smallspy would need to be consulted on whether the GECO spur is abandoned, last I heard there was still one job left on the line....., the rails are still there.

 

[smallspy]

@smallspy would need to be consulted on whether the GECO spur is abandoned, last I heard there was still one job left on the line....., the rails are still there.

Twice weekly, is my current understanding. There are 3 customers still on the line.

Dan

 

[Northern Light]

Twice weekly, is my current understanding. There are 3 customers still on the line.

Dan

Thanks Dan.

 

[TwinHuey]

Twice weekly, is my current understanding. There are 3 customers still on the line.

Dan

Thanks Dan. Too bad though. Could be a fabulous multi use trail.

I wanted to see what it looks like, so I took some drone shots today.

Started at St. Clair / Warden Station as the West Scarborough Rail Trail could easily connect to Warden Woods / Gus Harris Trail.

Flying the route north east bound towards Kennedy Station.

I see some rail boxcars at Home Lumber

 

[Northern Light]

@TwinHuey

The rail line does not preclude a bike trail; it does mean a few extra costs, and some limitations.

The line would have to be fenced off from trail in all likelihood.

This, in turn would limit access to the trail as being from one side only, generally, the south and east, except at major streets or designated crossings.

The GECO runs, I believe, are all at night now, and last I saw, the signals at the roads were turned off and they were using flag people at crossings.

Given that, it would be a fairly low-speed run. I could see that as an argument for relaxed rules around crossings/fences; but CN/the City may differ.

For clarity, the trail would actually run in the hydro ROW, not the rail ROW for most/all of its length.

 

[TwinHuey]

@TwinHuey

The rail line does not preclude a bike trail; it does mean a few extra costs, and some limitations.

The line would have to be fenced off from trail in all likelihood.

This, in turn would limit access to the trail as being from one side only, generally, the south and east, except at major streets or designated crossings.

The GECO runs, I believe, are all at night now, and last I saw, the signals at the roads were turned off and they were using flag people at crossings.

Given that, it would a fairly low-speed run. I could see that as an argument for relaxed rules around crossings/fences; but CN/the City may differ.

For clarity, the trail would actually run in the hydro ROW, not the rail ROW for most/all of its length.

Thanks!

 

[dowlingm]

Apple Maps 3D view shows cars loaded at a packaging plant behind TTC Eglinton Garage, so at present it seems like the spur is in use all the way to the end. Given City Council’s seeming inability to protect commercial / industrial from residential pressure at both ends of the spur, along Eglinton and north of Warden Station, and the complex issues facing Metrolinx between Kennedy and Scarborough Junction which would be somewhat simplified by the removal of the related switch, one wonders what “pushing” and “pulling” incentives there are for the ending of those activities and relocation of the related industries.

 

[Northern Light]

Apple Maps 3D view shows cars loaded at a packaging plant behind TTC Eglinton Garage, so at present it seems like the spur is in use all the way to the end. Given City Council’s seeming inability to protect commercial / industrial from residential pressure at both ends of the spur, along Eglinton and north of Warden Station, and the complex issues facing Metrolinx between Kennedy and Scarborough Junction which would be somewhat simplified by the removal of the related switch, one wonders what “pushing” and “pulling” incentives there are for the ending of those activities and relocation of the related industries.

The packaging plant is the subject of a redevelopment application:

1891 Eglinton Avenue East | 167.08m | 52s | Mattamy Homes | Arch. Unfolded

http://app.toronto.ca/DevelopmentApplications/searchDevelopmentProjectsSetup.do?action=init 1891 EGLINTON AVE E Ward 35 - Scarborough OPA / Rezoning 11 325706 ESC 35 OZ Dec 14, 2011 Dec 14, 2011 Proposed Mixed Use development including 1640 residential dwelling units in 5 towers...

urbantoronto.ca

Looks like there may still be an active spur into Griffith Foods, though I know they have ton more trucks going in/out than they used to....

Not sure who the other job would be..........

Fascinating to look at the aerial and you can spot so many former/disused spurs and/or their corridors.

 

[dowlingm]

The packaging plant is the subject of a redevelopment application:

1891 Eglinton Avenue East | 167.08m | 52s | Mattamy Homes | Arch. Unfolded

http://app.toronto.ca/DevelopmentApplications/searchDevelopmentProjectsSetup.do?action=init 1891 EGLINTON AVE E Ward 35 - Scarborough OPA / Rezoning 11 325706 ESC 35 OZ Dec 14, 2011 Dec 14, 2011 Proposed Mixed Use development including 1640 residential dwelling units in 5 towers...

urbantoronto.ca

Looks like there may still be an active spur into Griffith Foods, though I know they have ton more trucks going in/out than they used to....

Not sure who the other job would be..........

Fascinating to look at the aerial and you can spot so many former/disused spurs and/or their corridors.

So Flexible Packaging at Eglinton is being redeveloped, but if I understand this correctly (and I may not) it looks like the development lands are being severed from industrial lands outside the secondary plan area, with the severance line being north of the intersection with Alvinston.

Application Details

www.toronto.ca

it appears to me that the spur serves a different enterprise behind Flexible (IPEX, at 807 Pharmacy) and thus appears not in scope of the application.

 

[Metroscapes]

@TwinHuey

The rail line does not preclude a bike trail; it does mean a few extra costs, and some limitations.

The line would have to be fenced off from trail in all likelihood.

This, in turn would limit access to the trail as being from one side only, generally, the south and east, except at major streets or designated crossings.

The GECO runs, I believe, are all at night now, and last I saw, the signals at the roads were turned off and they were using flag people at crossings.

Given that, it would a fairly low-speed run. I could see that as an argument for relaxed rules around crossings/fences; but CN/the City may differ.

For clarity, the trail would actually run in the hydro ROW, not the rail ROW for most/all of its length.

I second the sentiment that it's not precluded by rail operations. I walked this years ago before I fully flushed out my method of documentation, so pictures are sparse, but it's on my list of walks to refresh. It's noteworthy that, east of Birchmount, the hydro lines jump from south to north of the tracks, before coming back. It's also noteworthy that where it jumps north, the south side is occupied by a storage yard that's mapped as still being part of the CN right-of-way, and another city-owned strip is wedged between it and the backyards for houses on Roebuck.