D
DarnDirtyApe
Guest
Do you guys think the city will alter the streetlight timing? Closing off the south side could really improve streetcar travel times, since the light would be green almost all of the time.
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E
elook
Guest
Except pedestrians need to cross north/south as well. I expect they probably won't alter timings at all.
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EnviroTO
Guest
I would think they will change the streetlight timings on Queens Quay because there is no reason to give streetcars a red light as frequently. Right now the streetcar gets a red going east-west when cars going east-west have a green. With less chance of cars accidentally crossing the ROW for lack of understanding the transit signals I don't know why the streetcar would need to have exclusive greens. Something like Spadina seems more appropriate.
NEW NEWS: Constuction crews are out in full force today getting Quay to the City ready. Looks like the are installing temporary curbs, potting soil along the side of the streetcar ROW, and a permeable layer along the sidewalk side. When I saw the renderings of the event I wondered if they were actually going to plant all those flowers and lay grass or simply close the lanes and paint green and red on the street since the event is so short. Looks like there will be real grass and flowers to let people experience the real thing. I guess it should go a long way to reduce the complaints during the EA since everyone will see a two lane reduction in action during one of the busiest months of the year for Queens Quay.
NEW NEWS: Constuction crews are out in full force today getting Quay to the City ready. Looks like the are installing temporary curbs, potting soil along the side of the streetcar ROW, and a permeable layer along the sidewalk side. When I saw the renderings of the event I wondered if they were actually going to plant all those flowers and lay grass or simply close the lanes and paint green and red on the street since the event is so short. Looks like there will be real grass and flowers to let people experience the real thing. I guess it should go a long way to reduce the complaints during the EA since everyone will see a two lane reduction in action during one of the busiest months of the year for Queens Quay.
U
unimaginative2
Guest
I was just down there and they seem to be hard at work. I was under the impression that Queens Quay would be one lane each way, but they seem to be operating it as a one-way (westbound) street now.
B
building babel
Guest
This is almost as exciting as the era of the Yonge Street pedestrian malls, back in the 1970's.
We've come so far.
We've come so far.
E
EnviroTO
Guest
For the trial it will be largely one way westbound (from Bay eastward it will retain one lane east). They probably couldn't make the trial two-way as proposed in the future since that would involve installing west facing stoplights on the north lanes and line painting.
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unimaginative2
Guest
I do hope the chain link fences will be coming down. I can just see them leaving them up as some kind of safety barrier to keep people away from the streetcars.
E
EnviroTO
Guest
I doubt the fence is staying. It is only working partially though... I saw a huge group of tourists walk through one of the few openings in the fence mid-block and got tooted at by the streetcar.
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Greg29Toronto
Guest
I was down today to check this out. When I read about this "preview" - and now seeing it I think it's a colossal waste of a million dollars.
Bikers & bladers are unable to go east along this stretch of Queens Quay during the construction and presumably, when they tear it all up. It seems ironic to me.
Bikers & bladers are unable to go east along this stretch of Queens Quay during the construction and presumably, when they tear it all up. It seems ironic to me.
R
rbtaylor
Guest
I would guess this trial is a direct result of the St. Clair and Weston Blue 22 processes.
If it can keep the EA from going the way St. Clair did and where Weston was headed, then TWRC may end up saving a million or more on the EA process despite the added cost of constructing the preview.
Hmm. It solves a second problem as well. One of the more frequent complaints about the EA process is that people don't understand the agenda the city is pushing. This makes is very clear what they're looking to do and what the preferred option is from the start.
The EA will likely start with options to close off the entire street, none of it, north lanes, south lanes or any other combination imaginable. People can and do freak out at that point because they assume the preferred option is the one that is worst for them specifically.
J
JoeyCuppa
Guest
I can't wait, honestly... they are trying to get a bunch of cyclists down there for the opening - from an email I got this morning:
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CYCLISTS WANTED on Saturday, August 12th at 9:00 a.m:
As was mentioned in the last edition of the Waterfront Trail News, from August 11th to 20th in what may be the largest art installation ever in Toronto, car traffic will be replaced with bike lanes and a kilometer-long stretch of 12,000 red geraniums and a picnic lawn the length of almost ten football fields. Two four-storey sculptures built (with more than 600 bicycles) will highlight the temporary new section of the popular Toronto section of the Waterfront Trail.
On Saturday, August 12th at 9:00 a.m., the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp is inviting all cyclists to come down to the waterfront to help officially open this extension of the Waterfront Trail. They are hoping to get anywhere from 50-100 cyclists at this event and would like everyone to meet at the bike arch at York and Queens Quay. They will have a ribbon across the arch and would like to have all of the cyclists ride through it.
We are very excited about this temporary extension of the Waterfront Trail along Queens Quay - currently a gap in the Trail for cyclists - and hope that you will be able to attend to show your support.
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I'll be there... anyone want to meet up?
J.
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CYCLISTS WANTED on Saturday, August 12th at 9:00 a.m:
As was mentioned in the last edition of the Waterfront Trail News, from August 11th to 20th in what may be the largest art installation ever in Toronto, car traffic will be replaced with bike lanes and a kilometer-long stretch of 12,000 red geraniums and a picnic lawn the length of almost ten football fields. Two four-storey sculptures built (with more than 600 bicycles) will highlight the temporary new section of the popular Toronto section of the Waterfront Trail.
On Saturday, August 12th at 9:00 a.m., the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp is inviting all cyclists to come down to the waterfront to help officially open this extension of the Waterfront Trail. They are hoping to get anywhere from 50-100 cyclists at this event and would like everyone to meet at the bike arch at York and Queens Quay. They will have a ribbon across the arch and would like to have all of the cyclists ride through it.
We are very excited about this temporary extension of the Waterfront Trail along Queens Quay - currently a gap in the Trail for cyclists - and hope that you will be able to attend to show your support.
-----------------------------------
I'll be there... anyone want to meet up?
J.
A
AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
From the Globe Real Estate section, by John Bentley Mays:
THE PERFECT HOUSE: TORONTO DEVELOPMENT
A reminder of the coming waterfront makeover
Summer party to show residents just how big -- and exciting -- the changes will be
JOHN BENTLEY MAYS
This afternoon at Queens Quay, the people charged with creating Toronto's waterfront of the 21st century are kicking off an especially interesting promise of things to come.
The 10-day reduction of part of sprawling Queens Quay to two compact lanes of car traffic, the extension of the popular Martin Goodman Trail along the inner harbour, the temporary greening of roadways -- they'll all be part of a festive glimpse of what the 3½ kilometres of water's edge between Bathurst and Parliament streets will look like in a few year's time, after the Rotterdam architectural firm West 8 gets through with it.
This summer party, brought to you by Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. (TWRC), will probably be a lot of fun. But it will also be a public reminder (as it's intended to be) that TWRC is indeed busy with the vast, complicated, $17-billion rollout of thousands of homes, myriad shops and parks and new streets, some museums and galleries and artists' studios, and much else, on 2,000 acres of downtown real estate. Apart from the urban activists who regularly turn out for the TWRC's occasional public consultations, Torontonians have a tendency to forget just how big and potentially exciting this project is -- and how firmly it's under way. We shouldn't.
I got my own reminder of how things are going a couple of weeks ago during a conversation with John Campbell, the restlessly energetic president and chief executive officer of TWRC.
"Our goal is not to build a nice, cozy neighbourhood by the water, but a gateway to the city that says to the world: 'We're here,' " Mr. Campbell told me. "Right now -- I use the analogy of submarine -- we are going full-speed, but we are just breaking surface. That's because, to do anything in this city, you have to plan, you have to consult, do environmental assessments, all that work."
Mr. Campbell named two zones that are moving up a step from the planning stage, toward the day when we will see some architectural action on the ground. One is the West Don Lands, a 90-acre swatch of barren ground at the mouth of the Don River, which currently has shovels in the ground and a four-kilometre hoarding around it. Requests for development proposals go out for this $2-billion, mostly residential tract in the autumn.
The other property, intended to include more offices, workplaces, studios and cultural attractions, is a 55-acre portion of the inner harbour that TWRC calls the East Bayfront. Calls for developers for this $2-billion project will go out next spring.
From where Mr. Campbell sits, the chances of bringing good things to pass are currently very good. "It's not an endeavour that will be unilateral, nor should it be in a democracy like Toronto. But we have the moral suasion and political clout to get things done, and we have the support of the players: $1.5-billion promised, and close to $600-million in actual signed contracts."
The search for private investment begins in earnest this autumn. "When the requests for proposals go out for the West Don Lands this fall, I think we'll get a good response, from both local and international developers, who see this as a good investment because we can provide a certain size." Australian and Asian investors are taking an interest in this mainly residential phase of the project, Mr. Campbell noted.
"But there will be other opportunities that we have to look at, including district energy. We will be putting in an energy system, and we will need private-sector investment in that. We have some seed capital, but we don't have sufficient government funds for all the projects.
"The other area we're looking at is participation from the high-tech sector. One of the things we're doing, apart from the real estate side, is the intelligent community aspect. We want to enjoin the private high-tech sector to participate in the waterfront in general, and East Bayfront in particular. . . . It's not just about hardware. We don't only want to put in the plumbing. We want to drive the applications -- e-health, e-learning, e-commerce -- to create an intelligent community."
But while highly wired, the West Don Lands and the East Bayfront projects are not expected to be highly expensive for consumers. It's all good for them, in Mr. Campbell's view, that the private-sector-driven residential developments on the revitalized waterfronts of Sydney and Melbourne are commanding $1,000 to $2,000 a square foot. "It boggles the mind, but it's not what we're trying to achieve here. We want a waterfront not just for those who can afford to jet in and have it as an exclusive area. One of our core mandates is to return the waterfront to the people."
Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp.'s "Quay to the city: Summer '06" runs from Aug. 11 to 20.
AoD
THE PERFECT HOUSE: TORONTO DEVELOPMENT
A reminder of the coming waterfront makeover
Summer party to show residents just how big -- and exciting -- the changes will be
JOHN BENTLEY MAYS
This afternoon at Queens Quay, the people charged with creating Toronto's waterfront of the 21st century are kicking off an especially interesting promise of things to come.
The 10-day reduction of part of sprawling Queens Quay to two compact lanes of car traffic, the extension of the popular Martin Goodman Trail along the inner harbour, the temporary greening of roadways -- they'll all be part of a festive glimpse of what the 3½ kilometres of water's edge between Bathurst and Parliament streets will look like in a few year's time, after the Rotterdam architectural firm West 8 gets through with it.
This summer party, brought to you by Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. (TWRC), will probably be a lot of fun. But it will also be a public reminder (as it's intended to be) that TWRC is indeed busy with the vast, complicated, $17-billion rollout of thousands of homes, myriad shops and parks and new streets, some museums and galleries and artists' studios, and much else, on 2,000 acres of downtown real estate. Apart from the urban activists who regularly turn out for the TWRC's occasional public consultations, Torontonians have a tendency to forget just how big and potentially exciting this project is -- and how firmly it's under way. We shouldn't.
I got my own reminder of how things are going a couple of weeks ago during a conversation with John Campbell, the restlessly energetic president and chief executive officer of TWRC.
"Our goal is not to build a nice, cozy neighbourhood by the water, but a gateway to the city that says to the world: 'We're here,' " Mr. Campbell told me. "Right now -- I use the analogy of submarine -- we are going full-speed, but we are just breaking surface. That's because, to do anything in this city, you have to plan, you have to consult, do environmental assessments, all that work."
Mr. Campbell named two zones that are moving up a step from the planning stage, toward the day when we will see some architectural action on the ground. One is the West Don Lands, a 90-acre swatch of barren ground at the mouth of the Don River, which currently has shovels in the ground and a four-kilometre hoarding around it. Requests for development proposals go out for this $2-billion, mostly residential tract in the autumn.
The other property, intended to include more offices, workplaces, studios and cultural attractions, is a 55-acre portion of the inner harbour that TWRC calls the East Bayfront. Calls for developers for this $2-billion project will go out next spring.
From where Mr. Campbell sits, the chances of bringing good things to pass are currently very good. "It's not an endeavour that will be unilateral, nor should it be in a democracy like Toronto. But we have the moral suasion and political clout to get things done, and we have the support of the players: $1.5-billion promised, and close to $600-million in actual signed contracts."
The search for private investment begins in earnest this autumn. "When the requests for proposals go out for the West Don Lands this fall, I think we'll get a good response, from both local and international developers, who see this as a good investment because we can provide a certain size." Australian and Asian investors are taking an interest in this mainly residential phase of the project, Mr. Campbell noted.
"But there will be other opportunities that we have to look at, including district energy. We will be putting in an energy system, and we will need private-sector investment in that. We have some seed capital, but we don't have sufficient government funds for all the projects.
"The other area we're looking at is participation from the high-tech sector. One of the things we're doing, apart from the real estate side, is the intelligent community aspect. We want to enjoin the private high-tech sector to participate in the waterfront in general, and East Bayfront in particular. . . . It's not just about hardware. We don't only want to put in the plumbing. We want to drive the applications -- e-health, e-learning, e-commerce -- to create an intelligent community."
But while highly wired, the West Don Lands and the East Bayfront projects are not expected to be highly expensive for consumers. It's all good for them, in Mr. Campbell's view, that the private-sector-driven residential developments on the revitalized waterfronts of Sydney and Melbourne are commanding $1,000 to $2,000 a square foot. "It boggles the mind, but it's not what we're trying to achieve here. We want a waterfront not just for those who can afford to jet in and have it as an exclusive area. One of our core mandates is to return the waterfront to the people."
Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp.'s "Quay to the city: Summer '06" runs from Aug. 11 to 20.
AoD
B
building babel
Guest
I was there at lunchtime. The fences are coming down. Trucks are watering the broad strips of newly-laid grass. The triumphal arch of bicycles has been erected by big strong men. Christopher Hume is walking around. Self-satisfied flunkeys are handing out propaganda and telling everyone how beautiful it all is. Concrete is being poured at the southernmost point of Ht0. Thousands of geraniums have been planted. The sun beats down. People with toddlers are strolling along the promenade, close to the water. Sharks are gathering just off shore, observing it all through beady little eyes, biding their time.
J
JoeyCuppa
Guest
I biked home via Queens Quay tonight (a little bit out of my way, but worth it), and it's really nice.
I found some pics on Flickr too, which I posted on BikingToronto.
Here's one to tease you.
I found some pics on Flickr too, which I posted on BikingToronto.
Here's one to tease you.
G
ganjavih
Guest
Thanks for the pics, JC. Lookin' good. Now all we need is some cafes, patios, bars, etc. along Queen's Quay. The area desperately needs some street activity and could be a very nice strip if done right.