From the Post:
TTC to revamp three stations; Rebuilding Victoria Park
James Cowan, National Post
Published: Thursday, December 14, 2006
The TTC decided yesterday to push ahead with a pair of massive revitalization projects: spending $26-million to rebuild the crumbling Victoria Park subway station and committing $17.5-million to create a regional transit hub at Kipling station.
The projects add to the TTC's already stretched $770-million annual capital budget, but new TTC chairman Adam Giambrone said the spending is necessary.
"At some point you have to reinvest in your facilities," Mr. Giambrone said.
"It's expensive, it's difficult in terms of staging, but you just can't expect to not have investments and still have a system that people want to ride. It's all about the rider experience."
Residents of the apartment towers surrounding the Victoria Park station told transit commissioners yesterday that the facility is damp, hard to access and unsafe.
"It is very unsightly, very unfriendly and very unsafe," Sharif Akmed said .
There have been problems with drug dealers and several assaults in the walkways surrounding the station, according to Councillor Adrian Heaps.
"I've been threatened in those areas a couple of times personally," Mr. Heaps said. "A lot of the people who live in those buildings work the night shift or are single women. We need to create something that makes the community safe and healthy."
The problems with the station's current design are myriad, according to City Councillor Janet Davis. She noted there is no direct entrance to the station from Victoria Park Avenue, and no windows facing out to the street. Instead, transit users enter using a narrow staircase. In addition, the entire facility is 1.5 metres above street level, making it difficult to access for disabled people and meaning buses use a ramp to drop off passengers.
"There's absolutely no connection to the street; there's nothing to identify it as a subway station --it is ugly," Ms. Davis said.
Under the proposed renovations, the bus terminal will be lowered to street level and a new entrance will be built on Victoria Park. In addition, the landscaping along the street will be improved and a walkway along the edge of the station will be widened to make it safer.
Ms. Davis celebrated the proposed enhancements yesterday, but said work still needs to be done to improve the pedestrian bridge that serves the station. Five thousand people a day use the elevated walkway, she said.
The TTC also approved $17.5- million toward the redevelopment of the Kipling and Islington stations. Under the plan, a Mississauga Transit terminal at Islington station will be moved to Kipling, creating a regional hub for Mississauga Transit, the TTC and GO Transit.
Meanwhile, the land surrounding Islington station would be redeveloped. SNC-Lavalin, an engineering firm, intends to build its headquarters on the site. Selling the land will provide the TTC with approximately $7.5-million toward revitalizing Islington station.
In addition, the opening of the office will bring 1,400 employees to the area, including 300 new jobs and 300 relocated from surrounding municipalities.
City Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker said the project could transform Etobicoke from "a bedroom community to an urban village."
The city still needs to secure a total of $40-million from the other transit services and the provincial government.
Charles Wheeler, the TTC manager responsible for the project, said negotiations are under way and all parties support the plan in principle.
He noted the TTC has been trying to move the Mississauga Transit terminal to Kipling for 30 years.
"I think we have a winning concept and we should try to hit the home run with this one," Mr. Wheeler said.
jcowan@nationalpost.com
© National Post 2006
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