Speaking of trees, received this via email.

Ontario Place for All

Osgoode Hall trees in peril! Take action tomorrow!​


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Trees on the southwest corner of the Osgoode Hall grounds



In the face of mounting protest, Metrolinx is planning to cut down five 200-year-old trees at Osgoode Hall this Saturday!

URGENT action is required. Join the protest and vigil on Friday, Feb 3rd 5:30-6:30 PM at the Osgoode Hall property, Media will be invited to draw attention to this latest development. Campbell House (NW corner of University and Queen) will be open as a warming site and washrooms for attendees.

Spread the word, make signs, bring candles, tie a ribbon or a sign to the Osgoode fence! And dress warmly!!!

This is part of continued bullying tactics to advance the Ontario Line without preserving the environment. Fencing has been erected today and security personnel are already deployed on site.

We know all too well the threats of tree removal posed by the current provincial government - Ontario Place is facing the loss of hundreds of trees... That's why we're putting out a call to action to our supporters!

You can also help support the effort and share the message by following the new account BOLD, Build Ontario Line Differently, a coalition of community groups from across Toronto advocating for greater consultations and transparency from Metrolinx. We are keeping a close eye on the trees slated for removal at Moss Park.

Thank you for the support!
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While Osgoode Hall is a bit more of a complicated situation, I'm not sure how anyone could reasonably think it's possible to build a subway station under Moss Park while leaving all of the existing trees in place. Also the involvement of Save Jimmie Simpson as part of "BOLD" kind of already makes me feel like this is just going to end up being another campaign that focuses on unrealistic fear mongering and NIMBYsm than actual realistic alternate approaches.
 
CharmAlarm said:

Law Society will seek injunction to stop Metrolinx from removing Osgoode Hall trees as early as Saturday​


www.thestar.com

Law Society will seek injunction to stop Metrolinx from removing Osgoode Hall trees as early as Saturday

Metrolinx has indicated to the Law Society of Ontario that it plans to begin cutting down the trees for the multi-billion-dollar Ontario Line transit project
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com
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While I hate to see the trees go, what is the Law Society's solution to this? How does this station get built if the trees cannot be touched? Or is this just going to be yet another delay to the most needed transit project in the city? Also like, from a PR perspective, this is kind of easy for the government to spin as "rich lawyers are trying to stop transit for the working class". They need to have an alternate plan ready,. After all, Canadian media tends to favour (moderate) conservatives, so you gotta go into these fights fully prepared.

That's what frustrates me about this stuff. It feels like there's a lot of performative actions going on on both sides with no consideration of what the overall impacts will be. Metrolinx certainly has this issue as well, when it comes to shutting down sidewalks, or hurting local businesses in the name of "more transit". MX needs to be more transparent, but at the same time, we do need to build transit, and groups just dragging this process out are hurting more people than they are helping, unless they are providing realistic alternate solutions.

And sadly I don't think University Park (while I think it should happen) is a realistic solution to OL construction issues. It could be. And it may impact where the final station entrance is, who knows. But this city will never reconfigure University Avenue fast enough to get MX to move the access shaft they want to build. Because while the entrance building is the obvious symbol of things, the real issue here is the access shaft. MX can move the entrance into University Park (should it happen) and restore the entire Osgoode Hall fence. It wont change that they are going to tear up these trees because they need to have an access shaft down to the station box and rn the only other suggested location is in the middle of an active road.
 
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TossYourJacket said:
While I hate to see the trees go, what is the Law Society's solution to this?
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University can temporarily be narrowed/shifted westward significantly for a fair distance north without any loss in the number of lanes, allowing for an entrance shaft where the northbound lane currently is, and the new station entrance in the spot the city is proposing.

Perhaps there's still be a loss of trees - but surely not as many.

Metrolinx's complete failure to ever do real preconsultation may have finally met their match.

I fully expect Metrolinx's incompetent and bumbling legal team to be eviscerated by real lawyers who understand Metrolinx's duties - not to mention the oversights in their EA methodology.

Having Metrolinx spanked very publicly is in everyone's best interest. Perhaps it will set some real precedents and they'll get finally become more transparent and honest.
 
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If the Osgoode property had a large building on it, all the way to the sidewalk, as other corners of Queen and University do, ML would have found a way to squeeze the station in without taking down the building (As a matter of fact, at one point the former Bank of Canada building’s underground void was in fact available for the station….. as was revealed at a Toronto Preservation Board proceeding a while back).

That’s the challenge of adding a subway in the downtown core…..stations will have to be fitted around what’s already there.

The idea that the Osgoode property is disposable just because it’s grass and trees is the objectionable part. It’s a civic treasure and deserves to be left alone, just as all the large buildings in the area are being worked around.

- Paul
 
TossYourJacket said:
How does this station get built if the trees cannot be touched?
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Build a small, non intrusive sidewalk entrance like they already have for Osgoode station on University Avenue.

Or build a slightly larger entrance on the south side of Queen, where there is more space. There is always a solution.

The proposed entrance is far, far too big for downtown and wholly unnecessary.

1675434697479.png
 
T3G said:
Build a small, non intrusive sidewalk entrance like they already have for Osgoode station on University Avenue.

Or build a slightly larger entrance on the south side of Queen, where there is more space. There is always a solution.
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moden code requirements require a primary entrance building to accommodate things like the elevator for accessibility.

Where are you seeing this space on the south side of Queen? Remembering of course that there is a parking garage under the small plaza beside the Four Seasons Centre..

www.google.com

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.com www.google.com
 
innsertnamehere said:
moden code requirements require a primary entrance building to accommodate things like the elevator for accessibility.

Where are you seeing this space on the south side of Queen? Remembering of course that there is a parking garage under the small plaza beside the Four Seasons Centre..

www.google.com

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.com www.google.com
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I didn't say that there was enough room for a huge building like the one in the rendering. For what possible reason it is necessary to have a building like that instead of just having an elevator (thereby fulfilling the requirement for accessibility) directly from the sidewalk to the station's mezzanine level? How are large buildings compatible with dense downtown cores and what are they planning on doing in places where it's not a park, but another building that is in the way?

The sidewalk on the north side of Queen is very narrow, so if clearance issues were a concern they would either have to shift the entrance to the south, or realign Queen in that stretch by cutting into the sidewalk on the south side. In either case, there is not enough room for a large station building, but there would be for a sidewalk entrance and elevator.
 
^That rendering is Escheresque.... if you mentally approximate the dimensions of the interior features shown, and then mentally approximate the exterior dimensions as drawn.... the interior is twice as large as the box it is depicted in. I would like to see the blueprint to know the reality.

- Paul
 
... the article is not just about trees. There is the blurb at the bottom of it:

Michal Fairburn, Associate Chief Justice of Ontario, told Attorney General Doug Downey and Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster in a letter last year that plans to build a station near Osgoode Hall “directly threatens” court operations and could affect the building’s foundation.


“I have no confidence that the structural integrity of Osgoode Hall can be preserved, that the safety of the occupants of Osgoode Hall and those who attend at Osgoode Hall can be maintained, or that justice can be accessed and delivered from Osgoode Hall if this project proceeds as contemplated,” wrote Fairburn.
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.. the trees are just the beginning of this battle. The Relief line never had this big of a surface building .. or required to teardown the osgoode trees even though the station would be almost twice as long. Osgoode station is apparently already underpinned too ,, why is this not just being mined under Osgoode... which iirc was how it was planned for the relief line.
 
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