DSC said:
I actually find this encouraging, surely better to have all the $$ and contracts in place BEFORE one starts work so that there are no pauses while new $$ or new contracts are negotiated. WT has a pretty good record of running their contracts on time (and with lots of public information) and the streetcar track is a single straight run (apart from the Spadina/QQ junctions, which may not even be part of it) so that should not bring any real surprises.
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The timeframe is tight though; the pauses are much more likely to come from things like unexpected soil conditions, Toronto Hydro unavailability, etc. And then everyone is delayed with the clock running, so more $. The most effective thing to do is to do the whole thing over 2-3 years, and have everyone come in sequentially to do their bit ... though then you'd have sidewalk superintendents making ignorant comments about the same piece of road being dug up multiple times ... over a couple of years!

Damned if you do ... damned if you don't.
 
nfitz said:
The timeframe is tight though; the pauses are much more likely to come from things like unexpected soil conditions, Toronto Hydro unavailability, etc. And then everyone is delayed with the clock running, so more $. The most effective thing to do is to do the whole thing over 2-3 years, and have everyone come in sequentially to do their bit ... though then you'd have sidewalk superintendents making ignorant comments about the same piece of road being dug up multiple times ... over a couple of years!

Damned if you do ... damned if you don't.
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Usually, the thing that irks people the most is when the final product is patched up and compromised.
 
junctionist said:
Usually, the thing that irks people the most is when the final product is patched up and compromised.
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I don't see how that's not inevitable, with half-a-dozen utilities, and hundreds of locations along a long street.

It's not like pavement and sidewalk are not designed to never be dug up ... going down the whole street a year after a massive rebuild and suddenly putting in yet another utility I can see ...but there are going to be sewer back ups, and new connections, etc. ...
 
After a utility repair though, is there no way to make things look like they did before?
 
So sorry, anyone have a rough idea on the timeline for the entire project; Also what area does it cover ? Spading To Bay ?

Have they picked the final design for how the row / sidewalks / trees / bicycle lanes will look like ?
 
From the Sept. 7 WT Board Meeting CEO Report:

Queens Quay Funding
The City CA was signed providing all of the design funding required to finalize the Construction Documentation for Queens Quay Phase 1 (Yo Yo Ma to Bay Street). The balance of the construction funding will be included within WT’s annual City budget submitted in September.

http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/uploads/documents/ceo_report_1.pdf (p. 2)

And from the QQ Working Group Meeting 14 Minutes:

Question/comment 1: When will we be able to walk along the ‘new’ Queens Quay?
Response 1: We expect that the construction of this phase of Queens Quay to be completed by summer 2014.

http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/widgets_document/download-document/piece_id/3130/file_number/0 (p. 3)

April Presentation to the QQ Working Group: http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/widgets_document/download-document/piece_id/2926/file_number/0
QQ Working Group Website: http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/qqconsultation

From the Dec 7 WT Board Meeting CEO Report:

Central Waterfront (“CWF”)
Queens Quay Design
Waterfront Toronto and the design team have circulated responses to the City’s 2nd Submission comments. The final Safety Assessment Report has been received and the design team is currently evaluating the implications before it is circulated to City staff. The Construction Manager, Eastern Construction, is developing its construction plan and schedule. LVM/Franz, our geo-environmental consultant has commenced work.

Community Consultation
On November 1, 2011 Waterfront Toronto hosted the Queens Quay Working Group meeting #14, the final working group meeting for CWF, where we had a brief presentation from our Construction Manager, Eastern Construction, and a brief update on the design. On November 8, 2011 we presented updated BIA Street Animation Elements to the BIA Area Planning Committee. We have also continued our coordination meetings with each of the adjacent private property owners in our effort to finalize Access Agreements.

Ongoing Coordination with the City
We are coordinating with City staff to ensure that they are in a position to expedite road cut and other construction permits. We are also liaising with the city regarding the operational land transfer of some of the Rees Street parking lot lands into the QQ ROW and continue to discuss the City’s preferred location for the required hydro transformers.

http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/uploads/documents/ceo_report___public_1.pdf (p. 1-2)

And some of you will be VERY happy to note this - vis-a-vis paving to property line issues with the Bloor Revitalization Project:

Question/comment 4: In regards to the paving treatment along Queens Quay, has the design team confirmed whether the pavers will be brought to the building line or will it just go as far as the private property line?
Response 4: The design team has initiated discussions with the various property owners along Queens Quay and is asking them if they are interested in linking their respective property into the overall design. We will be seeking a cost-sharing program where Waterfront Toronto and the property owner will share the cost of paving to the building face instead of just to the property line. The majority of people that Waterfront Toronto has talked with are very receptive to this proposal.

http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/widgets_document/download-document/piece_id/3110/file_number/0 (p. 4-5)

AoD
 
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From the Minutes of the most recent Design Review Panel meeting (Nov 9):

Christopher Glaisek, Waterfront Toronto’s Vice President of Planning and Design, provided a summary of project progress.

Lower Yonge
Applications are now coming forward for a high level urban study of the Lower Yonge area. This will not be a full precinct study but will come to the Panel for review.

Queens Quay
Queens Quay is still going ahead as planned, but the potential City of Toronto lockout may impede the schedule. Currently, the project is scheduled to begin work in March 2012, with Bay Street to Peter Street being the first phase and Peter Street to Spadina Avenue being the second phase. The project is scheduled to take two years to complete, with car traffic back to normal in 12-18 months. Eastern Construction, the construction manager, has a full time communications person working with our Construction Liaison Committee to ensure structure to the information process.
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From the Dec 14 WT DRP Minutes:

Mr. Glaisek informed the Panel that Waterfront Toronto has met with all of the condos that are impacted by the Queens Quay revitilization and they have all agreed in principle to share the cost of extending the red granite on to private land to the building face or column line. (p. 2)

http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/uploads/documents/wdrp_minutes_dec_20111_1.pdf

AoD
 
Apparently the Ontario Energy Board's refusal to give Hydro lots more $$ has resulted in them saying they are going to concentrate on major supply issues and projects like upgrading their network on QQ or on Front Street are all on hold. This may change but it is not likely to speed things up with the QQ project as I think various Hydro stuff has to be moved or upgraded.
 
Bummer. You got to love how difficult Hydro is in the history of improving the city's public realm - from the rotting poles to the Bloor Street fiasco...

AoD
 
That would really suck, WT must be aware of this so we should probably have an answer by the next meeting.
 
CML said:
From the Minutes of the most recent Design Review Panel meeting (Nov 9):
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Peter street is such an odd choice for a cutoff... there doing 95% of the bay to spadina stretch in phase 1 but leaving the other 5% for phase two? Is it because of the bridge complicating matters?
 
The people in charge at Toronto Hydro should be reprimanded for their obstructionist attitude towards improving the city's public realm.
 
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