I am trying really, really hard to remember where that bit of info came from. I guess worst comes to worst, we can always ask WT about it.

re: crushed gravel - I think that's what they used for the "park" at the old Wellesley Hospital site.

AoD
 
Yes, it's used there too. We just don't have a tradition of doing it like the Parisians do.

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I'm not sure the square is surfaced with gravel crush - if I recall it's some kind of gravel impregnated rubberized membrane. It's a weird surface, a bit like those spongy rubber mats they sometimes put around trees. Not very graceful if you ask me. I'd rather see the low-tech Parisian variety of fine gravel crush.
 
They have this in most new play grounds ... its better for falling on / preventing accidents.
 
Gravel crush (and wood chips) are terrible materials to use in public spaces. They end up strewed everywhere due to weather and just people trekking on it. And soon enough the place where you laid it looks bare as a smaller and smaller amount of the original is left. Hard surfaces are much more practical.
 
(Rubber compound ground covering) makes sense in a playground but in a public square it's just tacky. Are they really that worried about being sued? This surface must have cost a lot of money - these products always do. And is gravel really that hard to maintain?
 
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Xray_Crystal_Junkie said:
Gravel crush (and wood chips) are terrible materials to use in public spaces. They end up strewed everywhere due to weather and just people trekking on it. And soon enough the place where you laid it looks bare as a smaller and smaller amount of the original is left. Hard surfaces are much more practical.
Click to expand...

This is not true for properly specified gravel crush. There are types that compact with rain and traffic and stay put, yet they remain pervious to rainwater. This is not the loose gravel that gives when you walk on it.
 
In Lawren Harris Square it looks and feels like 'gravel crush" a bit like Demerera sugar and without any rubberised stuff mixed in. Quite Parisian. It is far finer than the small gravel they put around the trees at Sherbourne Common. In Underpass Park itself there IS rubberised compound on the play areas.
 
Here's the final word on the surface at Lawren Harris Square:

Yes, that's the final surface. It is "Crushed Granite Fines". Google "Decomposed Granite" if you want to know more about this increasingly popular surface. DSC (above) is right; it is crushed more finely than the gravel at Sherbourne Common, and in fact they do not use the word 'gravel' to describe it. The pieces are flatter than they are round, and they compact together better than gravel typically does. It's permeable by water. The space is meant to be the home to events and pop-up markets in the future, by the way.

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Thanks for the clarification. I spoke to a manager of the project and the only thing preventing Harris Park from opening is the transfer of title from the Province to the City. "Mr. McGuinty, tear down that wall!"
 
Awesome! Thanks for all this info. "Crushed Granite Fines" sounds so much nicer than plain old "Gravel". And if this is what landscape architects are using in Paris...very cool. It will certainly show off the trees I guess with the eye not focusing on the walking surface. I'm loving the space...again, just wish they'd water/irrigate the trees!!!
 
I think Underpass Park is an interesting urban renewal project.........it's turned lemons into lemonade.

I have 2 questions about the park................ how long will the park actually be? It would be great if they carried the whole ide of it all along the Gardiner to Spadina. Also, how are they going to maintain ongoing repairs and inspections of the Gardiner when they have the underbelly covered. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea but are these panels easily taken down and put up?
 
Underpass Park is not under The Gardiner. It's under the Richmond/Adelaide-Eastern Avenue bridges.

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The new walkway that runs from Lower River Street (just beside Underpass Park) to the Eastern Avenue overpass bridge has, finally, opened. It replaces the old (demolished) pedestrian bridge that used to go from St Lawrence Steet to the bridge.
 
Went for a little walk last night and noticed all the trees and ornamental grasses being planted in Phase 2. It was dark out, so I couldn't take any photos, but for what I could see it looked great. Amazing how trees and grass take away from all the concrete haha.

When I attended the WDL Community Update Meeting at the end of May, James Roche from WT mentioned that trees were already "tagged" for Phase 2 and that they would be planting them in Sept. And they are being planted! And its September lol.

So right on schedule with this one...can't wait until this section open up (next year, according to WT). I imagine that when I move here next year, that this will be one of my favorite spots to view the City with my family :)

DSC: Thanks for the update with the new walkway opened up as I didn't notice that last night. I haven't ever walked along the overpasses...so need to do that soon to get some pics from higher-up! The area looks better and better everyday.
 
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