Prep Work Has Begun

A couple of days ago I tried to go up the "ramp" at St. Lawrence St. onto the Eastern Ave. bridge over the the DVP but the entrance to the ramp is now boarded up! It seems like they've now boarded up most of the perimeter of the UP footprint.

That's great news to me because I'm really anxious to see how the park looks when completed (hopefully by this fall).

Has anyone seen any further news on UP. It's been about a year since the original burst of stories about the park but I haven't seem much since then!
 
It's a relief to hear this. This project was one of the ones I had thought most likely to be "defunded" under the Ford administration.
 
The ramp was blocked off about a month ago and has now been demolished. The site west of St Lawrence Street was fenced in before Christmas and WT announced that excavation would start in March/April and that the park will open in late 2011.
 
Here are two example of underpass usage in Hong Kong I captured during my visit. Concise photo tours coming soon!

Diamond Hill

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Shau Kei Wan

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JanneClaude,
Your Hong kong photos looked great!!! I'd love to see more - you seemed to suggest that you have more to show!!! BTW, does anyone have any photos (or links to photos) of other similar "underpass parks"?
 
With the official construction start happening tomorrow (Thursday May 26) it doesn't appear that the Doug and Bobsy Twins have enough time to kick this sand castle over. So the question becomes, will either one of them show up at the ceremony? My guess is no.
 
This is where we should focus our energies when discussing the future of the Gardiner Expressway.
I think estimates for the options of taking down the expressway and either diverting the traffic to surface or underground routes anged from $750 million to somewhere around $2 billion. Add to that the additional traffic congestion and years of construction and potential (likelyhood) for cost overuns and this looks to me to be a huge waste of money.

We have plenty of developable land downtown and the existance of the gexpressway does not appear to have hindered development in the area. Better to use the funds to improve physical connections to the harbourfront, improvements in transportation and infrastucture improvements. A project like this can turn a blight into a resource.

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I too am excited about the development of the Gardiner. Having just come from Vancouver, I was shocked and disgusted by the expressway, particularly its cruelty to the waterfront, the way in which it vivisects the city from the water. Having lived through the politics and understood the realities and the costs of tearing down the expressway, I came to believe I would have to live with it. After walking under it, and witnessing some of the developments so far (near Panorama I think), I am now thrilled by the unique possibilities the G offers, especially as it acts as a kind of giant roof for rainy days and is overall interesting to be under when animated (love the blue lights as they glint along the pillars and flicker on the ceiling). This project could be the first of many to create interesting, inventive urban experiences for the thousands of people moving in and around the waterfront.
 
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/0...government-gather-for-underpass-park-kickoff/

Three levels of government gather for Underpass Park kickoff

National Post Staff May 25, 2011 – 9:15 PM ET

A new phase of Toronto’s waterfront redevelopment will get its official kickoff Thursday morning when politicians from all three levels of government gather under the Eastern Avenue and Richmond Street overpasses, site of the future Underpass Park.

Waterfront Toronto touts the venue as “the most extensive park to ever be built under an overpass in Canada, and the first of its kind in Toronto.”

The idea is to turn an overlooked and often derelict section of the city into useful public space in the soon to emerge West Don Lands neighbourhood.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is among the politicians expected to be on hand for the ceremonial shoveling. Real construction will begin once the photo op has ended.
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Hume: Underpass Park will change the city forever

Hume weighs in on today's groundbreaking with his usual understated enthusiasm. What's really glaring, though, is this little, and all to predictable, detail:

On hand for the ceremonial shovelling of the earth Thursday, Flaherty joined a gaggle of dignitaries that included provincial Minister of Research and Innovation, Glen Murray, and local municipal councillor Pam McConnell.

Conspicuous in his absence was Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, whose doppelganger, Doug Ford, has been happy to share his thoughts about the waterfront, as half-baked as they may be.
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The Bugsy Twins stood up their own buddy, Jim Flaherty, who had to fly in all the way from Ottawa, or Oshawa--I'm not sure which. Real classy, Mayor Cheese. Your contempt for your own city is palpable.
 
No surprise really. If it was a groundbreaking for a Home Depot with the largest parking lot in Canada, he'd be there.
 
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