innsertnamehere said:
Who knows, maybe they will try to develop it as a new airport facility to rival Pearson. you could build a new passenger terminal close to Sheppard West station, making it transit accessible.
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As mentioned in an earlier post, the air traffic conflicts with Pearson would likely be unworkable. They're only 15km apart and Downsview is in the glidepath for the main runways. Besides, a single N-S (ish) runway wouldn't make much difference when the primary runways (because of prevailing winds) are E-W.
 
innsertnamehere said:
Who knows, maybe they will try to develop it as a new airport facility to rival Pearson. you could build a new passenger terminal close to Sheppard West station, making it transit accessible.
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There is no where near enough land to make Downsview a viable competitor to Pearson. That and the fact, as mentioned above, that it would interfere with the flight paths at Pearson.

Pickering or Hamilton are the only real viable secondary airports for Toronto, the latter is only a viable alternative if their is rapid transit between Hamilton and Toronto (and i'm no talking about 30 min GO service to Hamilton GO/West Harbour and then connecting to another bus which takes 30 mins to the airport).
 
Amare said:
Pickering or Hamilton are the only real viable secondary airports for Toronto, the latter is only a viable alternative if their is rapid transit between Hamilton and Toronto (and i'm no talking about 30 min GO service to Hamilton GO/West Harbour and then connecting to another bus which takes 30 mins to the airport).
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Joining two regional airports sounds like the ideal test bed for hyperloop technology. Short, point-to-point, stick it underground or along a utility corridor, or both.
 
Someone's thinking big.

https://www.toronto.ca/community-pe...tions/infrastructure-projects/downsviewroads/

ollowing extensive consultation with the community, business groups, Canada Lands Company, Build Toronto, Bombardier and the Canadian Armed Forces Denison Armoury, the following key elements have been identified:
  • A four lane 2.3 kilometer (km) long multi-modal northerly extension of Transit Road to provide a connection to Chesswood Drive and Sheppard Avenue West.
  • A four lane 1.2 km long multi-modal westerly extension of Transit Road across Sheppard Avenue West to Keele Street inclusive of an underpass at the Metrolinx Barrie Rail Corridor.
  • A two lane 2.6 km multi-modal road running south from the future Transit Road inclusive of an overpass across the Metrolinx Barrie Rail Corridor.
The recommended alignments have been refined to maximize the potential for parks, boulevards, developments and employment opportunities. The recommended transportation network design applies a multi-modal approach including connected multi-use trails (e.g. for cycling), wide sidewalks and one to two traffic lanes in each direction on the roadway.
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Hmmm,.... interesting,.... If Bombardier sells their land to developers who redevelop, City’s Section 42 (road) & 37 (Community Benefits) might get enough land for Dufferin extension between Wilson Ave & Sheppard Ave West.

The straightening of Sheppard Ave West between Allen/Dufferin and Keele would be tougher since Bombardier land is east of rail track and fed west of rail track; is that correct?
 
Lenaitch, I fully agree with your opinion regarding land use. It’s like the planning zeitgeist is the grandchildren of reactionaries against radiant city planning have become the new radiant city planners but without realizing it.

Oil farms are as fundamental to a City as any other land use. That’s not a knock against any other land use or land use theory, it’s just that “Diversity is our Strength” I feel should apply to City form and function as much as in reference to people.
 
I recall reading a report on downsview park in the early 2000's. Even though the runway will no longer be used the plan was to work around it. Both for historical reasons and for economic reasons (foundations for runways are often deep and very strong. Difficult to remove)
 
Woodbridge_Heights said:
I recall reading a report on downsview park in the early 2000's. Even though the runway will no longer be used the plan was to work around it. Both for historical reasons and for economic reasons (foundations for runways are often deep and very strong. Difficult to remove)
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I'd imagine that there would be a potential workaround so as to not remove the foundations for roads. You'd still have to deal with it for buildings, but the tradeoff is that a better street layout maximizes the land area.

Ultimately, it's a choice that falls to PSPIB, but given it's a long-term investment body, I think they would jump at the chance to negotiate a better street network if it maximizes their development footprint.
 
DonValleyRainbow said:
I'd imagine that there would be a potential workaround so as to not remove the foundations for roads. You'd still have to deal with it for buildings, but the tradeoff is that a better street layout maximizes the land area.

Ultimately, it's a choice that falls to PSPIB, but given it's a long-term investment body, I think they would jump at the chance to negotiate a better street network if it maximizes their development footprint.
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But a question is what is a better street network. Should there be major roads through this potentially new neigbourhood? Or around it and the center roads can be focused on the people that live/work there. Beyond the PSPIB lands there is a lot of brownfield land which remained as such due to height restrictions. This area has huge potential (greater than the Portlands) with transit already built to it. I hope that Toronto can get practical and agree to a farsighted master plan for the area from Wilson Heights/Dufferin to Keele and Steeles to Wilson
 
muller877 said:
But a question is what is a better street network. Should there be major roads through this potentially new neigbourhood? Or around it and the center roads can be focused on the people that live/work there. Beyond the PSPIB lands there is a lot of brownfield land which remained as such due to height restrictions. This area has huge potential (greater than the Portlands) with transit already built to it. I hope that Toronto can get practical and agree to a farsighted master plan for the area from Wilson Heights/Dufferin to Keele and Steeles to Wilson
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It's generally agreed more compact, connected, and well-designed street networks (i.e. grids) make for denser, more walkable/cyclable and more sustainable communities. Placing a major road like Dufferin through it could definitely achieve that, if done right; it would have to be done in a way that makes it a destination and a complete street, not a through-way for commuters.

And as @sunnyraytoronto pointed out, it's not going to be a perfect grid with the TTC yard in the way. But it doesn't mean it's impossible to make a better network given the constraints. Hell, it could play off the runways as an homage to the past.

Just doodling in paint here, but just to contrast with the city's plan posted above, and for something to chew on. Majors in red, minors in blue.

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Woodbridge_Heights said:
I recall reading a report on downsview park in the early 2000's. Even though the runway will no longer be used the plan was to work around it. Both for historical reasons and for economic reasons (foundations for runways are often deep and very strong. Difficult to remove)
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The east-west runway was removed and partially built over several years ago. I could not find the weight loading capacity for the runways but imagine it was built to military standards of the day (1940s/50s) and as a kid I recall C-119 'Flying Boxcar' and later C-130 'Hercules' landing there. Anything built by mankind can be unbuilt.
 
rbt said:
The study was finished in 2016 before Bombardier announced their plans for the sale; and you're right that there is little value in the results now.
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Might have been finished in 2016 but the city had full page ads for this in the recent North York Mirror so the plan is active.
 
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