Area 1 (Underground Works and Bay Street)
Q: On slide 22, how does the tunneling work from the Queens Quay-Ferry Docks Station? The visual is difficult to orient and understand the shape and its surroundings. Where this is coming from, how people get to it etc
A: The station contains two underground levels. One at the platform level and one at the tunnel level. Showing slide 19, this plan view is at the platform level of Queens Quay Station. To get to the tunnel level there are two ways: 1) via the staircase 2) via the elevator. There is also potential for an elevator connection through 11 Bay.
Q: What is the capacity of the elevator and what will happen with large numbers of people trying to get to the lower level? Standard TTC elevators are quite small. This is a pinch point.
A: The current standard elevator size for a TTC subway station is 16 people or 1,200 kgs but capacity does vary depending on the specific station. The project team will look into designing for larger elevators at Queens Quay Station if the location allows.
Q: How is the station accessible for those with mobility devices and children to get to the ferry docks?
A: The team is looking at the high traffic volumes at the street level as well. Based on reviews there are limited options. An entrance with both an escalator and an elevator would impede the street level capacity and block sightlines. The TTC design team will continue to investigate the potential of escalators and higher capacity elevators for deeper stations and locations where we expect higher capacity volumes.
Q: Related to bottlenecks at the elevators, are escalators being considered at the tunnel to the ferry terminal? It will be a busy and many will need assistance with stairs.
A: The entrance building cannot contain both an escalator and elevator due to the constraints and built form surrounding it. A building with both would impede on the space at the pedestrian level, for that reason the design offers the potential to integrate a connection to elevator access in adjacent buildings. This could provide opportunity for elevator access. The team will explore the earlier suggestion to look at higher capacity elevators in lieu of escalators.
Q: There is a line of doors between the Union streetcar platforms and the rest of the Station; there is concern for this creating a bottleneck. Are these doors necessary for fire safety and will they be held open magnetically?
A: Yes, they are required for fire safety and can be held open magnetically.
Q: Is the Bremner line still being considered?
A: The Bremner line has always been identified as a longer-term potential for transit expansion. It will not be included in the 30% design for costing, which is the current scope for this project. Along the Bremner corridor there is also a new vision for the Rogers Centre and those plans are still evolving and will be something to address further down the line.
Q: Would the Bay Street underpass and teamway improvements be in scope for Bay Street reconstruction?
A: This is something the team want to look at further for the Bay Street reconstruction. From Bay Street, the team will need to wait for the Metrolinx construction to finish. This question has come up for all the underpasses. There is some separate work that needs to be completed for some of this work from Jarvis over to Cherry Street.
Q: It seems that both the east and west portal will have similar canopies. Is the plan to do construction simultaneously with the east portal?
A: The design concept for the portal canopies will have similar appearances to the serve as gateways at the Waterfront. As part of the ongoing development of the construction schedule, we must balance priorities to try to have the new expanded line constructed as soon as possible while minimizing the impact on streetcar service. Area 2A (Surface works from Bay St. to east of Parliament St.)
Q: At the Yonge Street Slip, the laneway to access the ferry dock is where island residents get deliveries. How does the revised Yonge Street Slip design impact access in the laneway to the vehicle ferry?
A:The access to the driveway would be a signalized intersection at Yonge Street and connect diagonally to the ferry dock.
Q: Regarding public facilities at Yonge Street, Yonge Street Slip, and Jarvis Slip, will there be public washrooms at these locations? We do not have enough of them in our parks.
A: The team have not discussed this yet, but this is a good point. It can be considered in the broader context, not just in the scope of this project.
Q: On slide 29, there was a dotted line showing combined sewer overflow down Yonge Street; are there plans to replace this to avoid overflow into the Yonge Street Slip?
A: The Inner-Harbour West Tunnel Project would reduce the frequency of combined overflow into the slip, but not eliminate it. Area 2B (Queens Quay East Extension and Cherry Street)
Q: Can you clarify that during Phase 1, to get the east/west line in place and a Union to PortLands link as soon as possible, the Polson Loop is preferred? Is a further connection to the Ontario Line and potentially extending to Leslie still a possibility?
A: The team is exploring which section to implement first. The team’s report to council is coming up, and all of these options are consistent with the transit network that council has approved. For the 2031 planning we are looking at Polson Street; by 2041 the extension would be to Leslie Barns. Of all the options, Polson seems to have the least risk. There is also a great opportunity with Cherry Street starting construction this year to piggyback on the effort.
Q: Were the LRT bridges over the new mouth of the Don removed from the plans due to cost? How will this effect the plan now that Cherry Street is being used instead of the Keating Channel?
A: The bridges included in the Port Lands Flood Protection Project (PLFP) are: the two bridges(called Cherry North) that cross the Keating channel (the transit and road bridges), at Cherry South, (over the new mouth of the Don River) only the road bridge (not the transit bridge) is in the PLFP scope, and for the Commissioner Street Bridge, only the road bridge is included in the PLFP scope.
Q: With the recent realignment of the Ontario Line, is there consideration of a Cherry Street station to allow for an LRT/Ontario Line interchange?
A: No, that is a provincial project, and we are not aware of any initiative to include a station at the Cherry location. In the presentation graphics we are not showing the crossing of the rail corridor with the Ontario Line. What we are showing is alignment at the north side of the rail corridor as proposed. There is about a 6-10 metre elevation difference between the two lines (LRT and Ontario Line) starting around Corktown Common. Corktown Station, just west of King and Parliament, will be served by the 504A streetcar. It will be extended to the Polson loop which would be the direct connection along Cherry Street and west on King to Corktown Station; there will be a direct connection to the Ontario Line there.
Q: Regarding the Distillery Loop; what is the priority? What do you see as timing for the loop and the work being done for getting under rail corridor?
A: The first task of the 2B design team was to do a feasibility study to look at the options from feasibility perspective. One of the findings was that, regardless of the options, getting the streetcar under the rail corridor and the back in time is limiting when preserving the existing loop primarily for grading and alignment reasons but it is also a space issue. The focus is to get the portion from Union to Polson delivered as Phase 1. The extension of Cherry to Polson would come later. The TPAP will include both links. The impacts, mitigation, and design will all be included as part of the scope of work.
Q: Is the old Cherry Street Bascule Bridge capable of carrying streetcars?
A: No, it is not. It is a lift bridge. The ship channel is navigable waters requiring sufficient clearance to allow boats to pass through. Project Phasing and Implementation
Q: Who is responsible for managing traffic during construction? Is there anything built in to manage crowds, cyclists, and other congestion during construction? The intersection is already dangerous.
A: The concern is legitimate, as with any major construction project. It will be critical to maintain access to buildings and maintain at least one lane of traffic in each direction on Queens Quay and Bay Street. It will be important to mitigate these impacts through construction management best practices.
Q: Can you clarify the timeline? It was said that the earliest this could go to council would be October.
A: The most realistic timeline is to share the report at the October Executive Committee and the November Executive Committee meetings first. A report to Council would follow about a week after. Transit Project Assessment Process UpdateQ: For the TPAP process and funding, what is needed and what should we be advocating for to make sure your work can continue and stay on track? What is the next request? A: The project is completing what we call Stage Gate 3, which requires 30% design to put forward for a budget request. In an ideal scenario we would get the budget requested, which would include both design and construction packaged as a complete budget request. For example, this would be the budget for developing the connection to the Polson Loop.
