Metrolinx is holding a special Open House on Electrification for the Stouffville Corridor.
For an overview of what was discussed during the previous meetings and a point of reference for the upcoming meeting, please visit the following links:
Metrolinx is installing a second set of tracks along the Stouffville GO train line, pictured above.
In July 2014, GO Transit released its environmental study on rail service expansion in the Stouffville corridor. The report proposes incremental twinning of the tracks between Mount Joy and Kennedy GO Stations in order to run full GO Train service.
There is a lot of detailed engineering design that remains to be completed such as full road/rail grade separations, installation of noise barriers and the construction of retaining walls. For more information you can read the environmental study at http://tinyurl.com/m7op9bk.
In February, Metrolinx announced that they will build a second set of tracks on a 5 km stretch of the Stouffville corridor from north of Steeles to north of Sheppard. Construction is set to start this spring. Double-tracking the rest of the line will follow and is critical to Mayor Tory’s SmartTrack plan.
GO Transit’s railway corridors have sufficient space to accommodate two sets of tracks. Work to install a second set of tracks along the Stouffville corridor will occur in the next 2 years. Photo credit: Chin Lee.
In February, Metrolinx announced that they would spring into action this spring by installing a second set of tracks along the Stouffville GO Train corridor. The construction area stretches 5 km from just north of Agincourt GO Station to just north of Milliken GO Station. Double-tracking the rest of the line will occur in 2016 and is a critical first step in realizing the City of Toronto’s own transportation plan, SmartTrack.
Riding the rails from Milliken to Union GO Stations currently takes 32 minutes. The same trip with SmartTrack may take slightly longer because the line has more proposed stations but it is still significantly faster than taking the bus and subway. To learn more about this project, one of my staff took the opportunity to ask Metrolinx a few questions about this project. Here is what you need to know:
Q:Toronto is embarking on a study of Mayor Tory’s SmartTrack proposal, which has many more stations. What considerations are being given to these studies? Why are contracts being given out when these studies are still underway?
A: There is extensive coordination with the City of Toronto and York Region, facilitated by the join RER-SmartTrack Program Committee and various working groups that include staff representation from Metrolinx, the Ministry of Transportation and the affected municipalities. Implementing RER within a 10 year time frame requires carefully coordinated processes in which planning, design and construction for the various elements that make up the overall program must proceed concurrently. We have identified infrastructure needs that are common to all potential future scenarios that we can begin building before all planning for the overall program has been finalized.
Q:In the design and construction phase, when will the sound barriers be finalized and when will they be installed, especially around the Agincourt community as per Figure 10.3 (page 79)?
A: We plan to complete the various infrastructure improvements along the corridor in multiple steps. The result will be that individual sectons of noise walls will be installed on a rolling basis over the next several years. In Ward 41, noise walls north of Marilyn Ave. will be installed by the same contractor who will build the railway infrastructure. South of Marilyn Ave., the noise walls adjacent to Agincourt GO Station will be finalized and built in coordination with planned work to expand the station and add a new east platform. This means that noise wall construction is expected to occur in 2 phases in our community.
Q:Page 85 of the EA identifies the possibility of Steeles Ave. E. being grade separated from the Stouffville rail corridor. Has any decision been made on this point since the publication of the EA or are grade separations still in the planning stages?
A: No decisions have been made at this time.
Metrolinx is looking at ways to implement the Government of Ontario’s transportation plan within an aggressive 10-year timeline but they haven’t taken into consideration the disruption multiple rounds of construction will have on our community. The construction schedule as currently planned means our community faces a decade of ongoing construction. I am currently working with Metrolinx to mitigate the impact of construction on our neighbourhoods. I would like all of the work scheduled for our Ward to occur concurrently to minimize disruption to our community.
A second set of tracks will be installed on a 17 km stretch of the Stouffville GO rail corridor.
In last month’s e-newsletter, I informed you that construction is scheduled to occur along the Stouffville GO Train line this spring. Metrolinx is building a second set of tracks on a 5 km stretch of rail line in Ward 41 this year and will start construction on the remainder of the 17 km project in 2016.
I have contacted the Ministry of Transportation and Metrolinx to ask a number of questions about this project. My concern centres around coordination between different levels of government and agencies relating to this project. My office and the City of Toronto were not contacted before this announcement was made but the City recently approved $2.4 million in studies relating to SmartTrack. It is imperative that the efforts of Metrolinx, Toronto and Markham/York Region be coordinated in order to successfully implement GO rail service expansion and SmartTrack.
SmartTrack has many more stations than the current GO Train service. It may be premature for Metrolinx to approve contracts for the Stouffville GO line when the SmartTrack studies have not been completed yet. There are still many engineering and technical challenges that need to be resolved.
I asked for clarification to determine if all intersections that intersect with the Stouffville GO line will be grade separated. Currently, the Environmental Study for the Stouffville rail corridor expansion project states that there is a possibility that Steeles Ave. E. will be grade separated from Stouffville GO. This information is important to manage traffic along the east-west streets that intersect with the line.
I also asked for clarification on the hours of operation of expanded GO Train service, frequency of service and what the plans for electrification are. Furthermore, I inquired into the proposed noise barriers for the Agincourt community. I will update the community via my e-newsletter or newsletter once I receive a response to these inquiries.
chinlee41.wordpress.com 