King-Victoria Transit Hub

[danbrotherston]

There are at least 3 other municipal water features in DTK right now (not including splash pads and pools), including one run by the region at the Charles Terminal. They are all operating. I think it's a question of investing in maintenance and operation. Given that this would presumably replace the Charles Terminal feature, which I assume has been running for 30+ years (the length of operation of the terminal), I am not too worried.

For closing Duke St....its' annoying that we are at the whims of metrolinx, but I'd say if the road remains open for cycling and pedestrians, that's the important use of the road. The lack of infra on Victoria doesn't surprise me, there is basically zero space around the Rumpel Felt building (the sidewalks don't even fit past the entryway), so I think the only way Victoria would get cycling infra is a road diet. But it makes it all the more important that Duke remain open because Breithaupt provides access to the terminal from Duke.

It's not that we are at the whims of Metrolinx, Metrolinx is at the whims of Transport Canada's grade crossing regulations. Because of the regulations, and future plans for GO/VIA train frequency, closing Duke St. would unfortunately be required since the end of the designed platform is so close to the street that keeping it open would end up resulting in grade crossing signals closing the road for extended periods every time there was a train at the station for the "just in case" scenario of platform overrun or brake failure by an eastbound train (you can see an example of this at the ION stations at Northfield and Laurier-Waterloo Park). The platform as pictured is also only 12 passenger coaches in length. The longest GO Train is 12 Bilevel coaches + 1 or 2 Locomotives, depending on the type attached (and they can be attached with 2 on one end or one on either end). That means a strong likelihood (since Metrolinx likes to configure their trains with locomotives on the eastern or southern-pointing end) of locomotives extending past the platform into the space that is the current Duke St. grade crossing.

I understand why they might choose to not allow a level crossing. None of that requires that the road be closed, a grade separated crossing is possible.  An active transportation tunnel is probably a lot cheaper.