STAFF REPORT

June 13, 2005

To: Planning and Transportation Committee

From: Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning

Subject: West Diamond Rail-to-Rail Grade Separation – Extension of Grade Separation to North of St. Clair Avenue West

Purpose:

To respond to City Council's Directrion of May 18, 2005 regarding the Environmental Assessment (EA) recently completed by GO Transit in relation to the West Toronto Diamond Rail-to-Tail Grade Separation. Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

There are no financial implications arising from his report. Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1) City Council not pursue any additional investigations related to extending the trench for the CN/CP West Toronto Diamond Rail-to-Rail Grade Separation to cross under St. Clair Avenue West, due to the prohibitive high costs that would be borne by the City of Toronto.

(2) City Council direct staff to work with the St. Clair West Community Design Consultation Group to improve physical conditions in and around the CN/CP structure east of as part of the detailed design work for the St.Clair Avenue West Transit Improvements project.

Background:

On October 1 and 2, 1998, City of Toronto Council adopted the recommendations of the Staff report dated June 26, 1998 titled “A Rapid Transit Connection Between Pearson International Airport and ”. At that time, City Council:

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endorsed the concept of a rapid transit connection between Pearson International Airport and Union Station; - supported upgrading of the Weston Rail Corridor for all-day GO service from Union Station to a new station in the vicinity of Woodbine Racetrack; - supported the extension of the internal airport transit system from the airport to upgraded GO rail service in the CN Weston rail corridor; - requested Transport Canada, in conjunction with the City of Toronto, Ministry of Transportation, GO Transit, the GTTA, Region of Peel and the City of Mississauga, to conduct a physical, operational and financial feasibility study for the extension - requested the Province and GO Transit to ensure that the upgrading of the CN Weston corridor for all-day GO service to the airport is a high priority for GO expansion - requested the Mayor and Chair of Urban Environment and Development Committee to meet with the Federal Minister of Transport to discuss Federal support for the feasibility study and for early implementation of the rapid transit connection. - Council’s support of the above was conditional upon the project including a portion of the financial cost of the required upgrades to the subway platform at Union Station.

More recently, City Council, on May 17, 18, 19, 2005 adopted a motion that a possible extension of the recommended grade separation to north of St. Clair Avenue West be examined to identify the potential planning, economic, transportation and other benefits and implications, including the impact to the St. Clair West Transit Improvement project, of extending the trench a few hundred metres more north of St. Clair Avenue West. The motion also requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with appropriate City Officials, TTC and GO Transit, to report to Council through the Planning and Transportation Committee.

Current Environmental Assessment Studies

GO Transit has recently completed the EA study for the ‘West Toronto Diamond Rail-to-Rail Grade Separation’ in the St. Clair Avenue West and Old Weston Road area in the GO Georgetown/CN Weston Corridor. Acres International has completed the EA study on behalf of GO Transit. The design package has been awarded for this project and GO Transit is planning to start construction in early 2006. Construction will last for approximately 2 years.

GO Transit has been undertaking an EA study for rail expansion in the Georgetown/CN Weston corridor and an Air Rail Link to Pearson Airport, in conjunction with Union Pearson AirLink Group (UPAG). The study area is illustrated on Figure 1. It is important to note that this EA is separate from the recently completed West Toronto Diamond project noted above. The study will meet both the provincial and federal EA requirements and has progressed to the first series of public meetings. However, the study is now being re-initiated as an Individual EA. UPAG is responsible for costs associated with operation of the Air Rail Link service, and the design and construction of the Airport Spur Line (connection between the Georgetown corridor and airport).

GO Transit is a stakeholder in the Air Rail Link because GO owns and is responsible for the management, operation and maintenance of the Union Station Rail Corridor, and operates service along the Georgetown corridor/CN Weston Subdivision. - 3 -

Comments:

The West Toronto Diamond Rail-to-Rail Grade Separation project is an important project for GO Transit as it will eliminate existing operational constraints associated with the present at-grade crossing of two important rail corridors. The project involves bringing the CN rail corridor (GO Georgetown line) below the CPR North Toronto line. To achieve that, a trench and rail underpass, north of Dupont Street and south of St. Clair Avenue West, will be built. The local community will benefit from reduced noise, as the trains will run below ground level and they no longer have to stop and start to let other trains cross the diamond. As well, the noise and vibration of the train wheels contacting with the diamond components will be eliminated. Another local benefit of the project will be the removal of the two CN Rail tracks from the current level crossing on Old Weston Road, just north of Junction Road.

Since the initial request was received from the St. Clair West Revitalization Committee (SWRC), and others, to examine the extension of the proposed rail trench north of St. Clair Avenue West and replacement of existing rail underpass structure with a rail overpass, staff from City Planning and Toronto Transit Commission has met with the GO Transit senior staff, to discuss the feasibility and implications of this proposal.

The following discussion focuses on three major issues that were identified by City, TTC and GO Transit:

1) Feasibility:

The bridge over St Clair Avenue West, east of Keele Street, currently carries three tracks. The westerly pair are CN tracks that carry GO trains into Union Station, and the third (easterly) track, owned by CPR, carries freight traffic north on the MacTier subdivision. The two CN tracks are being lowered for the rail-to-rail grade separation and could remain in an extended trench under St Clair Avenue, if necessary. However, it is not possible to lower the CP track since it has to connect to the main east-west CP line (CP North Toronto Subdivision, south of Junction Road) in both directions and cross over the CN tracks and Old Weston Road, without adverse effects on St. Clair Avenue West. Sufficient distance is not available between the east-west CP line and St. Clair Avenue to drop the CP track to cross under St Clair Avenue at its present elevation (existing grade level). Preliminary work by GO Transit’s engineers suggests that St. Clair Avenue West would have to be raised by a minimum of 3 metres to provide sufficient clearance for the CP track to cross under St. Clair Avenue, not accounting for clearances from other structures and utilities. Also, because of the grade differences between the CP and CN lines, there would not only be an extension of the length of the proposed trench for the CN tracks but the construction of a second trench for the CP tracks. The CN trench would need to be extended an additional 300 metres (resulting in a 50% net increase in excavation and length of retaining walls) and a second new trench for the CP tracks would be more than 850 metres in length. (See Figure 2) The currently proposed trench from south of the West Diamond Rail-to-Rail crossing, meeting with St. Clair at the existing structure is about 1 kilometre (1000 metres) in length.

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If a decision were to be made by City Council to go ahead with this project, a new EA would likely be required (by City/TTC) and would delay current construction by at least 1 to 2 years. The proposed changes to the GO Transit project would require significant timelines and disruption to complete (at least 2 additional years), require the streetcar service to be removed during construction and possibly require the complete closure of St. Clair Avenue for a significant period of time.

2) Costs and Funding:

GO Transit estimates that the construction work for an extension of the trench, which would include: extension of the trench structure from the current design; reconfiguration of the CP track; and addition of a new structure over the trench for St. Clair Avenue West, would cost between $50 and $75 million. This does not take into account any utility relocations, or temporary structures that would be required to maintain CN/CP/GO Transit operations. It also does not account for property impacts occurring as a result of railway diversions and temporary structures during construction.

In a letter to SWRC dated March 10, 2005, GO Transit has indicated that, since the proposal to extend the trench north of St. Clair Avenue West and its associated work is not necessary for their operations, they are not the agency that would fund any improvements. To quote the letter (date March 10, 2005):

“GO Transit is funded to operate an inter-regional transit system, primarily by the users of the system and by the provincial government. Unless a particular underpass impacts their operations, GO Transit should remain neutral on underpass improvements. GO Transit is not the appropriate body to determine which railway underpass improvements are desirable. This is a role for the City, both in terms of the decision making process and in terms of funding. If the City determines that the St Clair underpass (or the Dupont Street, King Street or Queen Street underpass) improvements should receive City funding, then GO Transit will cooperate with the City to carry out the work.”

Therefore, the need to extend the trench for the CN/CP tracks north of St. Clair Avenue West must be determined and funded by the City.

3) Need for Grade Separation:

The St. Clair Avenue West Transit Improvements Class Environmental Assessment, approved by Council on September 30, 2005, did not identify any widening of the CN/CP Structure east of Keele Street. The St. Clair West Transit Improvements EA did identify improvements required to both the Keele Street and Old Weston Road intersections on either side of the rail structure as sufficient to accommodate both traffic and streetcar movements through the intersections and under the bridge. A detailed traffic operations assessment was completed for this section to ensure that this area would function properly with the design proposed in the EA. Therefore, the St. Clair streetcar project does not rely on widening of the existing bridge structure nor moving the rail structure under St. Clair Avenue. Also, given the construction costs of the entire St. Clair Avenue project, between Yonge Street and Gunns Road, are in the order of $65 million, it would - 5 -

be extremely difficult to justify the expenditure of that amount again ($50-75 million) at a single location along the line. There are many other locations across the City with rail/road grade separation concerns that are certainly a higher priority than this location.

However, as part of the St. Clair Avenue West Transit Improvements project, the design team will work with the community to make the underpasses more pedestrian friendly by improving illumination, moving retaining walls back from the edge of the sidewalk, providing better urban design and landscaping and replacing handrails.

Conclusions:

The completion of the ‘West Toronto Diamond Rail-to-Rail Grade Separation’ is very important to the continued improvement and delivery of GO Transit service in the Greater Toronto Area. City Council has in past supported and encouraged improved commuter rail service including expansion of the Georgetown GO service and an airport link to Union Station. Each additional train that GO Transit can accommodate on the Georgetown line removes about 1400 car trips each day from city streets, reducing congestion and pollution.

As far as the local community is concerned, there will be short term construction impacts, however, these effects are not unusual and will be mitigated as much as possible. On the other hand, in the long term, the community will benefit from reduced noise when the trains run below ground level and when trains no longer have to stop and start to let other trains cross the diamond. Another benefit associated with the West Toronto Diamond Grade separation project will be the removal of the two CN rail tracks from the current level crossing on Old Weston Road, just north of Junction Road.

The GO Transit grade separation, as planned, will not constrain the future construction of a widened St Clair Avenue any more than the current situation. In fact, when completed, the potential four-track structure could ease future construction by allowing train traffic to be switched from one side of the structure to the other to accommodate construction phasing.

Although the existing bridge structure does not need to be widened for the Transit Improvements Project, as part of the detailed design improvements to the underpass will be investigated to improve physical conditions for pedestrians, such as sidewalk, lighting and urban design improvements.

Contact:

Name: Rod McPhail, Director, Transportation Planning Metro Hall, 22nd Fl., Tel: 2-8100, Fax: 2-3821, E-mail: [email protected]

______Ted Tyndorf Chief Planner and Executive Director City Planning Division - 6 -

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