Barrie Rail Corridor Expansion Project Transit Project Assessment Process APPENDIX A Natural Environment Report Environmental Project Report – August 8, 2017 In Association With 0HWUROLQ[%DUULH5DLO&RUULGRU([SDQVLRQ3URMHFW 1DWXUDO(QYLURQPHQW5HSRUW±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n Association With Metrolinx - Barrie Rail Corridor Expansion Project Natural Environment Report – August 8, 2017 Executive Summary • Peak period, peak direction 30-minute or better service between Allandale Waterfront GO Station and Union Station; Metrolinx, an agency of the Province of Ontario, has proposed the expansion of the Barrie rail corridor and is evaluating the environmental effects of this transit project in accordance with the Transit Project Assessment • Off-peak, two-way 60-minute service or better between Allandale Waterfront GO Station and Union Station; Process (TPAP). The TPAP is regulated by the Environmental Assessment Act (EAA) under Ontario Regulation and 231/08 – Transit Projects and Metrolinx Undertakings (O. Reg. 231/08). The existing Barrie rail corridor is primarily • Electrification of the entire Barrie rail corridor4. a single track, approximately 63 miles in length, running from Union Station in the City of Toronto to Allandale Waterfront GO Station (Mile 63.00 Newmarket Subdivision) in the City of Barrie, as shown in Figure 1-1 (located The following service level scenarios were assessed as a part of this TPAP: within the main text). • Current: 14 diesel trains from Union Station to Allandale Waterfront GO Station in 2016; The TPAP for the Barrie Rail Corridor Expansion Project (BRCE Project) includes the following infrastructure • Future, Scenario 1: up to 36 diesel trains per day from Union Station to Aurora GO Station by 2021, which components: includes 20 diesel trains between Aurora and Allandale Waterfront GO Station; and • A second track between Lansdowne Avenue in the City of Toronto (Mile 3.00) to Allandale Waterfront GO • Future, Scenario 2: up to 180 electric trains from Union Station to Aurora GO Station in 2025 and beyond, 12 Station in the City of Barrie (Mile 63.00) ; which includes 46 electric trains between Aurora and Allandale Waterfront GO Station 5. • Upgrades at existing GO Stations along the corridor: Rutherford, Maple, King City, Aurora, Newmarket, East In June 2016, Metrolinx announced five new GO Stations for the Barrie rail corridor. These stations were endorsed Gwillimbury, Bradford, Barrie South and Allandale Waterfront; by each municipality and received Municipal Council resolution approvals in November 2016. The new GO • Upgrades to existing structures within the Barrie rail corridor including bridges and culverts; and Stations include: • A new layover facility within the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury for overnight storage of trains. • Spadina (at Front Street) in the City of Toronto; The BRCE Project will be implemented in different phases. The first phase of the BRCE Project includes the • Bloor-Davenport (Bloor Street near Lansdowne Avenue) in the City of Toronto; corridor infrastructure components to support the GO Expansion program over the next 10 years. As such, Phase • Kirby (near Keele Street) in the City of Vaughan; One includes: • Mulock (near Bayview Avenue) in the Town of Newmarket; and • Detailed design and construction of a second track from Tecumseth Street in the City of Toronto (Mile 1.35) to Aurora GO Station (Mile 29.90)3; • Innisfil (at 6th Line) in the Town of Innisfil. • Upgrades to the Rutherford, Maple, King City, and Aurora GO Stations; and The location for each proposed new GO Station is identified in the Preferred Design Rail Corridor Plans (Drawings SK-C-001 - SK-C-144) appended to the BRCE Environmental Project Report (EPR). Public consultation for all • Detailed design and construction of a new layover facility within the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury for new GO Stations in collaboration with the municipalities will be part of the next phase of the GO Regional Express overnight train storage. Rail (RER) program. New GO Stations have not been assessed as part of this TPAP and will be subject to an As additional funding becomes available from the Province, the next phase(s) of the Project will include the Addendum. second track between Aurora GO Station and Allandale Waterfront GO Station and associated station upgrades. R.J. Burnside & Associates Limited (Burnside) was retained to complete this Natural Environment Report (NER) As part of Phase One of the BRCE Project, GO Expansion along the corridor over the next 10 years will include: in support of the TPAP, which forms part of the BRCE EPR. • All-day, two-way 15-minute service between Aurora GO Station and Union Station; 1The portion of the corridor from north of Bloor Street (Mile 3.91) to south of Davenport Road (Mile 4.87) falls within the area 3 The portion of the corridor from Tecumseth Street (Mile 1.35) to Lansdowne Avenue (Mile 3.00) was assessed under a of the Davenport Diamond Grade Separation project which was assessed under a separate TPAP and includes a double separate TPAP (Georgetown South Service Expansion and Union-Pearson Rail Link Environmental Project Report, July track only. 2009), however the additional track work within this section has been included as part of the detailed design of Phase One 2 The double track expansion for the section of the Barrie rail corridor between south of Steeles Avenue (Mile 12.86) in the of the BRCE Project. City of Toronto and south of the Rutherford GO Station (Mile 16.50) in the City of Vaughan was assessed under a separate 4 The electrification of the Barrie rail corridor is being assessed under a separate TPAP. As such, the GO Rail Electrification Environmental Assessment (EA) (Barrie Corridor Double Track Expansion Project Summary Report, August 2014) and is TPAP will address any electrification considerations for the corridor beyond the works proposed as part of the BRCE TPAP. not included as part of this TPAP. 5 Assessed as part of a separate system-wide Electrification TPAP. HMM345492-RR-230-0011, Rev. 0, Page ii In Association With Metrolinx - Barrie Rail Corridor Expansion Project Natural Environment Report – August 8, 2017 Under the TPAP process, proponents must identify potential effects, mitigation measures, and monitoring Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury could not be directly accessed and were observed from the nearest publicly associated with natural features6 of provincial importance (identified as Significant Features78 for the purposes of accessible vantage point. this Report). This includes features listed in the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) (Ministry of Municipal Affairs Surveys to delineate vegetation communities, characterize aquatic resources, and document the presence of and Housing (MMAH), 2014), the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (ORMCP) (MMAH, 2002), Lake Simcoe amphibians and breeding birds were completed from April through to October, 2015. Additional surveys to assess Protection Plan (LSPP) (Ministry of the Environment (MOE9), 2009), Greenbelt Plan (MMAH, 2005), the potential turtle wintering habitats were conducted in the spring of 2016 along the Phase One portion of the corridor Endangered Species Act (ESA, 2007) and Federal Fisheries Act. from the City of Toronto (Mile 3.00) to the Town of Aurora GO Station (Mile 29.90). In addition, all incidental The BRCE Project also falls within the jurisdiction of 11 single-tier, upper-tier, and lower-tier municipalities and wildlife and Species at Risk (SAR) sightings within the study area were documented during all site investigations. two conservation authorities, all of which have local and/or watershed based policies for the protection of the All findings were compiled and analyzed in order to identify Significant Natural Features. In some cases, natural environment. As an agency of the Province of Ontario, Metrolinx is not subject to conservation authority significance was confirmed, while in other cases it was only possible to determine if a natural feature was or municipal permits and approvals requirements. However, Metrolinx policy is to adhere to the intent of the potentially significant. In these cases, the feature was identified as a “Candidate Significant Feature”.