GO Expansion – New Track & Facilities TPAP€¦ · crewing services, wayside power, staff parking, etc. • Road improvements to access the property may be required • Protection

GO Expansion – New Track & Facilities TPAP

Proposed Don Valley Layover Facility - City of Toronto

Metrolinx has revised the configuration of the Don Valley Layover after receiving feedback from the public and other stakeholders during past public meetings. This reconfiguration is intended to reduce impacts to adjacent property owners, affected utility companies, and users of the Lower Don Valley Trail.

Union Station is a bottleneck in the GO network. By situating a layover site on the Don Branch, trains will be allowed to quickly and efficiently drop passengers at Union Station, while at the same time improving movement and reducing congestion. The site is ideally located relative to Union Station to allow for off-peak train storage.

Proposed Site Plan



Design Elements:• Train traction servicing: wayside power• Storage for 3 GO Trains• Crew Services, Sanitary Storage and Staff

Parking • Connection to mainline track• Entrance off Don Valley Parkway ramp to

Bayview Avenue/Bloor Street

Revised Design Elements:

Metrolinx has revised the design of the Don Valley Layover since the previous round of public consultation to reflect stakeholder feedback.

Characteristics of the site:• Metrolinx owns the Don Branch rail corridor

that runs parallel to the Don Valley Parkway• The Don Branch rail corridor is currently not

operational• The track storage infrastructure will be

located on Metrolinx’s existing property • Additional property will be required for

crewing services, wayside power, staff parking, etc.

• Road improvements to access the property may be required

• Protection of Don Valley Trail and connectivity to the surrounding community will be maintained during and following construction



Existing Site

The site:

• The Don Valley layover site is located within the Don Valley watershed adjacent to a City of Toronto Environmentally Significant Area (Don Valley Central Section)

• Metrolinx will ensure that all the proposed environmental mitigation measures, monitoring and management plans are adhered to during construction to prevent, avoid, or mitigate any impacts to the environment.

The revised layover configuration:

• Locates facilities outside of lands designated as Environmentally Significant Areas by the City of Toronto• Removes facilities from beneath the Prince Edward Viaduct, allowing easier access for maintenance• Access to the local road network remains unchanged from what was presented during the previous round of consultation.

A series of renderings illustrating the proposed Don Valley Layover Facility are pending and will be uploaded as soon as they are available.



Effects and Proposed Mitigation Measures Proposed Don Valley Layover Facility - City of Toronto


Type of Effect Description of Potenial Effects Proposed Mitigation Measure

Stormwater Management

• The proposed access road is located in close proximity to the Don River, which may result in potential challenges with erosion and sediment control.

• The proposed layover requires approximately 40 meters of retaining wall, which will result in greater disruption to existing drainage patterns and additional challenges with temporary drainage management during construction.

• A Drainage and Stormwater Report, an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan and detailed drainage design and erosion and sediment control drawings will be prepared.

• Requirements for stormwater quantity and quality controls will be carefully reviewed and implemented as required.

• A hydraulic assessment will be completed for the adjacent Don River prior to construction to determine potential flooding effects and further mitigation measures.

• Further mitigation measures for flooding will be determined in consultation with regulatory agencies and local authorities.

Visual

• Relative increase in retaining walls will result in increased visual disturbance.

• Potential impacts on the composition and character of current views along the Lower Don Valley Trail and surrounding park space.

• As part of detailed design, efforts will be made to minimize visual impacts as much as possible.

• A Design Excellence process will be followed to integrate the new infrastructure design into the existing environment to reduce the extent of visual impacts.

Effects and Proposed Mitigation Measures ContinuedProposed Don Valley Layover Facility - City of Toronto



Natural Environment

• Greater vegetation removals are required for the revised layover configuration since facilities have been sifted away from the already-disturbed areas beneath the Prince Edward Viaduct.

• Proposed infrastructure is now closer to wetland areas, increasing the potential for impacts during construction.

• Tree/Vegetation removal or injury, compensation and permitting/approvals (as required) will be undertaken in accordance with Metrolinx’s Vegetation Management Guidelines and Tree Removal Strategy.

• Performing vegetation removal outside the typical breeding period for birds with consideration of potential occupation of treed roosts (individual trees) by bats and Milkweed by Monarch caterpillars from March to September.

• An Integrated Vegetation Management Plan will be developed and implemented in accordance with Metrolinx’s Vegetation Management Guidelines and Tree Removal Strategy.

• To avoid potential impacts related to storm drainage discharge to the Don River, including water quality and erosion control, Metrolinx is exploring integrating Low Impact Development (LID) measures into the stormwater management design.

• A Construction Monitoring Plan will be developed with site- specific mitigation measures and regularly monitored for.




Cultural Heritage

• Construction of the proposed layover site, including its various components (buildings, layover yard tracks, parking area, fencing) has the potential to have negative indirect effects on the Prince Edward Viaduct, which is a known cultural heritage resource, through soil disturbance, potential vibration effects and construction of ancillary buildings to the north.

• Baseline vibration monitoring will be completed to ensure the Prince Edward Viaduct is not affected by construction.

• Staging areas should be selected so that they are non-invasive and avoid heritage attributes.

Utilities

• Proposed facilities are in close proximity to utilities (oil pipelines, gas main, hydro lines, telecommunication cables amongst others).

• Some of the proposed elements are in conflict with existing utilities. The potential impacts have been classified into three different categories: minor, medium or major.

• All identified utility conflicts will be confirmed and relocated, as required. All assets within the Metrolinx layover site will need to be removed and relocated and/or locally lowered with a casing pipe across all tracks. Re-servicing of the site will be required.

• Where new utility crossings are proposed, application for a new utility crossing agreement will be required. Where modifications to an existing utility crossing takes place, updates to an existing utility crossing will be needed.




Earth Management

• Excavation and backfill may be required to accommodate building footprints.

• An Erosion and Sediment Control Plan will be prepared prior to, and implemented during, construction to minimize the risk of sedimentation.

• A Spill Prevention and Response Plan will be developed before work commences to ensure procedures and policies are in place during construction to minimize effects to wetlands and watercourses.

Documents

GO Expansion – New Track & Facilities TPAP€¦ · crewing services, wayside power, staff parking, etc. • Road improvements to access the property may be required • Protection