Author: chrisjamesdrew

New Portion of the Martin Goodman Trail Open #biketo

I was cycling at Strachan and Lake Shore Boulevard West and noticed that the new portions of the Martin Goodman Trail have opened.

West of Strachan

East of Strachan

This new portion of the Trail is a great addition and provides a smoother and safer path than the old route as shown below.

The old route pictured above was sometimes used by cars and had a very abrupt right-angle turn a little off in the distance.

This new portion of the Martin Goodman Trail will also provide an easier way to get to the new park at Ontario Place.

Update: Here’s a map of the western side of the new trail:

On the east, it’s pretty good but I think a small extension would help avoid the conflict with Remembrance Dr.:

Find A Café #shoplocal #mixeduse #smallbiz

While my fiancee was at a bridal store for a wedding party she’s in I was able to do something I really enjoy in Toronto: walk along a street and find a cafe I’ve never been to.

That’s the exciting party of a vibrant, mixed use street. You never know where you’ll end up.

Bookshelf at Enigma on Bloor Street West.

Cozy!

The Bloor-Dundas hub has a lot of potential in my mind because of the excellent transit service:

  • Two streetcar routes and several bus routes;
  • GO Transit train service and a 7 minute UP Express ride from Union Station;
  • West Toronto Rail Path; and
  • It’s almost connected with the new Bloor Street bike lanes.

Location of Enigma.

The other fun part of finding a new, local, small cafe is that you know you’re supporting hard-working small business leaders, just like my friends at T By Daniel in Brampton and on Main Street. It’s also accessible by good transit service and worth checking out.

Map of the Day: #Eclipse Edition

I was lucky enough to see the eclipse today (pictures here and here) from my office through our cardboard box viewer which was put together by a colleague in a couple of minutes.

Here’s an interesting map for eclipse day 2017 and where the eclipse will be for Southern Ontario in 2024.

Traffic patterns matching the eclipse route HT https://twitter.com/dicktoblerone/status/899714921000312833

Route of the eclipse in 2024 HT https://twitter.com/AnthonyFarnell/status/899740151353548800

Goodbye Pinch Point! Martin Goodman Trail Improvement Coming #biketo #walkto

I was thrilled to see a tweet by Councillor Joe Cressy that a pinch point for people walking and cycling along the Martin Goodman waterfront trail will now be eliminated. Right now the sidewalk and the bicycle trail merges for a short distance just east of Bathurst St. There is a “cyclist dismount” sign where cyclists are asked to walk their bikes along the trail/sidewalk before resuming.

This has been a challenging and unsafe situation since it opened and it’s great to see that it will now be fixed.

Blue = Martin Goodman Trail, pink = sidewalk, orange = expanded deck to create more space.

Find A Ravine. #Toronto #walkto #urbanplanning

Toronto is blessed with many ravines that offer an escape from the busiest of city life. Had some free time so I walked in the Nordheimer Ravine. I started at St. Clair West and ended up at the Summerhill TTC subway station.

Nice wooden bridge just ahead.

Sadly you’ll sometimes see plaques like this in Toronto covered in graffiti. Thankfully this one wasn’t.

I appear to have left Canada. Background on the Republic here (HT Steve Munro): http://spacing.ca/toronto/2016/01/29/the-republic-of-rathnelly/

LRT *SURFACE* Construction in Toronto Has Started!

I enjoyed seeing this YouTube video posted today by the Eglinton Crosstown LRT team. It shows the construction work on the surface portion of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. The LRT will open in 2021 and yes, I’ll be there opening day. More details on the project here.

Upgraded Trail to be Reopened Mid-September, Pending 3rd Party Work”

Great to see this update with a timeframe for the trail to re-open.

Lower Don Trail Construction Updates

Metrolinx has issued permits for third-party work required before City contractors can complete the trail work. The third-party work includes a cable utility relocation at the new Belleville Underpass, and the trail crossing over the active rail line by the new Pottery Road trail bridge. The rail crossing work can only happen on weekends due to weekday commuter rail traffic.

Meanwhile, City contractors are assembling all the plant material and new soil required for site restoration and enhancements, ready to mobilize when the third-party providers have completed their work in the next few weeks. Re-grading and paving the affected portions of trail will be the last step.

Plans are coming together for a re-opening event and celebration of Toronto’s ravines in September. It will be announced here, and we hope you will join us to ride, walk, and enjoy the new connections and underpass.

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Barrie GO Train Ridership

Helpful article here by Marvin JS Ferrer on the Barrie Line weekend GO train ridership. Check it out. Marvin is a student at the School of Public Policy & Governance, University of Toronto.

I’ve used the weekend service when coming back from the cottage this summer. Some pictures below.

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