Details on Niagara GO expansion remain elusive
Metrolinx made a presentation on GO Transit earlier this month to Niagara Regional council.
It was vague on details. But one message was clear: there’s a lot of work to be done to bring daily GO train service to Niagara.
In delivering that message, Metrolinx may have done us all at least one favour. It should stop absurd chatter among local politicians about how, with a keen lobbying effort, the province could be persuaded to move up the 2021 target date for the service’s arrival in Grimsby. (It will take another couple of years to bring trains to St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.)
It’s actually quite funny when you think about it. Believing a government could work faster at bringing a project to fruition. And the fact that Niagara Region — the overseer of the Burgoyne Bridge replacement — is one of the believers makes it even more hilarious.
Egads, man, the GO expansion announcement was made almost a year ago and as far as I can tell people are still planning how to plan the plan of action.
At any rate, I tried to see if I could shed any more light on what’s happening, an endeavour sparked by an invitation to speak with Gerry Chaput, chief capital officer of Metrolinx, in the days following his presentation to the Region.
Given the amount of required work that was itemized by Chaput, I was curious if there was an overall estimated price tag for the expansion to Niagara and how those costs might be split. After all, Metrolinx has assured the Region the necessary money has been set aside, which makes sense when you consider a rather loud and public commitment has been made.
I was also interested whether Metrolinx had determined how frequently the service would go to and from Toronto.
Q: The mascot for the Canada Summer Games looks really familiar. Isn’t that the Pan Am mascot just wearing a different hat? Also, is Niagara going to have its own summer games mascot in 2021?
A: Pachi, the 2015 Pan Am Games mascot who entertained crowds in St. Catharines, Welland and other venue cities, has found a second career as the Games Ontario mascot.
The sports-loving porcupine supports Team Ontario at winter and summer competitions, including at the Canada Games.
Pachi was originally created for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games by four Markham Grade 8 students who won a mascot design contest. He was chosen from 4,130 submissions by more than 15,000 kids, parents and teachers, according to Ontario’s ministry of tourism, culture and sport.
Since the Pan Ams, Pachi’s look has been tweaked a bit. The yellow Toronto 2015 hat has been replaced by a white hat with the Games Ontario logo and his multi-coloured quills are now three colours matching the logo — red for inspiration, green for opportunity and blue for community.
Pachi was on hand in Toronto in March for the announcement that Niagara was being awarded the 2021 Canada Summer Games.
Niagara Region is in the process of forming a local steering committee to help organize those games. There’s no overall mascot yet, but chances are there will be one, if the games in Winnipeg this coming summer are anything to go by.
Winnipeg ’s Niibin, a yellow and red mascot, is said to be a magical creature created by the sun who lives in Manitoba’s Spirit Sands desert.
Q: What does the Ministry of Transportation plan to do about the growing number of licence Fact finder!
More than 100,000 stuffed Pachi animals were sold for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, which featured canoe and kayak events in Welland and rowing in St. Catharines. That accounted for 30 per cent of all merchandise sales at the Games. The live mascot attended more than 1,300 events and over 2,300 appearances with 366,000 interactions with people.
plates that have the plastic colored numbers peeling off ? They must know which ones are affected and should be conducting a recall. I see more and more every day.
A: Ontario licence plates are guaranteed for five years. If they peel after that, you’re out of luck.
The plates fall under the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services’ ServiceOntario department.
Ministry spokesman Harry Malhi said by email that ServiceOntario is aware that some individuals have had an issue with the reflective lamination bubbling or peeling off their plates.
He said Ontario plates are guaranteed by the manufacturer for five years under normal wear and tear, but usually last longer before requiring replacement.
If customers have a problem before the warranty is up, they can bring the plate to a ServiceOntario centre for a replacement.
Malhi said licence plate testing by supply vendors and commissioned independently by the National Research Council of Canada found no conclusive cause why licence plates degrade. Testing did find potential factors could be climate and de-icing products.
Meanwhile, the company that supplies reflective sheeting for Ontario licence plates has made changes to its production process similar to changes in other jurisdictions. The Ontario government is monitoring to see if that improves plate quality.
Q: As a new arrival in St. Catharines, I am learning about the streets and where they lead, converge and where they end. However, I do not understand the angle of the parking spaces on St. Paul Street in front of the Silver Spire Church. If you are travelling towards Geneva Street, the parking makes no sense...at least to me. Please enlighten me.
A: The angled parking spaces on St. Paul Street are unconventional.
St. Catharines manager of transportation services Brian Applebee said they’re the only ones in the city.
Located between Bond and Court Streets, the 45-degree angle back-in spaces were created in 2009 when the city converted to two-way traffic downtown.
Applebee said the spaces serve two purposes.
The width of St. Paul Street curb to curb in that section was quite wide before. Putting in angled parking narrowed the road which helped to slow down traffic.
It also allowed for more parking spots along that stretch than parallel parking would have accommodated.
City council at the time implemented the back-in angled parking rather than traditional head-in spots because it’s easier for drivers to pull out, the Standard reported in May 2009. It also makes it easier for someone to unload a trunk at the curb rather than in the middle of the street.