GO gives city more time to consider rail bridge

If Davenport residents are going to have “the monstrosity” of an 8.5-metre elevated rail bridge built through their community, they want trains to stop in the neighbourhood and they want improvements below it.

But first, city staff need to determine if the 1.5-kilometre bridge on the Barrie GO line really is a better option than a trench that would put the tracks below grade, says Davenport Councillor Ana Bailao.

Bailao led a council move last month asking Metrolinx to delay its environmental assessment of the dual-track bridge, to give city staff the time to decide whether a bridge is preferable to burying the rails. "This thing’s going to have a huge impact on the neighbourhood, no matter what happens. Even if it is a tunnel it will have an impact, and the city needs to be involved and understand what it is," Bailao said.

Metrolinx, the provincial agency overseeing GO’s massive electrified service expansion, has agreed to postpone the start of the six-month environmental assessment from the end of August to the end of October.

“If the thing’s going to go through our community, we might as well push for the stop, which is in our official plan anyway,” Bailao said.

The bridge is designed to eliminate the busy Davenport Diamond near Dupont St. and Lansdowne Ave., so GO Transit can run all-day, two-way service on the Barrie tracks. “I think the city and Metrolinx are both interested in ensuring this is the best possible project for the community,” said Erin Moroz of Metrolinx.

The estimated $120-million cost of a bridge is about $500 million less than a below-grade crossing. It could also be completed two years earlier.

Putting the track in a trench also involves different noise and safety considerations, Moroz said. The rails would need to be fenced, so the same street-level community improvements wouldn’t be possible.

Cost alone can’t determine what’s built, said Bailao. “If there are all these constraints that won’t allow for the trenching and the tunnelling, how do we make this a benefit for this community? I think we deserve the best . . . and that’s what we’ll be fighting for,” she said.

Kevin Putnam, of the Junction Triangle Rail Committee, said residents “seem to fall into two camps: adamantly opposed to a bridge, or think a bridge is inevitable but want a better proposal than the vague commitment currently being presented by Metrolinx.” The delay “allows residents to make a case for a better bridge plan if the government decides to proceed,” Putnam said.