This was a landmark year, including opening an operations, maintenance and storage facility, the Davis Drive rapidway, and a park and ride lot in Newmarket. We’re at an important point with our rapid transit projects in York Region. All our funded projects are happening, and the results of the transformation are noticeable.
In November, the Davis Drive rapidway opened, connecting Newmarket east and west. Once sidewalks and landscaping are completed in 2016, Davis will have sidewalks lined with 470 trees and more than 21,000 shrubs and perennial plants.
Vaughan’s vibrant, new downtown is taking shape along Highway 7, with work continuing at a fast pace east of Jane Street on sidewalks, vivastations and landscaping. West of Jane Street, lanes have been shifted to their final configuration and work is being coordinated with the opening of the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension. The contract for the remaining rapidway along Highway 7 West in Vaughan was awarded in September, and utility relocations will begin in 2016.
On Yonge Street in Richmond Hill and Newmarket, utility work has begun and major road work will start in 2016.
The Highway 7 East project is now considered 100% complete, and has won multiple awards, including being listed as #2 in Road and Bridges Magazine’s Top 10 Roads list. Commute times are shorter on average, and the street is completely transformed from a highway with gravel shoulders, to a tree-lined street with wide sidewalks and accessible transit, welcoming to everyone.
In Richmond Hill, we opened an Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility to support the growing fleet of Viva vehicles, and this massive facility was built to LEED Silver standards. A park and ride facility also opened in Newmarket at Highway 404, with the launch of the Davis Drive rapidway.
It’s been a landmark year, and there is more rapid transit and more connections to come, in 2016 and beyond.
One reply on “2015 >> what a year!”
what a glorious waste of time, effort and money for the small number of current and projected riders on the viva rapidway buses. guess its a metrolinx, viva and york region make work project
DaleA: Hi Murray,
York Region’s roads can’t expand enough to accommodate the continued growth happening in our downtown areas, so it’s important to have transit infrastructure in place to provide other transportation choices, now and for future generations. We’ve seen the numbers of riders increase on the new rapidways, including an overall increase in transit ridership on Davis Drive by 49% compared to the previous year, with 71% of customers using the new Viva route. It’s more than just transit though. Rapidway construction includes updating utilities and rebuilding old infrastructure like bridges. Putting tree-lined sidewalks in place also creates an appealing place to walk in these areas preparing for higher density development.