Tag: maintenance

Categories
Rapidways Safety

rapidways >> who goes there?

rapidways >> who goes there?

We have rapidways open on Highway 7 East, and on Davis Drive, and most people who live and work near these new rapid transit routes know who has access to the rapidways – buses! In fact, the rapidways are paved in red and painted with “bus only” to prevent others from accidentally entering the lanes.

There are a few others who are allowed to drive in the rapidway lanes. Ambulances, fire engines and police cruisers are permitted in an emergency to get past traffic quickly and safely. This is an added benefit that the rapidways bring to each community – saving valuable time when it’s truly needed.

Vehicles such as snow plows and street cleaners maintain the rapidways as needed. Maintenance and security staff from YRT/Viva operations and their contractor, TOK Transit, also access the rapidway stations and their marked vehicles may be seen at the far end of a station platform. This part of the platform is ramped on one side for their use – but this ramp should never be used by regular traffic to cross the rapidway.

Pedestrians and cyclists have access to any vivastation via the traffic signals and crosswalk, but should never jaywalk or cycle across or along rapidway lanes. To do this is risky because it’s unexpected and distracting to both Viva operators and drivers in regular traffic. And although we fully support active and alternative modes of travel, you also can’t travel the rapidway lanes in a scooter or wheelchair, skateboard, motorcycle, hoverboard, segway, golf cart, unicycle… or any other interesting mode of transportation we haven’t thought of yet!

You may wonder why Viva buses use the rapidways, but YRT buses don’t. The reason is that YRT buses either need to turn on and off the road frequently to gather customers, or their purpose is different – e.g., more stops, turning into shopping plazas, etc. Viva and YRT routes are evaluated by YRT/Viva’s Service Planning branch on a regular basis, and service changes are made to routes and schedules as needed.

A street that includes a rapidway is a complete street, with space for doing everything in a safe and efficient way.  Hope you get out and enjoy our streets this spring!

 

Categories
General

winter scoop

winter scoop

Winter may have been a little delayed this year, but judging from the frigid temperature outside… it’s here. Although our construction crews might not be able to continue to work in this cold weather, some work is still being done. Even in construction areas, winter maintenance and road clearing will still be done throughout the winter months.

All of our rapidway projects are at different stages, either open or underway. Each piece of each project is unique, and detailed designs are refined before we even get started on construction. Then there’s always coordination to be done with utility companies and municipalities, so we work on that ahead of time to help construction go smoothly in the spring. When a project is almost done, there’s a lot of technical testing, plus communications to local residents and commuters throughout the project’s life.

Even when things slow down due to the weather outside, we’re busy inside. Construction management teams are carefully scheduling work for 2016, and designers are completing detailed plans.

As snow falls outside, your local municipality [e.g., Newmarket, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham] will clear the sidewalks, York Region’s Roads branch is responsible for clearing the rapidway lanes [see their video!] and YRT/Viva operations staff look after the vivastation platforms.

We know that everyone wants to know what’s happening, so we’ll be sending out updates regularly. If you’d like to receive announcements and construction notices about work in your area, be sure to sign up for updates.  So… that’s the scoop for this winter – inside and out!

 

Categories
Rapidways Stations

rapidways in winter

rapidways in winter - Town Centre Station on Highway 7 East

It’s definitely winter! Nobody knows that better than outdoor maintenance crews. When there is snow and ice, York Region’s crews are on duty on our new Highway 7 East rapidway, clearing the way for rapid transit. In Markham, the rapidway travels down South Town Centre Boulevard and Cedarland Drive. The glass canopies at vivastations shelter Viva customers from light flurries, but when heavy snow or ice make an appearance, the heated enclosure is where you want to be.  To remove the snow at the stations, a contractor from YRT/Viva operations shovels and salts the vivastation platforms so that they’re safe for everyone. Sidewalks are usually a municipal responsibility, so the new sidewalks along the Highway 7 West rapidway are cleared by the City of Markham and Town of Richmond Hill.

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Before the rapidway was built on Highway 7 East, sidewalks were few and far between, and there were smaller curb-side Viva stops. The street has now been transformed from a suburban freeway to a walkable urban street and transit route [with bike lanes!]. With the new facelift complete there are benefits for everyone and the same treatment is coming next year on Davis Drive!  Think spring!