Tag: Richmond Hill

Categories
Surveys Urban Planning

When is a highway not a highway?

Inside Artist’s illustration of a transformed Highway 7

Here’s a question for you – when you hear the word highway, what comes to mind? Like most, you probably think of a lot of traffic moving at high speed along a roadway that is designed purely to get you from one place to another as quickly as possible. There may be the occasional stop along the way, but highway stops tend to be more functional than appealing destinations in and of themselves. A highway is for vehicles, large and small – but typically, not a great place for people.

A highway probably doesn’t bring to mind a welcoming, human-scaled streetscape, where people feel comfortable strolling along wide, beautifully-landscaped sidewalks and boulevards. Most highways don’t offer attractive shopping destinations, with store-fronts and restaurants near the sidewalk.

So why the question? Highway 7 is evolving and we want your thoughts and ideas about changing its name to something that better reflects its future.

Highway 7 is one of the most important roads in York Region and is the connector between urban areas in three of our municipalities. It stretches from Highway 50 in the west, across Vaughan and Richmond Hill to east of Donald Cousens Parkway in Markham. And certainly, in the past Highway 7 was all those things associated with the word “highway” – it carried a lot of traffic, and wasn’t designed to be a comfortable, attractive destination for pedestrians or local residents.

But change is coming quickly to Highway 7, and in the not-too-distant future there will be many sections of Highway 7 where people will want to shop, dine and relax. It’s all part of a larger plan – York Region is planning a system of regional centres and corridors, which follow the Province of Ontario’s Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The vivaNext plan for rapidways and great transit connections along Highway 7 is also a big part of the change, with construction already underway for wide, welcoming boulevards and beautiful transit stations.

So, York Region is looking for suggestions for re-naming Highway 7. Considering the future transformation of Highway 7, what do you think it should be called?

It’s not a contest, so there are no rules – they’re just looking for your ideas. You can make your suggestions to York Region via Twitter (www.twitter.com/YorkRegionGovt), Facebook (www.facebook.com/YorkRegion), or you can post an idea here and we’ll forward it.

It’ll be interesting to see the name ideas people have for one of our most important streets.  Tell us what you think!

Categories
Construction

Our pledge to you

Click here to see the Pledge campaign poster

You probably can guess that I’m very proud to be involved in our vivaNext rapidway construction project underway on Highway 7. I believe – as does everyone who works here – that this project is going to be great for York Region.

We thought people in York Region might find it interesting and reassuring to meet some of the professionals who are part of the vivaNext Highway 7 East rapidway project, and to hear what those individuals personally hope to achieve through their own work. This is the thinking behind our “Pledge” campaign, which you may have seen in posters or video.

The pledge campaign is our commitment to the community – that our design will reflect state-of-the-art technology and transit planning and that it will incorporate detailed urban design elements for beautiful and welcoming streetscapes.

Our construction project will be carefully planned and implemented to minimize disruption as much as possible, and to time the noise and delays for the least inconvenience for commuters, businesses and residents.

We are committed to being careful stewards of the natural environment while we work, to ensure we cause no harm to vegetation, fish or wildlife through the construction project.

And last but not least, we will be transparent and open in providing all the information people need while construction is underway. We will be available to anyone who has a question, comment or concern, through our Community Liaison, Nimisha Raja.

All of us working on vivaNext, whether we’re named in the campaign or not, are personally and professionally proud to be a part of building this state-of-the-art rapid transit system. And we want everyone in York Region to know you have our word on it.

Categories
Community Events Fun & Games

Help us wish Canada a happy birthday!

Happy Birthday Canada!

VivaNext teams will be out in the community tomorrow to proudly celebrate Canada Day at two different locations.

One of our teams will be chatting up festival goers at Newmarket’s at Fairy Lake for the Kanata Day festivities.  You can start the day with a pancake breakfast from 8am until noon at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church near the foot of Main Street in Newmarket. Then be sure to walk to Fairy Lake (Wesley Brooks Conservation Area), where there will also be all sorts of family fun including inflatable bouncers, an extreme bike demonstration, and live entertainment. At George Richardson Park on Bayview Parkway North, fireworks will begin at dusk.

Our second vivaNext team will celebrate the patriotism of the day at Richmond Hill’s Canada Day Celebrations. Be sure to drop by our booth in the Home Show area, 11am-5pm, and have fun with all the live performances, children’s games & inflatables, airbrush tattooing, teen zone, skating demonstrations, beer garden, and fireworks at dusk. It’s all happening at the Richmond Green Park and Sports Complex at 1300 Elgin Mills Road East.

There can’t be a better way to spend Canada Day than with the patriotic people of York Region. See you there!

Categories
General Rapidways

Our partners: building on strength

Blog photo: Our partners - building on strength

Last week, I described how our partnership with the private sector is helping us to build our rapid transit system on schedule, and on budget. This week, here’s a primer on who our partners are, in particular our construction lead.

York Consortium 2002, our partner for the design components of the project, includes some of the worlds’ most experienced engineering, design and construction firms. Members of this joint venture include:

  • > AECOM Enterprises – based in the United States, one of the largest transportation firms in the world;
  • > IBI Group – Toronto-based, with offices around the world;
  • > Delcan Corporation – a Toronto-based international company that has developed rail transit in Los Angeles and Tel Aviv;
  • > Peter Kiewit Infrastructure Co. – a leading heavy civil contractor with offices across Canada; and,
  • > EllisDon Corporation – a Canadian-based international construction company that has worked on numerous major transit and transportation projects.

Under the terms of our agreement with York Consortium, they were offered the first right to bid on the construction project to build the Highway 7 East rapidway, with their bid competing in a bid process where we’ve gathered a cost estimate from an independent source.

Following this process, last year a partnership between Kiewit and Ellis-Don (Kiewit-EllisDon or KED) led the successful bid to become the construction contractor for the Highway 7 East rapidway.

Having KED is a tremendous benefit for this project, as our rapidways require a broad range of expertise in building roads, bridges, rapidways and transit stations. Kiewit has built some of the most challenging road and highway projects all across North America, including the Sea to Sky Highway in British Columbia. And EllisDon is one of the best known construction firms in Canada, with a wealth of knowledge and experience in our region.

It’s worth repeating that this is a huge project, with many challenges and months of work ahead. But we’re confident that our construction project on Highway 7 is in experienced and capable hands, and so far we’re off to a great start.

Categories
General Rapidways

Highway rapidways: shifting into the next phase

Illustration of shifted lanes: Traffic is shifted from one side to another along the roadway, to keep traffic lanes open

If you’ve been along Highway 7 East during the last few weeks, you’ll know that our work crews have been busily removing the raised concrete median that runs down the centre of the road. With that first phase of work almost complete and on schedule, here’s a primer on what we’ll be doing next, and how it will affect you.

As I described in last week’s note about construction staging, the reason we did that first phase of work was to free up some extra room so we could build the rapidway with a minimum impact on travel lanes. But that was just the warm-up act. Now that the median is gone, we’re about to shift into the heavy construction of the rapidway. To keep lanes open during peak hours we’ll be shifting traffic right and then eventually shifting traffic left – a little like a giant square dance without the fiddle music and funny clothes.

Swinging traffic right
May 11 and 12, starting at 7pm, we’re going to temporarily close all the centre lanes in both directions between Chalmers Road and Highway 404 (we’ll keep one lane open in each direction). Working over the two nights between 7pm and 7am, we’ll repaint the lanes as shown on the diagram above (we’ll reopen all lanes during the day). By Saturday, six travel lanes will be shifted to their temporary new positions. Then starting next week, our crews will begin working in the original curb lanes to widen the roadway and build the new boulevards. We expect this phase of work will take us until later this summer.

The diagram shows which lanes will be open for traffic, and where our crews will be working, starting at the west and east ends of this section of rapidway and working toward the middle at Pond Drive.

Swinging traffic left
Once the crews meet at Pond Drive, we’ll temporarily close the middle lanes again. This time we’ll repaint the lines to shift the lanes to the opposite side of the road. Then our crews will repeat the same steps, all along the second side.

We’re doing whatever we can to minimize the disruption for drivers and pedestrians. But you’ll definitely notice some changes while the lanes are in their temporary positions:

  • > There will still be left turn lanes and advance greens, but the lanes will be narrower and shorter.
  • > There will be no separate right turn lanes where construction is curbside.
  • > We’ll maintain access for businesses and intersections, although if temporary detours are needed we’ll be sure to point this out with clear signs.
  • > YRT\Viva stops will remain open, although some of them may be repositioned temporarily to allow for construction.
  • > If sidewalks have to be closed off, we’ll provide temporary sidewalks.

Although the temporary lanes will be clearly marked, they’ll be curved and slightly narrower than usual.

So please, drive carefully, watch for signs alerting you to construction zones and lane shifts, and be excited that our rapid transit future here in York Region is well and truly underway!

Categories
General

Construction season is here

Construction season is here – vivaNext newsletter and construction bulletin, tweets and Facebook page

For months now we’ve been talking about the construction you’ll be seeing on Davis Drive in Newmarket, and on Highway 7 East in Markham and Richmond Hill. Now that spring is here, several construction projects are happening on York Region’s roads, including vivaNext rapidway construction.

Construction can include temporary lane closures, occasional bus stop closures or relocations and sidewalk detours. We know how frustrating these disruptions can be for drivers, transit users and pedestrians. That’s why we’re preparing you with information about why construction is happening, and where and when.

Why is construction happening? The practical reason is to build a rapid transit system that’s not delayed by congested traffic. Provincial and Regional planning policies outline the big-picture reasons, including two of our goals: to connect Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area communities, and to set the stage for pedestrian friendly and transit-oriented urban corridors.

We also want you to know where and when construction is happening and this can be a challenge, because as with any construction project, not everything goes according to plan. We receive updates directly from construction site managers, and our team works quickly to pass this information to you. We let you know about new information by putting up electronic signs on-site, sending tweets to those who follow us on Twitter and advising radio traffic reporters. When we know about work more than a day in advance we email construction bulletins to everyone who signed up for updates, and we post bulletins on our website and Facebook page. We also give general updates on our projects in our newsletters, weekly blogs and website content.

If you have a suggestion or a question, you don’t have to wait for our updates to find out the answer. We welcome the questions and suggestions we receive when we host public meetings and attend community events, and our Community Liaisons, Andrea and Nimisha, talk to people every day about our projects. We also respond to comments through this blog, via Twitter or Facebook, and our online contact forms. We want to hear from you!

We can’t prevent the lane closures that are required to complete construction, but we hope that knowing the long-term benefits and being prepared for where and when work is scheduled will be a big step in helping you get around.

Categories
Community Events

Join our public meeting in Markham!

Exciting new changes coming to Highway 7 - Invitation to Public Meeting, Wednesday March 23, 2-8pm at the Delta Markham Hotel, Truffle Ballroom, at 50 East Valhalla Drive, Markham

There are exciting new changes coming to Highway 7 in Markham! We’re preparing to widen Highway 7 East between Bayview and Warden to create dedicated lanes in the centre of the road for rapid transit. We’ve scheduled heavy road construction along Highway 7 East in 2012, but you’ll see our preparation for this work starting in about two weeks. We have utilities to move, temporary traffic lights to install, and centre medians to remove, and we’re doing most of it between now and November.

This project is moving full steam ahead, and we want you to come talk about it with us at our open house this Wednesday. This is your chance to talk to us, look at information boards and maps, and if you’re there at 7 p.m. you can see our presentation. Learn what you can expect during the construction season ahead and about how a rapidway works and the benefits it will bring to our community.

We hope to see you at the meeting, but if you can’t make it, be sure to sign up to receive construction updates, and go to the Past Meetings page on our website after March 23, where you’ll find all the materials from the meeting.

You’re invited
Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Time: Drop in from 2 to 8 p.m. (presentation is at 7 p.m.)
Location: Delta Markham Hotel, Truffle Ballroom
50 East Valhalla Drive, Markham

Categories
General Rapidways

A hum of activity

Photo of hydrovac preparing for utility relocation
Hydrovac crew bores a hole in the ground

There has been a hum of activity on Highway 7 lately. To be specific, the hum of a hydrovac – a large truck-mounted vacuum used to bore holes in the ground. We’re widening some of York Region’s roads to add dedicated rapidway lanes, but to do that we need to locate utility cables and pipes in the ground, and then use a variety of trucks and tools to move all of the utilities further back from the roads.

In terms of utilities, all roads are not the same. Which utilities are in place, where they are placed, and who is responsible for them varies for each section of each road. Electrical power lines and telecommunication wires are often located aboveground on poles, but sometimes they’re buried underground. Gas lines, and sewer and water main pipes are also underground, but not necessarily located together.

In many cases, the utilities need to be moved in a certain order to spots designated by York Region’s Transportation Services Department, Corridor Approvals and Records Branch with input from the construction company. This branch ensures utilities are installed in appropriate locations and keeps record of utility locations. Each organization moves their own utilities and, while doing so, uses the opportunity to check over the equipment or upgrade it.

Municipal government is usually responsible for sewer and water main pipes, but a team effort is important in cases where they cross municipal boundaries. For example, the intersection of Highway 7 and Yonge Street includes land within the Town of Markham, the Town of Richmond Hill, and the City of Vaughan. Gas, electricity and telecommunication companies also vary depending on the location. At vivaNext we work with all of these stakeholders to accommodate schedules and procedures, ensuring we reach our goal of relocating utilities in time for the next scheduled construction activity.

Categories
Community Events

Who has wheels and big blue antlers?

We do! Look for us this Sunday in the first two of five Santa Claus parades! We’re helping Santa say hello to the crowds along his route.

Happy Holidays enroute, from vivaNextWe’re saying happy holidays and also saying thank you to our residents as we begin rapidway construction along our Davis Drive and Highway 7 corridors.

We’ll be sending you our season’s greetings using modern transportation, and we’ll be suited appropriately for leading Santa’s sleigh – in vivaNext style of course!

Planning these parades has put us in a festive mood, and we hope you’ll give us a wave while you wait for Santa Claus to come to town.

Parade Schedule:
November 14 – Vaughan – starts at 2pm
click here for a parade route map
November 14 – Richmond Hill – starts at 1:30pm
click here for a parade route map
November 20 – Newmarket – starts at 11am
click here for a parade route map
November 27 – Markham – starts at 11am
click here for a parade route map
November 27 – Aurora – starts at 6pm
click here for a route map

Categories
Live-work-play Rapidways Urban Planning

Public transit = more housing choices

housingcollage_10_07_12-copy

Here’s some new math you may not have seen before: vivaNext = more housing choices. How can that be? Let’s start by talking about housing options, and why they matter.

The expression, “one-size-fits-all,” applies to many things, but when it comes to housing preferences, we all have our own ideas about how we want to live. A traditional suburban house might be the perfect dream home for one person, but might be too big or too – well, suburban – for another. A stylish condo with a sleek balcony within walking-distance of entertainment and shopping is just what some people are looking for, but wouldn’t suit everyone.

No matter what our personal preferences might be, one of the values that most of us share is that we’d like to be able to choose where we live. Unfortunately, if a range of housing options is not available, it can be difficult for people to find suitable homes in a particular neighbourhood or community. And that’s a shame, because being able to stay in a neighbourhood you like, near friends and family, close to familiar services and supports – near your roots – means a lot to many people.

By bringing rapid transit to York Region, vivaNext will support the development of a wider range of housing options, so that every member of a family, whether they’re parents with young children, young adults moving out for the first time, or older people wanting to downsize, can live near the neighbourhood of their choice.

As a key component of the transit-oriented development being planned along the rapidways, new housing will be built, especially near the new centres that will be created in Markham, Newmarket, Richmond Hill and Vaughan. Almost all of the housing in these centres will be multi-unit, higher density apartments and condominiums. Elsewhere, other established neighbourhoods will be kept predominantly single family housing.

With so much of the new growth and housing planned in centres and along the rapidways, there will be less pressure on other areas to become more densely built up, allowing them to stay much the same. The ultimate goal is to preserve the balance around the region, offering more choice and more flexibility for people – no matter what stage of life they may be at, or their housing preferences.

Having more housing options means every member of your family can choose to stay in the community they love, even as their needs change over time. We’re pretty excited to think that vivaNext will help achieve such an important goal.