Tag: shelter

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Uncategorized

working together in our community

working together in our community

Working together in our community, we spotted an opportunity to help out when the Yonge Street rapidway project team was faced with having to remove 22 landscaping stones to make way for utility relocations. Belinda’s Place, a new multi-service facility in York Region, was making plans to beautify the property after months of construction. So, after making contact and sorting out the details, it was agreed that Belinda’s Place would become the stones’ new home – collaboration and recycling at its best!

Belinda’s Place provides a safe and supportive environment for single, homeless women. It includes 28 emergency beds and nine transitional units for short-term emergency shelter and longer-term transitional housing. Supportive counselling and life-skill learning opportunities are offered to help people find and maintain permanent housing.

As with any large undertaking, there were many players involved to make this happen, but we would like to recognize our partners, Enbridge and Aecon, for doing the ‘heavy lifting’ on behalf of the project.

To see the work they did, watch this video from the event in February.

From the generosity of the original owners of the stones, to the skill and professionalism of the work crews, to the enthusiasm of the staff and residents on hand, a deep sense of pride was evident at each stage of the operation.

A project of this scale is only possible with community-minded partners. The commitment of time, equipment and personnel was put to good use to enrich the lives of so many and ensure true community spirit and recycling of material to a location that will be appreciated by many today and in the future.

For more information on Belinda’s Place, please visit belindasplace.ca

 

Categories
Rapidways

making your trip more comfortable across the YRT\Viva system

making your trip more comfortable across the YRT\Viva system

Many transit riders across York Region are YRT riders as well as Viva riders, and even though we’re building rapidways for Viva, YRT comfort is just as important.

YRT is currently carrying out upgrades to all their curbside stops across the YRT system to add new amenities and freshen up existing ones. If you’ve been to the YRT stop at 16th Avenue and Warden you’ll already have seen the prototype that’s going to be installed everywhere.

Each YRT stop will get a modern new shelter, which will provide superior protection from the elements. And for more comfort, each station will have new benches and garbage containers. More and more people are choosing to commute by bike but if biking part-way and then jumping on YRT\Viva suits you better, YRT is installing bike racks at each stop so you can leave your bike with confidence until your return.

YRT is going to be working their way through the entire system across the Region to upgrade all the YRT stops, with the Highway 7 rapidway sections being the first to change over to the new curb-side YRT amenities this summer. With the rapidways on the way and YRT shelters being refreshed, York Region will have a refurbished look and feel that highlights its commitment to serving residents.

These upgrades will bring a new level of comfort to YRT riders, and show the commitment YRT\Viva has to providing all its riders with a great customer experience, no matter what route they’re taking. We encourage you to come visit the area!

Remember, where rapidways are in service, you now board Viva from the centre median, but continue to get on YRT at the curb-side shelters.

 

 

Categories
Going Green Rapidways Stations

Gimme Shelter

Rendering of a vivastation showing the middle section, which will be enclosed and heated.
Rendering of a vivastation showing the middle section, which will be enclosed and heated.

As you might have already heard, we are currently working on a video where the lead architect of the new vivastations talks about the design of the shelters for the rapidways we will be building over the next few years.

Since that video is not yet completed and there’s growing interest in how the vivastations will keep people protected from the weather, I wanted to take some time to talk about a few features of the new stations. In a way, here’s a trailer of the video…

There will be three different sections (modules) in each station. The middle section will be completely enclosed and heated, blocking the wind, rain, snow and cold temperatures.

Extensive consultation with the public told us that comfort and keeping warm are very important to riders, which is reflected in the design for the new service.

The stations will be large enough to provide adequate personal space and there’ll be an overhang reaching above the vehicles to protect people boarding and alighting on rainy days.

The stations are also more environmentally friendly. Energy efficient LED lights will brighten the station at night. The enclosed section will have automatic accessible doors at each end of the enclosure. They will still have sensors to open automatically, but as you can see in the picture, the hinged doors are on the side of the enclosed section. This will keep heat from escaping when someone triggers the sensor by walking along the platform. Accessibility has also been top of mind during the design process, ensuring that the platform and station design are accessible for individuals with disabilities.

Each platform will be 55 metres long with a 27-metre glass and steel canopy structure in the middle. This will make the stations easy to find and the curved canopy will blend well into the natural streetscape.

Last week, we had a full day of production, shooting interviews and b-roll for the video. Watch for the finished product on our website in the coming weeks.