Tag: year-in-review

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Video

2016 >> all together now!

YouTube video: 2016 year in review

Some of the best songs start with just a few notes – maybe the base in a band or the baritones in a choir. Then more and more parts are added, and by the middle of the song everyone is singing or playing different parts, all in harmony. For York Region’s rapid transit system, 2016 was the “middle of the song.”

The prototype station opened in 2011 in Markham, followed by a 10-kilometre rapidway opening in 2013 and 2014 on Highway 7 East. In Richmond Hill, a LEED Silver-certified transit service facility opened in 2015. The Davis Drive rapidway in Newmarket opened for service in 2015, with some final work completed last summer.

Along with finishing Davis Drive, 2016 projects included important utility and prep work along Yonge Street in Newmarket and in Richmond Hill – temporary traffic signals, median work and retaining walls, new hydro poles, water main and gas main replacements. Similar work is being done for the rapidway on Bathurst and Centre Streets in Vaughan, and along Highway 7 west of Highway 400 to Helen Street/Wigwoss Drive.

Highway 7 in Vaughan was a symphony of activity in 2016, with construction wrapping up east of Jane Street to Bowes Road, and work moving ahead quickly on the large rapidway station west of Jane Street that will connect directly to the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension.

Bus terminals are planned in Vaughan and in Markham, and in 2016 those projects worked through the “backstage” steps of design and procurement.

A high note in 2016 was the announcement from the Province of Ontario of $55 million in funding to advance the design and engineering for the Yonge Subway Extension [YSE]. The YSE is York Region’s top transit priority, and we’re committed to working with Metrolinx, TTC and the City of Toronto to move this project forward.

In our plans, 2016 was the year we knew most of our projects would be happening, all at the same time, and it was busy! 2017 will be full of accomplishments too, and there are even more rapid transit projects planned for the future. So we plan to keep working on every detail or “note” to make sure our song – a connected transit system – makes it to the finale!

 

Categories
Video

2015 >> what a year!

click here to see the Year In Review video

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.

 

Categories
Rapidways

2014 – a year of action

2014 - a year of action

As 2014 draws to a close, we’re pleased to say that each of our projects saw great progress this year. The Bus Rapid Transit projects start and end at different times so each has its own construction schedule to match the unique challenges, such as: length of rapidway, complexity of underground work, and landscape and infrastructure features like hills and bridges. As we progress through these challenges we consider them milestones, and after a year of milestones there are plenty of moments to look back on.

On Highway 7 East in Markham, the second stretch of rapidway opened from Highway 404 to South Town Centre Boulevard, and construction will be complete on the last piece to Warden Avenue by the end of 2014, with some finishing touches to add in spring 2015. This final section allows Viva customers to experience the future of rapid transit in York Region, from Bayview Avenue in Richmond Hill to the Downtown Markham development area. Riders are already seeing up to 35% travel time savings on the rapidways.

In Newmarket on Davis Drive, utilities and telecommunications were relocated to prepare for road widening and building the rapidways in the centre of the road. Road widening continued and base-layer paving was also completed in sections along Davis. Significant milestones included: completing the structure of the Keith Bridge and reopening the Tom Taylor Trail, moving the Union Hotel into its final location and installing the steel structures for the first vivastation at Longford/Parkside. The glass canopies will be installed over the winter and the vivastations at Main Street and Southlake Hospital are also underway. It’s been a busy, messy year but crews are working quickly. We’re in the home stretch with the rapidway set to open December 2015.

Along Highway 7 West in Vaughan, the first phase of rapidways is well underway and a there has been a lot of progress in 2014. Between Jane Street and the CN Bridge, work continues on base-layer paving, building retaining walls and expanding the CN Bridge, and we’re almost done relocating some underground infrastructure. East of Jane Street, the road has been widened and traffic has been shifted, so that work in the centre of the road [including paving, installing vivastations platforms and canopies!] can begin in 2015. The contract for phase two of the rapidways in Vaughan will be awarded in 2015, adding dedicated bus lanes and vivastations from Edgeley Boulevard to Pine Valley Drive and from Bowes Road to Yonge Street [in blue on map]. While some pre-construction activities are already underway, construction is expected to begin in late 2015/early 2016.

On Yonge Street in Richmond Hill and Newmarket, the contractor is working to finalize the rapidway design and construction schedule. Meanwhile, crews are out conducting surveys and utility investigations to make sure we have an accurate record of what’s above and below the ground.

We’re also building a state-of-the-art Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility in Richmond Hill to act as a ‘home base’ for transit. This nine-acre, 481,679 square foot facility will be LEED® certified [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design], and is scheduled to be complete mid-2015.

Everyone’s busy making memories during the holidays, but we hope that you’ll have a few moments to see some of our videos that give you a sneak peak at rapid transit in York Region:

Where did it all begin? See the launch of curbside Viva service in 2005. Also see the vision for the transformation of York Region and some of the considerations given to the design of the rapidway vivastation, and take a peek inside the rapidway vivastations.

While you’re watching videos, why not find out what’s happening in your community: