06-29-2019, 12:32 AM
(06-28-2019, 11:35 PM)panamaniac Wrote:(06-28-2019, 06:39 PM)taylortbb Wrote: About as disappointing as I expect from Auburn, another Barrel Yards but without having the redeeming factor of being close to uptown.
Mill station is just a little over 300m from the Borden/rail corner of the property, but absolutely no provision for someone to walk a direct route from the towers to the station (or putting the towers close to that part of the property). The towers may add lots of density, but everyone will be driving.
Wouldn't the walking route be from the bottom of Borden along the path that runs parallel to the tracks?
The expectation seems to be that from the towers someone would walk up (using directions from linked layout) towards the central road, then right to Borden, then back down to the trail alongside the LRT tracks from Grenville. The up and back down will add a few minutes IMO needlessly.
If I was leaving the buildings as-is but trying to improve connectivity I'd have a trail from Building I/the parking garage through the public park and over the river to the lower-right corner of the property. Building I would have a nice direct route, and the other buildings would have a route through the parking garage that's covered for them to get to the trail (and ideally there'd be a well defined interior walkway for this). I think the savings would be 2-3 mins on a 7-8 minute walk, which is a decent difference. It's also just annoying as a pedestrian to have to double back.
If I was waving my magic wand I might put a trail all the way along the back of the property, which could be extended by the city up to the Iron Horse, giving the site a good cycling route to downtown/uptown and helping with the ION connectivity. Or I'd move the buildings to create an actual street wall somewhere that might be a good pedestrian retail experience, and reduce the tower-in-the-park feeling I get from looking at that layout.