Downtown outdoor spaces

[ijmorlan]

I think there should be a path along the south side of the railway line all the way from the IHT to the (future) transit hub. The part from the IHT rail crossing to Victoria could be built now and would help the situation in Victoria Park. The part from Victoria to Park would probably have to be done in conjunction with redevelopment of that block. The part from Park to the transit terminal could be done now, possibly with the cooperation of whoever owns those parking lots, but wouldn’t be very useful without the rest and without the transit terminal.

Lol...that is the region/city's "long term vision"...

It's also waiting for a different universe to be done. Someone other than CN would have to own the tracks, and an agency with more ambition than the region would have to be willing to build it.

What does CN have to do with it? I’m talking next to the tracks, not in the right-of-way.

I suppose if CN were amenable you might be able to go slightly closer to the tracks than if not, but I don’t believe that I’m assuming the use of any rail right-of-way. From the IHT up to the lake there is an existing gravel road (I believe the former railway that used to turn and cross Jubilee Dr. at Park St.) which just needs to be paved; then the expensive bit is building a bridge over the water parallel to the rail bridge; then do an agreement with Victoria Park Place; I’m sure they would be happy to take some money and stop having to mow some of the grass on the side of the building facing the tracks. That gets it to Victoria St.

Similarly on the north side I’m assuming the GO storage will move from the sidings just west of King St. If that happens, use the space for a trail. Then build a trail parallel to the tracks at the edge of the parking lot from Park to Strange. Then expropriate the strip between the factory and the tracks — the factory doesn’t need to alter its operations one bit, just take some money to allow people to walk through. That gives a nice straight link on the north side between IHT and the transit hub, with no railway involvement other than moving one GO siding (which should be feasible given the other storage site they now have off Shirley Dr.).