06-28-2021, 07:09 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-28-2021, 07:12 PM by danbrotherston.)
(06-28-2021, 06:55 PM)ac3r Wrote:(06-28-2021, 06:10 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Again, a bridge is also going to be massively expensive. The cheapest possible crossing being built at 7/8 and Strasburg is projected to cost 7 million. This is a significantly larger project, with ramps at least twice as large. So the idea that a tunnel would be too expensive, pretty much means there is never going to be a bridge either.
As for whether the amenities are worth providing access to...leaving aside the hundreds of units of housing that you ignored, I think it's entirely unreasonable for us to judge that a plaza isn't worth providing access to. Even if YOU don't like the stores there, others may, and those stores may also change. As for distance, it would be a 20 minute walk...which is a perfectly reasonable walk out to a restaurant for dinner (there's a second plaza as well with a restaurant, tims, etc).
It's the developers money though, so it doesn't really matter what it costs.
I'm not sure why a connection to a couple hundred single family homes matters either. There's got to be <100 homes there even when you include the townhouses. Overall, I get your logic in providing more connections to things, but you have to look at it from an investment point of view a project developer takes. They're not going to have any interest in connecting this site to a plaza and some homes in addition to Northfield Station. Northfield Station makes sense to provide a connection to since this opens up access to the rest of the city without the need for a car. The fact they're even proposing a bridge is unique. Most developers aren't interested in infrastructure beyond the actual project site. If this was a City of Waterloo or Region of Waterloo bridge/tunnel proposal, they'd be more likely consider more connections to things, but a private developer is usually not going to burden themselves with this. This bridge would just be a bonus feature for people who live in the condos to get hop on the LRT a bit easier, not to make it easier to get to Pizza Pizza or your friends house on Albert Street or whatever.
If it doesn't matter what it costs, then it doesn't matter if a tunnel is more expensive. If we think a tunnel is the right choice, then we can require the developer to build a tunnel.
The developer wants money, what we want is a good city, we force the developer to build a good city, in return, they get to make money.
I understand that connecting the LRT is their goal by building the bridge. They have that goal largely to justify reducing parking requirements. I am slightly impressed they are proposing it, but developers, like our city staff, are very conservative, they don't generally go outside the box. We shouldn't care what their goal is, we should only care about making the city a livable city, and for that I believe what we need to make it less necessary to own a car. The point of the planning process is to influence developers to develop what makes sense in the broader context of the city, rather than just what is most profitable to build.
By the way, it's almost 1000 homes, most of which are mid density, and more than double that number of residents at least. Plus a community centre. These are people who might work at businesses in the mixed use development, or shop at the tiny proposed plaza (which I think should be bigger) or just visit friends, improving transportation connections for options other than the car is key to making owning a car less necessary.