‘Snowmaggedon’ slowed down transit, but was no Snowpocalypse, unless perhaps you were trying to fly in or out of Pearson. Another 10cm is expected Sunday.
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• Bay Street rattled as wind sends glass flying from office tower [Globe and Mail]
• Sure, it was some storm. But ‘snowmageddon?‘ [National Post]
• High-speed rail links urged for Ontario [Toronto Star]
• Economists say property tax assessment system is fair [Toronto Star]
• MPAC: There’s nothing remotely municipal about the thing [Globe and Mail]
• Court orders Shopsy’s to give up its corner• •
• Torontoist is dead. Long live Torontoist! [Globe and Mail]
• The ‘est’ of them all [Globe and Mail]
6 comments
“-mageddon”: the new “-gate”.
Re: High-speed rail for Ontario.
Let’s hope those in charge of renovating Union Station are taking this into consideration so it doesn’t have to be re-renovated in a couple years.
The U.S. prez-elect has made statements about upgrading their rail system to high-speed throughout the midwest heartland. Our grand-poobahs should be taking some initiative to get into bilateral discussions to make this a North American project. (Lord knows we’re gonna need the jobs).
Beyond the long-touted Windsor-Québec City corridor high-speed connections should include Montréal-NYC, Toronto-NYC and Toronto-Detroit-Chicago. (And a west coast, Vancouver-Seattle-points south line to connect to California’s upcoming high-speed rail, which was approved in a referendum in the recent election).
Let’s not miss the boat, er, train.
Good points Justin. I never thought about links to the States but that would make alot of sense(*why fly, when you can highspeed rail it!)
Commuting between major cities in canada(*aswell as small towns) should all be included in these plans. And the much-needed reno to Union should be aware of this aswell.
Thank god for the renovation there. Union needs to be more like grand central or any of those stations in Europe.
How about regular GO service to K-W, Guelph, Niagara Falls, Peterborough before we spend $30 billion on high-speed service?
I’m torn between liking the idea of quick and easy mass transportation between Toronto and places like Barrie and Peterborough, and wondering a) if it’s a job for “high speed rail” and b) if it’s just supporting sprawl.
The study’s authors may have a sense of proportion where technology is concerned, at least. According to the Star article, they present 130 km/h trains as an option, which isn’t anywhere near what you’d call high speed. It’s also something we could theoretically have put together at any time in the last 60 years, so there’s no need for gratuitously whiz-bang technology, and opportunity to start at lower capacity while still having an easy upgrade path.
As for sprawl, well, it’s already crawling up to Barrie, townhouse by townhouse, and maybe a more-or-less guaranteed commute time of 45 minutes will encourage people to move to the end of the line rather than to contribute to the over-development of the Oak Ridges Moraine.
What are the priorities for snow removal in Toronto?
Avenue Rd., Spadina Ave., Bathrust, etc. all have poorly plowed right lanes and blocked parking spots, yet the city is removing snow banks on Russel Hill Rd.