Corp Comm Connects


Markham moves closer to silencing train whistles

YorkRegion.com
Feb. 2, 2016
Amanda Persico

Markham’s $6 million anti-whistle plan is on track.

City staff recently put forward an aggressive time frame that would see construction begin in spring 2017.

“Compared to where we were last fall, I’m pleased with the process,” said Mayor Frank Scarpitti. “Let’s continue to move forward and not slow down the process.”

Not only does the city need to upgrade all 13 of its rail crossings along the Stouffville GO rail line to meet Transport Canada safety requirements, it also needs to add additional safety requirements to allow for a train whistle cessation plan.

According to Transport Canada, there were on average 26 deaths and 26 serious injuries on public and private rail crossings each year between 2009 and 2013

According the city’s rail safety report, which is being finalized, general safety upgrades from Transport Canada include road signs, pavement markings, updated road and sidewalk grades and trimming trees and bushes for clear visibility.

Anti-whistle upgrades include 26 maze barriers and eight pedestrian gates.

“Safety is paramount,” said Unionville resident and co-founder of nohorns.ca group, Shanta Sundarason. “Putting these gates in immediately shows the city is committed to safety and to silence the horns.”

If the city went ahead with the anti-whistle updates and then started the required safety upgrades, that could delay the whole all-day service project, the city’s engineering director Alan Brown said.

It would be more efficient to “do everything at once, one rail crossing at time,” he said. Since all 13 rail crossings along the Stouffville GO Line need improvements.

In 2011, Barrie silenced GO Train horns at three rail crossings in the city – a process that started in 2009.

Barrie spent more than $195,000 preparing for the train whistle ban.

Meanwhile, Markham is negotiating with the region and Metrolinx a cost-sharing agreement that would see Metrolinx pick up about 77 per cent of the safety upgrades and the anti-whistle upgrades spilt 55 per cent for the region and 45 per cent for Markham.

The total cost for the project is between $5.1 million and $6 million, with safety upgrades costing between $1.8 million and $2.2 million and anti-whistle upgrades costing between $3.3 million and $3.8 million.

Markham may have to foot the bill for the Metrolinx share, to be reimbursed after the work is complete.

Last year, Metrolinx announced its plan for two-way, all-day, 15-minute service between Union Station in Toronto and Unionville.

Currently, Metrolinx is in the process of adding a second track along the Stouffville GO Rail line, north to the Unionville GO Station in preparation for all-day service set to start in 2017.

Not to mention electrification of the GO rail line is set to start in 2019.

Markham councillors worry the eventual plan to increase the number of GO trains and add all-day GO Train service would mean what ever work Markham did now could be ripped up later on.

“I believe anti-whistling is a good thing to aim for,” Councillor Colin Campbell said. “But we all know the old story, you pave the road and dig it up three days later. How do we prevent that?”

Instead, the city is considering adding maze barriers and pedestrian gates that can be moved easily in the future, engineering deputy director Brian Lee said.

Where it is not possible to drop the crossing barriers every 15 minutes, such as at Hwy. 7 or Steeles Avenue, Metrolinx is looking at possible grade separation, enabling trains to either pass over or under major roads, Lee added.

Councillor Alan Ho argued the city should make grade separation between rail and road mandatory for future developments.

“That would save us going back and rectifying (the roads). We all know how important transportation infrastructure is,” he said. “Without the highway (404), Markham would be a small village today.”

SIDEBAR

Proposed work plan:

For more information, visit markham.ca