Planned GO train facility could undermine years of Don Valley restoration efforts, conservationists warn

Thestar.com
September 4, 2020
Ben Spurr

Conservationists are pushing Metrolinx to reconsider a plan to build a new GO Transit rail facility in the Don River Valley, warning the project will undermine years’ worth of efforts to restore green space in the urban ravine.

Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency for the GTHA, intends to construct a train layover on the east side of the valley just north of the Prince Edward Viaduct as part of its massive GO Expansion project.

The layover would provide storage for up to three GO trains, and Metrolinx says it will be required to help alleviate the “bottleneck” of railway traffic at Union Station. Congestion at the already constrained 93-year-old rail hub is expected to get worse under the GO Expansion plan, which will dramatically increase the number of trips serving Union. Construction of the layover could begin as early as 2022 as part of the multi-billion-dollar expansion plan, but specific costs for the facility aren’t yet known.

Floyd Ruskin, a member of the volunteer conservation group Don’t Mess With the Don, says the layover is “the wrong thing for our park land.” He believes it will damage the local environment, disrupt wildlife migration and interfere with residents’ enjoyment of the Lower Don River Trail, which is walked or cycled by hundreds every day.

Among Ruskin’s concerns is that the layover will threaten the nearby Helliwell’s Hill Wetland Restoration Project, which was established in the late 1990s and has successfully brought natural habitat back to the valley. Metrolinx’s plans also come as the city, provincial and federal governments are co-operating on a $1.25-billion project to naturalize the mouth of the Don and create new park space in the Port Lands. Ruskin said intensifying rail activity in the valley contradicts those plans.

He said Toronto’s ravines are unique natural features as important to the city’s identity as hills are to San Francisco and canals are to Venice, and they should be preserved. “We’ve done enough ecological damage to the Don Valley. We don’t need to add something that’s going to have a (detrimental) long-lasting effect,” he said.

The layover would include facilities for trackside power and crew services, as well as a sanitary storage building, staff parking, retaining wall, fencing and a connection to the main-line track. Trains would be stored on an existing, currently disused stretch of track close to the Don Valley Parkway.

The Don River Valley has been the site of extensive rehabilitation efforts in recent years.

Metrolinx acknowledges the project has the potential for negative impacts, including on stormwater management, erosion and the wetlands. Building the facility will also require cutting down trees and other vegetation and could lead to “potential impacts on the composition and character of current views along the Lower Don Valley Trail,” according to public consultation documents.

But the transit agency says it will do everything possible to mitigate any damage to the valley. It has developed an erosion and sediment control plan and has committed to a study to assess any potential flooding effects. Once the facility is complete, Metrolinx intends to plant trees and commission landscaping to make it less intrusive.

Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said the agency has already revised its original proposal in response to public concerns, including by relocating the layover site from a part of the valley south of the viaduct, which the city deemed environmentally sensitive. It has also reduced the number of tracks required from three to one.

“From day one, Metrolinx has understood what the impacts of this facility would be, and have worked diligently with the City of Toronto and the (Toronto and Region Conservation Authority) to design a facility that will have the least impact on this sensitive site,” said Aikins.

Beth Williston, associate director of infrastructure planning and permits at the TRCA, which manages the region’s watersheds, said her organization initially had concerns about the layover. But after working with Metrolinx on mitigation plans “we’re less concerned than we were.”

While the TRCA is still reviewing the latest designs, Williston said Metrolinx has addressed the most pressing issue by agreeing to locate the facility clear of the Don River flood plain.

The site of the planned rail facility, immediately north of the Bloor Street viaduct.

Williston said it’s not ideal to build a rail facility in the ravine but the Greater Toronto Area badly needs more transit, and it’s impossible to avoid some negative environmental impacts when constructing new infrastructure. She commended Metrolinx for working closely with the TRCA.

“Are we pleased that it will be in the Don River (Valley)? No. We would love the Don to be restored to its natural state,” Williston said. “But infrastructure is also required so we have to hit a balance as best as we can.”

In a statement, Derrick Toigo, director of Toronto’s transit expansion office, said city staff have held “intensive discussions” with Metrolinx and TRCA to balance competing land-use interests in the ravine, and have “successfully negotiated solutions that have avoided impacts to the most sensitive areas in the Lower Don Valley.”