City pushes back completion of Union Station revitalization to 2019

Hundreds of thousands of commuters pass through Union Station every day – and if you ask most of them what it’s like, they’ll tell you: it’s an obstacle course.

If it’s not trip hazards and loose wires getting in their way, it’s boarded up walls with confusing detours, and crumbling concrete.

“It is kind of dangerous,” said commuter Wendy Ledo. ““It’s frustrating every day.”

The revitalization project began at the station nine years ago, and was supposed to be completed in 2015. Almost four years past its expected due date, some of the construction looks completely neglected – random scraps of material littering the floor in common areas.

“It’s a very dynamic project,” said Bilal Farooq, Transportation Engineering Assistant Professor at Ryerson University. “They are fixing one area and then moving to another area.”

Farooq says with a station this big and this busy, delays are to be expected – but the city should be more transparent about exactly what’s going on.

“Whatever changes are being brought in, they have to be communicated better,” he said.

But others say the problems go further than just communication.

“It is more or less a safety hazard as well,” said Murtaza Haider, an urban transportation expert with Ryerson University.

The station has remained open and operational throughout this project – but it hasn’t been entirely without incident. Just last month, concrete fell from the ceiling and seriously injured a 24-year-old woman on her way home from work.

And many commuters have been wondering about all the exposed wires above them.

“It looks normal to me,” said Steve Smith, Electrical Safety Authority General Manager. The ESA checks up on the station four times a week, so CityNews asked them about some of the low-hanging wires and whether or not they pose a threat.

“It’s a fluid operation here so somebody could’ve come along to move something and pulled it down. We do a constant walk about and take note of these things and so does the contractor,” said Smith. “That’s something we’d get him to tidy up a bit and put higher in the ceiling.”

The city has pushed back the end date once again, now saying substantial completion of the revitalization is expected in 2019. They didn’t provide an exact month.

In a statement they wrote in part:

“When complete the revitalization of Union Station will double the pedestrian capacity, restore important heritage elements, and transform Union Station into a major destination for shopping, dining and community gathering.

The Union Station Revitalization project is one of the most complicated construction projects in the country, wedged into one of the most congested parts of Toronto, and taking place while maintaining one of the busiest commuter hubs in North America.”