Metrolinx no longer pursuing layover facility in Don River Valley
Posted March 1, 2023 5:42 pm.
Last Updated March 1, 2023 5:44 pm.
Metrolinx will no longer pursue planning and design work for a layover facility originally planned for the Don Valley, the agency announced Wednesday.
Initially reported in late 2020, Metrolinx had planned to construct a train layover on the east side of the Don Valley, north of the Prince Edward Viaduct as part of the GO Expansion project that would provide storage for up to three GO trains to alleviate railway traffic at Union Station.
The new proposed location is on the Richmond Hill GO Line, near York Mills Road and Leslie Street. The plan to construct east of the Don Valley was already a revised plan from initial plans to build the layover facility on a part of the valley south of the viaduct, though the city deemed the plan environmentally sensitive.
The plan has also reduced the number of tracks required from three to one.
Metrolinx has stated it will be engaging with “Indigenous Nations and stakeholders about feasibility and due diligence work will continue to be carried out on the new location to finalize design, property requirements, schedule and operations for the On-Corridor Works Project.”
It will also be working with the City and the TRCA to reduce potential impacts from the new location.
Construction on the layover facility was expected to begin in 2022 before the pushback about location.
The construction is part of a multi-billion-dollar expansion plan and will be used temporarily to store GO trains during the day.
Despite the layover plan’s design to lighten traffic at Union Station, it is expected to get worse under the GO Expansion plan as the number of trips going through Union will dramatically increase.
