Work continues to expand Barrie GO line
Construction of a key component of the GO rail network that will allow for two-way all-day service across the GTHA is well underway.
Metrolinx provided an update recently on the progress of construction along the Barrie Line on September 3. The line will become a key component of the provincial agency’s vision to build an integrated transit network across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton region.
To support the expanded service on the Barrie Line, Metrolinx is building an elevated guideway for GO trains to travel above the CP Rail freight train tracks. The two rail lines, Barrie GO and CP Rail, currently meet north of Dupont Street, an intersection known as the Davenport Diamond.
The Davenport Diamond Guideway project includes construction of a new rail grade separation as well as the addition of a second main line track on the Barrie line. The project will also see the replacement of the bridge at Bloor Street West, a new bridge over Wallace Avenue, a pedestrian tunnel at Paton Road and rehabilitation of bridges at Dupont Street and at Davenport Road.
The project spans from Bloor Street West to Davenport Road and significant progress has been made since construction began in April 2020. For example, crews have installed concrete columns to support the elevated guideway girders, they are working on the abutments for the new bridge at Wallace Avenue that will eliminate the existing at-grade crossing and the new bridge over the CP Rail tracks that will eliminate the busy train intersection, and they are making significant progress at Bloor Street to demolish the existing abutments to facilitate reconstruction of the bridge.
Crews are also building up the mechanically stabilized earth walls at the north and south ends of the project that will bring trains up to the height of the elevated guideway and back down to grade again.
In addition, on the east side of the rail bridge at the grade separation site, crews are constructing the base slab which will form the foundation of the new Rutherford Road underpass.
The expanded Barrie line will feature a new station, which will be delivered via the province’s SmartTrack program. The new Bloor-Lansdowne station will be located on Bloor Street West, and feature bike parking, upper and lower-level entrances, a tunnel connecting East and West platforms and a multi-use path from the Davenport Diamond greenway north of Bloor Street to Dundas.
Procurement is currently underway for SmartTrack stations after the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario signed a revised agreement in principle in mid-August.
Featured image: Rendering of the new Bloor-Lansdowne GO station. (Metrolinx)