West Harbour GO Station | ? | 3 fl | Complete
 

Metrolinx has set up a flickr page for the James Street North GO Station construction updates.

[LINK] flickr.com - GO Station in Hamilton

February 28, 2014:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7357/1...e0fe87e0_b.jpg
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February 28, 2014:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3722/1...65c44e23_b.jpg
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James Street North GO Station | ? | 3 fl | Under Construction
 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bg7TDwbCMAAyoDA.png:large
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http://www.thesil.ca/wp-content/uplo...g-1024x488.jpg
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Construction Update (April 21, 2014):
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BlwhMjxCMAALVS4.jpg:large
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Continue construction updates for the new James Street North GO Station here...

Man is it sad that I'm more excited about the relandscaping of that area for the new go station, rather than the station itself? I think the bus stop park section is going to really add to the street.

Oh, and the trains to.

Wow, lots of earth to move in that section.

Update as of June 01, 2014

http://i.imgur.com/RiZL6nM.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/RnX0Mrs.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/6bjjWkd.jpg

that is excavation for the parking garage.

This is actually a very large investment in Hamilton by Metrolinx, they don't spend this kind of money to keep it at 2 trains a day. I would be surprised if Metrolinx doesn't start some major service expansion shortly after this is finished.

As an outside observer - is there the chance that this could eventually become the Hamilton VIA stop versus Aldershot?

Very doubtful. VIA prefers their suburban station with massive parking. It's also located on the other side of the Bayview Junction, which allows the London/Windsor bound trains to shoot up the Dundas hill after Aldershot. If there was a station at James North again, they'd have to do a weird turn around thing since the station is located on the other side of the junction, opposite Aldershot/Oakville/Toronto. It would however work as a stop on the Toronto-Niagara Falls route if they eliminated the stop at Aldershot, though I can't see service levels warranting it, especially when GO makes the Niagara Falls train service permanent. I'd actually see VIA eliminating the entire route up to Niagara Falls and might see the existing VIA stations at Grimsby and St. Catharines converted to GO stations.

It is possible but VIA refuses to commit to anything. They won't get rid of Aldershot because it's on the mainline for London and Sarnia bound trains. Niagara Falls to Toronto (and Amtrak's New York train) could use James North.

That's what I was thinking too - they would still need Aldershot for the London/Windsor/Sarnia trains. It's a shame the spur falls so short of Hamilton; it it only could've come through Hamilton a bit closer to downtown then the current GO station would be really busy since all the trains would come through it.

Geography has had such a mixed impact on this city over its history.

I recall my grandpa talking about getting the train from Hamilton just after WWII began (I think he hitchhiked with a friend from Windsor to Hamilton to enlist, and was sent by train to Halifax; he came through a few times after the war while on leave too). Apparently the Windsor to Toronto trains used to back in to the station from the main line.

If it were on the main line, it would probably have remained one of the busiest stations in Ontario.

GO station construction crew fills sewer with concrete
The Hamilton Spectator
By: Molly Hayes

The city is investigating a construction mishap at the site of Hamilton's future GO station after loads of concrete were accidentally poured into a municipal sewer.

"We know we've got a problem," Dan McKinnon, Hamilton's director of water and wastewater, said Friday.

A contract crew from Loc Pave Construction Limited has been working at the site just east of the MacNab Street North bridge where Metrolinx is building a two-storey GO station. It will also include a platform that extends under Bay Street North.

McKinnon said crews were filling caissons with concrete Tuesday when they noticed "one … took more concrete than they were expecting."

Now, a sewer in that location is holding water — which means it's blocked.

City workers were on site Friday afternoon running cameras through to probe the inside of the sewer pipe, McKinnon said.

Metrolinx spokesperson Vanessa Thomas said Friday afternoon the crew appears to have drilled into the trunk sewer.

"We are still investigating the cause to ensure it doesn't happen again," Thomas said. "We apologize for the inconvenience and are working with the city … to remedy the situation as quickly as possible."

McKinnon doesn't anticipate the blockage will affect any residents in the area: The sewage travelling through that sewer backs up into a tank under Bayfront Park.

Asked if it will be as expensive to fix as it sounds, McKinnon said: "I think you'd probably be right."

Thomas said the city will not be responsible for paying the costs associated with resolving the issue.

:oops: :duh :facepalm:

August 17, 2014:
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http://i.imgur.com/UmjN6EUl.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/qTsbQDEl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/zSxAPMtl.jpg

Looks like building is finally starting up. Digging always seems to take so much longer.

The city is currently redoing all of the sidewalks and roads between Barton and Strachan on James.

The road is going to be all torn up during SuperCrawl, because the City apparently hates SuperCrawl.

I’m not saying that the timing of that work seems the best possible, but the municipal government funded last year’s Supercrawl $125,000.

... and then charged them $30K for policing.

I jest (somewhat) but I seem to recall that the funding was contentious at council and a split vote along urban / suburban lines.

Of course, this being an election year, they will all now take credit for its success.

Supercrawl rarely extends beyond Barton anyways. What's the big deal?

The fact that it doesn't extend beyond Barton is a big deal for the few businesses along there. This will be even worse for them.

Perhaps James North needs a BIA so that these businesses that are shut out of Supercrawl have more say in its planning, and more sway with the city as to when construction takes place. Having said that, I am wondering if the lack of commercial space on this block is behind their lack of influence on such issues. The majority of the block is occupied by Mission Services and Marchese Pharmacy.

There is one or two galleries, and a barber shop. The store below my unit is currently vacant but available to rent. The building next to us has an electronics store opening in it. I live beside the pharmacy in the colourful building.

Not much will happen on that block until the GO station opens up. It needs more foot traffic that it's just not getting right now.

“Few” is the operative word here.

http://oi62.tinypic.com/ort087.jpg
http://oi61.tinypic.com/27yo5qh.jpg

Hope that's local steel. :P

What is that?

The main building of the station. The construction photos would have been taken from the bridge on the far right of this rendering...
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bg7TDwbCMAAyoDA.png:large
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I didn't really realize until I walked by today how big of a project this is. The station itself is a lot bigger than it seemed, and the surrounding lands are being totally transformed. Once this is done, that area is going to seem a lot different.

I was thinking liuna station was gonna open up again and we would have our own "union station", but this makes more sense... it looks nice still

Any news on whether it is on schedule?

James St. GO station plan still on track: Metrolinx
The Hamilton Spectator (Wednesday, November 05, 2014)

Metrolinx says it remains on track to begin regular train service to the new James Street GO Station in time for the Pan Am Games next July.

Construction at the site has hit a couple of road bumps, including the inadvertent dumping of cement by a subcontractor into a city sewer and the late rebuild by CN of the nearby Bay Street bridge.

Metrolinx spokesperson Alex Burke said the new station will be ready for passengers next summer but work will continue after it opens on landscaping and an urban plaza.

Dedicated train service, at least two trains in and out each day, will be provided during the Pan Am Games in July.

City transportation planning manager Al Kirkpatrick said Pan Am planners are mulling the possibility of additional Games trains, but are still wrestling with the logistics.

The city is still waiting on a confirmed start date and schedule for regular GO train service to James Street.

Construction Update
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And some renderings...
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5588/...7db0471e_b.jpg
Hamilton's James Street North GO Station - Final Rendering by Metrolinx, on Flickr

^ *Note the new train design from the previously posted rendering from the same angle.


https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2902/...51f7ba77_b.jpg
Hamilton's James Street North GO Station - Final Rendering by Metrolinx, on Flickr


https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2916/...3af892db_b.jpg
Hamilton's James Street North GO Station - Final Rendering by Metrolinx, on Flickr

In keeping with the design/colourway unveiled in July 2013.

Still no confirmed start date? Hopefully they continue right after the Pan Am games.

Definitely -- They are constructing JamesNorth GO for eventual (not right away, but eventual) all-day GO service to Hamilton, so this will eventually be our "surface subway" station to Toronto.

The Aldershot station (next station down the line) is only 3-5 minutes down the rail, and already gets all-day bidirectional (incoming and outgoing) service. For JamesNorth GO, there is a Phase II of construction that will proceed to year 2017 to expand the station. The two extra trains are specifically for PanAm, above-and-beyond regular daily GO service they are bringing to the station. Some construction stuff may be late won't make PanAm but will definitely get built anyway. If there is a boondoggle, the worst thing is they'll build a temporary platform for PanAm, and open full commuter service later than expected after PanAm, but as a Hamiltonian myself dependant on Toronto job, I definitely would hope they get things complete enough before then -- I'd like to stop driving to Aldershot! They already announced Phase 1 for PanAm and Phase 2 for 2017, and they seem to be already building some of the Phase 2 stuff concurrently with the Phase 1, so some of the pictures you see might not be stuff complete for PanAm 2015.

It's designated as a hub station for James, with apparently many renewal opportunities for Hamilton.
The City of Hamilton has big long-term plans with it:
http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/...tyHubStudy.pdf
"The James Street North station area has been identified by Metrolinx as one of 51 Mobility Hubs within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA)..."

Stuff that may not happen till late this decade or early next, but as you can see -- this isn't a PanAm flash-in-pan.
There's going to be construction onsite till 2017. The pretty artist concept probably isn't going to occur in 2015, they'll be late for that. PanAm was just an excuse to start building this project...

I'm still confused on how the two GO Stations will function?

If James St. N. is easier for GO trains to access and also serves the Niagara Peninsula, will the TH&B Station at Hunter St. become a bus station only?

Hunter is keeping the same service that it has now. James North is expanded service only, they've said.

Under current Lakeshore West scheduling, stations from Aldershot to Union are 6 minutes apart on average. (This spacing seems to carry over to Lakeshore East as well.)

Trains currently take 15 minutes to get from Hamilton GO Centre to Aldershot GO in the morning, 17 minutes to cover the same distance in the evening.

Downtown Hamilton and Mohawk/Upper James are also among the GTHA 51.

http://s28.postimg.org/h0car5g2l/IMG_3316.jpg

http://s28.postimg.org/nur6uky3h/IMG_3317.jpg

http://s28.postimg.org/pb2pcq10d/IMG_3318.jpg

http://s28.postimg.org/unrjquowt/IMG_3319.jpg

205 days to Pan Ams.

Fingers crossed they at least have the station completed on time.

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Do my eyes deceive me or is that an actual platform roof in the last photo?

Yep, your seeing a roof.

They'll have the platform done by the Pan Am Games but the building itself won't be completed.

I just hope the public area/park along James St will be completed before the Pan Am Games.