Wharncliffe Rd. Transformation - CN tracks

[kaiserLDN]

http://www.london.ca/residents/Envir...2016-11-28.pdf

Display boards from the last meeting.

[jammer139]

Just like Western Rd/Wharncliffe and a Adelaide CP over/underpass this one is long overdue.

[manny_santos]

The preferred alternative in this plan looks pretty cool - building the new bridge next to the existing one, shifting the old one out of the way and then shifting the new one into place. This has been used to replace bridges on Highway 417 in Ottawa, although in the cases in Ottawa it has always been an overnight shift and not a 4-day shift.

[Pimpmasterdac]

Huge project, gonna completely transform Wharncliffe. Plans calling to lower the grade 6-10 feet, and make Wharncliffe/Horton intersection 6-7 lanes, finally have channelization right & left turn lanes. When both the CN & CPR underpass are finished Wharncliffe will be a big aleviator of traffic.

[jammer139]

It would be great to see these 3 rail crossing projects built back to back to back in the next 3 years. But it likely won't be the case given the delays and roadmaps the city seems to be planning. Adelaide CP isn't supposed to happen until 2030.

[kaiserLDN]

If you have a house by a train track and a busy road in a growing city then it will get demolished at some point.

http://www.lfpress.com/2017/01/09/lo...emise-of-house

[MrSlippery519]

Originally Posted by kaiserLDN

If you have a house by a train track and a busy road in a growing city then it will get demolished at some point.

http://www.lfpress.com/2017/01/09/lo...emise-of-house

Serious question, how long does this 75 year old lady who owns the house intend to stay there?

As you said, even 28 years ago when she bought the house you have to consider in the future the city would have wanted to expand that section, quite honestly it is already 10+ years overdue.

[jammer139]

Zero sympathy for the Nimby's of the world. I doubt the house is even movable if jacked up and relocated given its current location. Even if disassembled and rebuilt on another lot elsewhere like in the countryside. I agree; what are people thinking. Built next to rail line on major road with likely reconstruction in future. You got to assume that reconstruction is coming down the road. That location and Western Rd CP tracks should have been rebuild 30 years ago.

[Pimpmasterdac]

Complete and utter sob story by this NIMBY. People like her are the reason that expropriation exists. Why should one person be able to hold up an entire cities transit plans?! The rapid transit plans call for Wharncliffe to be 4 continously lanes north-south before RT can be built. As well Wharncliffe project is decades overdue. Its unfortunate shes gotta move, but there's always gonna be winners and losers. expropriate asap and get London moving!!

[haljackey]

All I have to contribute is

[haljackey]

More people rallying to protect the home:
http://www.lfpress.com/2017/01/10/op...s-beloved-digs

This will probably delay the project even further.

[MrSlippery519]

Perfect, well done LFP below are some of the arguments for people not wanting to read the entire article. We have yet another set of uneducated NIMBY'ers, the free press should not publish things like this without at least having people justify their statements. The first comment is by far the funniest (and craziest lol)

“Traffic is a huge issue, we are a gateway and when six lanes go in it will divide the area, east and west will be split. I am concerned about that, too.”

What petitioners said

“(Along with) the beautiful home and garden, this construction will disrupt so much wildlife. The traffic congestion could be corrected with better planning of traffic lights and moving buses off that section of Wharncliffe.”

Valerie Grunte, London

“We need to protect and observe that people who are taking care of heritage sites need to be appropriately represented in the community and not taken advantage of.”

Andrew Hulko, London

“She was a fantastic kindergarten teacher. She is loving and caring. This is her home. No one has the right to take it away from her.”

Emily SG, London

“I just got such a heritage education. The city says, ‘Cut a tree down without permission and we will fine you. We are the Forest City after all. However that is only unless we want to do it.’ ”

Jo-Anna Fotinopoulos, London

[database]

A couple of thoughts on this:

- Perhaps I'm being a bit ageist when I say this, but considering the age of the resident, it might not be too long until she needs to downsize her home anyway. My grandmother moved into a smaller, more manageable, apartment when she turned 78 as many 70+ year olds do. I'm not wishing her ill health or anything, but I think it would be realistic to say she doesn't count on living there for another 30 years. And if she does, I want to know her secret!

- This is an extraordinarily dangerous intersection as both a driver and as a pedestrian who navigates it regularly. It's easy to jump to the "all we care about are cars" line in this city, but this truly is a situation where expanded lanes, and the improved pedestrian infrastructure that comes with it, are necessary.

- Speaking of cars, I wonder how many of these petitioners own and drive cars in London. Part of the problem is that we are very much a car-dependent city. I hope the petitioners who drive cars know that they have contributed to the need for expansion on Wharncliffe by owning and driving a car.

- Like it or not, Wharncliffe is a main artery in this city. The traffic jams I've sat through due to this bottleneck section of the road have made me late for work hundreds of times. This reduces productivity, and has a consequences for our economy.

- Many people... thousands of people... lose their homes for various reasons. My mother was forced to leave her home of 25 years when my parents split up. Many others lose their homes to foreclosure, affordability, structural issues, natural disasters, fires, etc. I understand it's a tough go to be turfed out of your home. But this is not a unique situation, and shouldn't be treated as one.

- The heritage argument: London's heritage housing stock is the one area of heritage in which we have an abundance. Any of our core neighbourhoods demonstrate this, and many of them are being given heritage neighbourhood status. I agree it's a gorgeous well-maintained house. So are the 3900 other heritage designated properties in our city. And no, demolishing it won't set a new precedent; last I checked, the majority of them aren't located alongside a main artery up for expansion and have a railway bridge behind them.

[kaiserLDN]

I don't think a 4 foot weed garden should stop anyone from building something that will benefit the whole city. This house should have been expropriated decades ago. I Also think the ugly building across the street should be demolished to.

[jammer139]

How many of the so call on-line Facebook petitioners are residents of London? The article was also carried in the Toronto Sun.

[manny_santos]

I have no sympathy. This widening project has been in London's transportation plans since at least 1973. She ought to have found out about this plan back when she bought the property. That said, I do put part of the blame on real estate agents who may not have disclosed this plan, but I still believe there is onus on the buyer to consult municipal Official Plans and other long-term planning documents as part of their due diligence when purchasing property.

It's no different than the people who buy a house next to a vacant property that is zoned for development and is designated as such on the municipality's Official Plan, but then throw a fit when bulldozers show up.

There was a similar case in Durham Region several years ago when the MTO wanted to take properties to build Highway 412, which just opened last year. One homeowner tried to fight the MTO to stop the highway from going through their home, but they had no chance. Hopefully the City of London has a similar backbone.

[Pimpmasterdac]

What a farce this issues is. Hopefully council waits for this story to fade before ramming expropriation orders through.

Just to put things in perspective, think how much protest and noise there's going to be when SHIFT is implemented, and dozens of properties are expropriated along Wellington, Oxford, Richmond...

[jammer139]

Plan to watch which City councillors pay lip service to this and how they vote. This will dictate who should be re-elected next election as serious leaders for moving the city forward.

Originally Posted by Pimpmasterdac

What a farce this issues is. Hopefully council waits for this story to fade before ramming expropriation orders through.

Just to put things in perspective, think how much protest and noise there's going to be when SHIFT is implemented, and dozens of properties are expropriated along Wellington, Oxford, Richmond...

[Dupcheck]

It has to get done, what choice do we have? They city needs to improve. We do not have highways to speed up travel through the city. We can not improve current traffic flow due to NYMBY's not wanting to change. What are we going to do?

This is one of the main reasons that we are getting urban sprawl in London. People travel quicker on the outskirts than through the city, so it is actually better for them to move in the burbs than live downtown. If residents cared more, they would want their city to improve and keep up to date instead of putting themselves first at all times.

I hope they compensate her fairly and help her with the move.
If a city never improved what would the future be for them?

[haljackey]

New article, new delay
http://www.lfpress.com/2017/01/12/lo...city-committee