Wharncliffe Rd. Transformation - CN Tracks

[K85]

She was probably 70-80% attached to the house, then nimby happened, now 100

[Oliverfox]

Originally Posted by inimrepus

IIRC for them to widen the road they need to build a new railway bridge, for them to build a new bridge though they first need to build temporary bridge which is why they need to tear down that house.

I have seen the size of the temporary rail bridge there building on Oxford and Wharncliffe. Her backyard will get destroyed in the process but there should be more then enough room to fit a temporary rail bridge in without knocking down the house.

[inimrepus]

Originally Posted by Oliverfox

I have seen the size of the temporary rail bridge there building on Oxford and Wharncliffe. Her backyard will get destroyed in the process but there should be more then enough room to fit a temporary rail bridge in without knocking down the house.

I am sure there is a reason that they believe they need to take down the house. I am sure that they don't want to have to pay for the house if they don't need to.

[Pimpmasterdac]

From the reports I read on the city site, they can fit the temporary diversion bridge in the backyard, however it would be way too close to the home and have serious vibrations. As well they plan for Wharncliffe to be 6 lanes at the Underpass so that garage/shed looking thing will be gone too.

[MrSlippery519]

Originally Posted by Pimpmasterdac

From the reports I read on the city site, they can fit the temporary diversion bridge in the backyard, however it would be way too close to the home and have serious vibrations. As well they plan for Wharncliffe to be 6 lanes at the Underpass so that garage/shed looking thing will be gone too.

This is most accurate, they would need to completely change the short and long term plans to save the house.

[Pimpmasterdac]

Hadn't heard anything since last year on this project, was worried if it had been perhaps been stalled/shelved. Seems the project consultants and heritage committee are bending over backwards to try and accommodate this woman. They now are studying whether they can move her home from the east to west side of Wharncliffe so the widening and road realignment can proceed.

While even I think this excessive, this woman is being completely unreasonable saying she doesn't want the home moved at all since she values the overgrown weeds, which she calls a garden, would be lost...

Hopefully civic works and council grow a pair and ram this project home. Ridiculous one woman will hold this essential project up this long. It ought to have been done decades ago. With Wharncliffe/CP underpass being done this is the final bottleneck that needs to be eliminated!


CTV News http://london.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1259763
Heritage Committee Reports http://sire.london.ca/advisory/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=1676&doctype=agenda&itemid=57227

[MrSlippery519]

A 60 page document from heritage on this wow, all I see in the pictures are a bunch of weeds and generally not well taken care of house/property.

I really hope the city grows a pair and just says no this is what is happening. Alternatively leave the house and widen the road accordingly which we make the house right next to the road.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by MrSlippery519

leave the house and widen the road accordingly which we make the house right next to the road.

The house needs to be demolished to make way for a staging area to build the temporary rail overpass. This could get located elsewhere, but would add significant cost to the project.

[kaiserLDN]

wow looks like she put in a lot of work. Looks like a 6 ft weed garden to me. She is a very selfish person. She's like 90? and not caring about the future of London. If I was 90 I would take the money and run. She should help all the other tax payers in the city and agree to move. Not just thinking about herself.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by kaiserLDN

wow looks like she put in a lot of work. Looks like a 6 ft weed garden to me. She is a very selfish person. She's like 90? and not caring about the future of London. If I was 90 I would take the money and run. She should help all the other tax payers in the city and agree to move. Not just thinking about herself.

What annoys me is the stories make it seem like this is the only place this poor little old lady has lived. As if her kids were born here, and her family has lived here since the founding of London or something. She moved there in her 50's. Sure we all like our homes, but give me a break on the sentimentality of this. She has moved before, she can again. And the city has even offered to move her house across the road so she is still in her neighbourhood.

[MrSlippery519]

Originally Posted by haljackey

The house needs to be demolished to make way for a staging area to build the temporary rail overpass. This could get located elsewhere, but would add significant cost to the project.

Just put it on top of the house I am sure it will hold lol.

The cost this situation has already added is likely a number none of us want to know, quite sad really.

[jammer139]

They should just proceed with the EA and other engineering planning as this work isn't likely to start until 2021 or 2022. By then this person could be deceased or in long term care and the house expropriated and bulldozed then.

Time will solve this problem for us.

[haljackey]

A thought occurred.

Until / if a new underpass is built, could the middle lane rotate between northbound and southbound travel depending on time of day?

It's called a suicide lane, or reversible lane. A good example of one is on the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Bridge

This would expand capacity for flows during rush hour. A band-aid approach for now.

[kaiserLDN]

Sounds like a good idea but I personally feel like both ways have a lot of traffic during rush hour not just one way. Stats may prove I am wrong though.

[Pimpmasterdac]

I agree with Kaiser, don't think I there's a definitive greater flow of north vs. south traffic in am vs. pm? As well there's SB left turn onto Stanley St that would be eliminated with a reversible lane, which is essential for eastbound traffic. SB to EB is prohibited at Horton currently and otherwise Beecher or The Ridgeway would be swamped and reduce flow on Wharncliffe.

Honestly civic works and council need to put their money where their mouths are and ram this project home asap. I'm sure she'll throw legal challenges at this project regardless. Might as well get them started soon so we can get the show on the road!

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by Pimpmasterdac

I agree with Kaiser, don't think I there's a definitive greater flow of north vs. south traffic in am vs. pm? As well there's SB left turn onto Stanley St that would be eliminated with a reversible lane, which is essential for eastbound traffic. SB to EB is prohibited at Horton currently

I'd assume there's more traffic heading north to downtown in the AM and south out of downtown in the PM.

Yes this would cannibalize the southbound turn to Stanley. Guess a detour would be to turn at Riverside and use Ridout to get to York / Horton.

This is just an idea. The cost to study and implement this would be better spent on a permanent solution.

[jammer139]

Correction: It's not Civic Works or Council's money. It is our tax money they are responsible for. Never forget the government spends our taxes on our behave. Nothing is free.

Originally Posted by Pimpmasterdac

I agree with Kaiser, don't think I there's a definitive greater flow of north vs. south traffic in am vs. pm? As well there's SB left turn onto Stanley St that would be eliminated with a reversible lane, which is essential for eastbound traffic. SB to EB is prohibited at Horton currently and otherwise Beecher or The Ridgeway would be swamped and reduce flow on Wharncliffe.

Honestly civic works and council need to put their money where their mouths are and ram this project home asap. I'm sure she'll throw legal challenges at this project regardless. Might as well get them started soon so we can get the show on the road!

[MrSlippery519]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Correction: It's not Civic Works or Council's money. It is our tax money they are responsible for. Never forget the government spends our taxes on our behave. Nothing is free.

Exactly and is precisely why this needs to be dealt with now not 5-10 years from now. "we" will end up spending millions of dollars on assessments and studies, etc. Add to that the cost of construction will continue to go up every year.

[tyeman200]

Originally Posted by jammer139

They should just proceed with the EA and other engineering planning as this work isn't likely to start until 2021 or 2022. By then this person could be deceased or in long term care and the house expropriated and bulldozed then.

Time will solve this problem for us.

Maybe sooner thank you think. Drove by there a few times recently and noticed her car and driveway were never cleared.

[Oliverfox]

Originally Posted by jammer139

They should just proceed with the EA and other engineering planning as this work isn't likely to start until 2021 or 2022. By then this person could be deceased or in long term care and the house expropriated and bulldozed then.

Time will solve this problem for us.

I believe that's what happened with the old lady that lived in the little old house that used to be next to the Dundas-Riverside St bridge in the 90's, the city just waited for the lady to die.

I do agree the underpass needs to be widen, but I don't believe widening the bridge will actually improve the traffic flow. As someone who travels up that stretch of Wharncliffe St regularly I have noticed that most of traffic jams on that street are caused by people blocking ongoing traffic trying to turn onto the many side streets that branch off it because most of the intersections don't have dedicated turning lanes.