Tag: Davis Drive

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Community Events Uncategorized

Join us at our Davis Drive open house!

Join us at our Davis Drive open houseAs you may have noticed, construction on Davis Drive is well underway. As construction continues each day, we want to make sure you are in the know about what is happening in your neighbourhood. Please join us at our open house meeting on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 to learn more about the rapidway construction in Newmarket along Davis Drive.  You’ll have the opportunity to read up on maps and information boards, and speak with vivaNext representatives about what is to come for Davis Drive. This is a great chance to learn about how rapidways will benefit Newmarket and you as a resident.

Don’t worry if you can’t make the meeting though. We’ll post all of the materials from the open house on the past meetings page of our website. Also be sure to sign up for project updates, so you can receive up-to-date information on construction.

Join Us!

Date: Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Time: Drop in between 1 and 8pm

Location: Bethel United Church
333 Davis Drive, Newmarket

Categories
Community Events Construction Rapidways Uncategorized

Davis Drive rapidway construction – ready, set, go!

Davis Drive rapidway construction

Last year we accomplished a lot on Davis Drive, and as of this spring we’ll be moving full speed ahead on construction to build the rapidway. Starting soon, you’ll see a lot of utility companies along the corridor working to relocate gas, power, telecommunications, etc. Later this summer, we’ll be working on the Keith Bridge near the Tannery and doing some work near Southlake hospital. Watch for updates about all of this work, with more details to come.

 The Davis Drive rapidway will be complete in 2015, and we’re bringing an exceptional rapid transit system that will connect to other parts of York Region and help shape Newmarket’s growth. There’s a lot of work happening until 2015, and during construction we’ll do our best to keep disruptions to a minimum. We also want to keep everyone informed, so if you have questions or concerns we hope you’ll contact your Community Liaison, sign up for updates to get the latest construction information and come to our Davis Drive open house on May 15.

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Construction Going Green Uncategorized

Protecting our trees to keep York Region green

Crew works on transplanting trees
Tree buds are an early sign of spring, their canopies are beautifully green in the summer, and we all love their colours in the fall. For many of us, the mature trees on our streets and woodlots are attractive features of York Region’s established neighbourhoods.

So when we develop the rapidway construction schedule and plan, in addition to all the other construction tasks, one of our priorities is to protect and actually increase the number of trees along our routes.

As we design and build our rapidways along Highway 7 and Davis Drive in Newmarket, here’s what we’re doing to take care of the trees we have, and plan for new ones to ensure they continue to thrive into the future.

To start with, we all have a shared commitment to making sure our construction activities minimize impacts to our natural environment. This is a formal commitment that is made early on, in the Environmental Assessments that need to be completed and approved, long before work can begin.

One of our commitments is that our construction activities minimize impacts on trees. At the stage of final design for a rapidway segment, we walk the route with our Arborists to do a careful inventory of all the trees, inspecting each and tagging them, to make sure every tree is included in our construction drawings.

For those trees that are near the construction right-of-way, we look at ways to protect them by installing special protective fencing. We will also look at alternative construction methods where we can to work around a tree, or avoid harming its roots or branches.

For trees that are in the construction right-of-way, we identify any trees that could be safely dug up and replanted somewhere else. Then we work with the local community to identify locations to transplant the trees.

There are some trees that just can’t be saved, either due to a tree’s poor health or other factors. But our commitment is that for every tree we remove, we will replace it with at least one – if not more – new trees.

So this means that once the Highway 7 and Davis Drive rapidway projects are complete, there will be 45% more trees along Highway 7 East and nearly 27% more trees along Davis Drive. Highway 7 and Davis Drive will each be significantly greener when we’re done, and all in all, this adds up to more spring buds, and more fall leaves, for us all to enjoy in the future.

Categories
Construction General

Davis Drive – noticeable change in 2011

Davis Drive in 2011

Davis Drive was a busy place in 2011, with lots of noticeable work done to prepare for rapidway construction. Rapidways will be built from Yonge Street to just past the hospital, and most of our work has been along this section.

Davis Drive will be widened starting in 2012, and we needed to do a few big things first: build retaining walls, widen the Keith Bridge, and relocate utilities.

Widening Davis Drive will mean moving sidewalks and boulevards farther apart. In locations along the south side of Davis Drive where the ground slopes toward the road, retaining walls were needed so that we can move utilities. Five retaining walls are now built using stone blocks or textured concrete, with railings to be added to walls over two feet in height.

A new section of the Keith Bridge was built in 2011, including 106 tonnes of rebar steel reinforcements, and 110 truckloads of poured cement. Even though the final touches are still to come, the historical architectural features are noticeable in the new bridge construction. The Keith Bridge will be fenced this winter, and traffic will move to this bridge section at a later date.

Utilities, such as hydro, gas, sewage, and telecommunication lines, need to be moved to prepare for road widening, and in some cases they needed to be relocated as part of the Keith Bridge or retaining wall construction. Geotechnical testing – examining the condition and consistency of road and boulevard surfaces – has also been underway along Davis Drive so that our engineers know what to plan for when they widen the road.

This winter our contractors are working on 2012 construction schedules and continuing with utility relocation and geotechnical testing. When warmer weather arrives we’ll be ready to begin widening Davis Drive, and you’ll begin to see the overall transformation of Davis Drive into a welcoming urban place.

Happy Holidays everyone – we’ll see you in 2012!

Categories
General Rapidways

New fences make good neighbours

Example of paddock-style fencing

As we widen Davis Drive, one of our many priorities is to remember that for many people, Davis Drive isn’t just a busy street; it’s their home or workplace. Keeping that in mind, we’re doing whatever we can to be good neighbours while we build the Davis Drive rapidway.

That’s why last week we started installing paddock-style fencing around 19 properties on Davis Drive. We previously removed the buildings from these properties to make room for road widening, so they’re now vacant lots. Over the winter, they were surrounded by temporary construction fencing, but our intention was always that once demolition was done and warmer weather arrived, more attractive, permanent fencing would be installed.

Besides being attractive, the fencing is functional, keeping the properties secure and tidy. The new fences are set a bit back from the road to leave room for utility relocations and construction activity. As the project continues, we’ll use some properties to store construction materials, to stage crews and occasionally to park construction vehicles.

What will be done with the properties after the rapidway is complete? Well, that depends – each property is its own special case, with many factors for York Region and Metrolinx to consider and ensure the best possible use for the community.

In the meantime, your Community Liaison, Andrea Witty, is often out and about on Davis Drive, so if there’s something about the project that you’d like to talk about, please contact her.

Categories
General

Construction season is here

Construction season is here – vivaNext newsletter and construction bulletin, tweets and Facebook page

For months now we’ve been talking about the construction you’ll be seeing on Davis Drive in Newmarket, and on Highway 7 East in Markham and Richmond Hill. Now that spring is here, several construction projects are happening on York Region’s roads, including vivaNext rapidway construction.

Construction can include temporary lane closures, occasional bus stop closures or relocations and sidewalk detours. We know how frustrating these disruptions can be for drivers, transit users and pedestrians. That’s why we’re preparing you with information about why construction is happening, and where and when.

Why is construction happening? The practical reason is to build a rapid transit system that’s not delayed by congested traffic. Provincial and Regional planning policies outline the big-picture reasons, including two of our goals: to connect Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area communities, and to set the stage for pedestrian friendly and transit-oriented urban corridors.

We also want you to know where and when construction is happening and this can be a challenge, because as with any construction project, not everything goes according to plan. We receive updates directly from construction site managers, and our team works quickly to pass this information to you. We let you know about new information by putting up electronic signs on-site, sending tweets to those who follow us on Twitter and advising radio traffic reporters. When we know about work more than a day in advance we email construction bulletins to everyone who signed up for updates, and we post bulletins on our website and Facebook page. We also give general updates on our projects in our newsletters, weekly blogs and website content.

If you have a suggestion or a question, you don’t have to wait for our updates to find out the answer. We welcome the questions and suggestions we receive when we host public meetings and attend community events, and our Community Liaisons, Andrea and Nimisha, talk to people every day about our projects. We also respond to comments through this blog, via Twitter or Facebook, and our online contact forms. We want to hear from you!

We can’t prevent the lane closures that are required to complete construction, but we hope that knowing the long-term benefits and being prepared for where and when work is scheduled will be a big step in helping you get around.

Categories
Announcements Community Events

Stop by our open house in Newmarket!

Davis Drive will be widened to create two dedicated lanes for rapidways in the centre of the road between Yonge Street and Roxborough Road. In 2010, we began testing soil, relocating utilities and removing buildings (and recycling building materials) to prepare for road construction. We’ve scheduled road construction to begin in fall 2011, but before we start working on the road we have more utilities to relocate, retaining walls to build, and we need to widen the Keith Bridge.

So we have lots of work to do this year. With the project continuing to move forward, we’re inviting you to drop in to our open house next Thursday. If you missed all the previous meetings or didn’t catch us at various community events, this is your opportunity to come and look at maps and information boards, and talk to us. You’ll learn about how the rapidways will work and how they’ll benefit Newmarket, and also about what you can expect during construction and how you can stay informed throughout the project.

If you can’t come to the meeting be sure to sign up for project updates, and check out the Past Meetings page on our website, where we’ll also post all the materials from this open house.

Join Us
Date: Thursday, January 27, 2011
Time: Drop in between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Location: Bethel Christian Reform Church
333 Davis Drive, Newmarket

Categories
Live-work-play Urban Planning

Building a bridge between the past and future

The future Keith Bridge on Davis Drive in Newmarket, and diagram of the Tom Taylor Trail detour
The future Keith Bridge on Davis Drive in Newmarket, and diagram of the Tom Taylor Trail detour

A sense of history and attractive landmarks can give us a feeling of stability and pride in where we live; making us even happier with the town and neighbourhood we live in. Voted one of the best places to live in Canada by MoneySense Magazine, Newmarket ranks 15 out of 179 Canadian communities.

People who call Newmarket home have discovered the heritage and scenic areas in the centre of town. The East Holland River is the historic backbone of Newmarket, flowing alongside historic Main Street, under the Keith Bridge on Davis Drive and north to Lake Simcoe. In the 1800s, Newmarket residents used the river for industry and irrigation. Today it’s used for recreation, following along the Tom Taylor Trail. Recently those using the trail have seen some detour signs where it normally passes under the Keith Bridge. The detour directs people to cross at the traffic lights on Davis Drive, and pick up the trail again on the other side.

Over the next year, we will be widening the Keith Bridge to allow for rapidways to be constructed on Davis Drive from Yonge to the Southlake Regional Health Centre. As we widen the bridge we’ll also be enhancing it, adding architectural features such as stonework, railings and light fixtures that provide interest and reflect Newmarket’s heritage.

Completing the beautiful new Keith Bridge by the end of 2011 is a major part of the Davis Drive transformation that Newmarket residents will be watching with excitement over the next three years.

Categories
General Rapidways

Transit priority measures to get you there faster

Transit Priority Measures to Get You There Faster

I often talk about the big picture benefits of the vivaNext plan; our rapid transit system will help York Region manage growth through new transit-oriented development; reduced reliance on cars will benefit the environment; greater choice will improve the quality of life for York Region residents. And of course, the main benefit of the vivaNext plan— rapidways will allow people to get around York Region faster than before.

The vivaNext rapidways are going to make a major difference to the timeliness and efficiency of Viva service, but what you may not know is, we took steps prior to Viva’s launch to make the service as fast as was possible. We put various measures into place – collectively called “transit priority measures” – to make it easier for Viva vehicles to get through gridlock. This means that commuters on Viva are already able to cut through traffic congestion faster than people travelling in cars.

Ok, I know what you’re thinking: “There’s no way a bus can go faster than a car unless it’s in its own lane.” Allow me to explain.

In general, transit priority measures are strategies that help buses move quickly along their routes. These measures can involve physical improvements to the roadway, with the most obvious example being dedicated lanes through congested areas (like the vivaNext rapidways!). A less dramatic, but still effective approach is that of queue-jumping lanes, which allow buses to move ahead of congested traffic at intersections. We installed queue-jumping lanes for Viva’s first phase.

Another transit priority measure involves legislative steps. Have you ever noticed the big “Yield to Bus” sign on the back of buses? This transit priority measure was added to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act to improve transit flow and make transit service more reliable and efficient. This law actually requires drivers to yield the right-of-way to buses trying to leave bus bays and merge with traffic.

The other key category of transit priority measures involves something called “intelligent transportation systems” which are signal system technologies used to improve transit efficiency. Signal systems are quite complex, but in general, modern signals analyze inputs (e.g. vehicles approaching a signal or crossing buttons being pushed by pedestrians) and decide when the traffic lights should change. Transit priority systems add another important input. A bus will automatically send a message to the traffic signal telling it to change, and the signal will adjust its timing in response, favouring the bus. This is not to say that the bus is guaranteed a green light (such as the case of an emergency vehicle), but rather that the delay to the transit vehicle is slightly reduced compared to normal operation (without the transit signal priority).

Viva vehicles don’t “ask” for priority at every signal; priority is only requested when the Viva vehicle is running behind schedule. Currently, Viva vehicles can ask for a low level of priority when they are one minute off schedule, and more immediate priority when they are three minutes behind schedule. And to provide some context, with light cycles in the Region often lasting about two minutes, missing one light can easily put a bus behind schedule. So signal priority is an important tool that helps keep the system running on time, even during the busiest times of the day.

By combining dedicated transit lanes through the most congested parts of Highway 7, Yonge Street and Davis Drive with other transit priority measures in less crowded stretches, Viva is going to offer you a ride that will be comfortable, convenient, fun—and faster than ever before.

Categories
Rapidways

Connecting the past to the future

Connecting the Past to the Future

One of the best things about my job is that I get an opportunity to work with people who are really passionate about their community, and who want to share their knowledge and enthusiasm with others. One such group that the vivaNext team has had the privilege of working with over the past year or so is Heritage Newmarket, a committee that advises Newmarket Town Council on various issues related to the Town’s history and heritage properties.

An important part of the Heritage Newmarket mandate, and something that we’re proud to support, is increasing public awareness of the history of the Town of Newmarket. We believe that while we’re building the rapidways along Davis Drive, we have a great opportunity to build various features into our design that will tell people they’re in an historical district, and help build local knowledge and appreciation for Newmarket’s heritage.

One theme that we will be highlighting is, of course, transportation in its many forms. From prehistoric times, nomadic indigenous peoples roamed the area now known as Newmarket, searching for food and shelter. By the 12th century, the Rouge, Humber and Don Trails, connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Huron via the Holland River and Lake Simcoe, were well established travel routes for these early inhabitants. European fur traders first travelled here 400 years ago, and when York County was established in 1792, a road named Military Street was built to replace the trails that connected Lake Ontario and Lake Huron. This road, which ran from York (now the City of Toronto) to the Pine Fort at Holland Landing, was eventually renamed Yonge Street.

By the mid-19th century, more and more people were coming to this area, including day-trippers to the Saturday Farmer’s Market and the North York Agricultural Fair, as well as business people. The Ontario, Huron & Simcoe Railway built a rail line to more effectively connect Newmarket and Toronto, travelling up Yonge Street and over to the Main Street area in Newmarket. And in the early 20th century, a canal system to transport goods was built in Newmarket. Although it was later abandoned, remnants of the system can still be found today along the Holland River.

So how will we be commemorating this rich history along the Davis Drive rapidways? Detailed planning is still underway, but our concept is to highlight heritage features in two areas: at Davis Drive and Main Street near the historic downtown, and along the Keith Bridge. Our urban design team is exploring ways of incorporating distinctive features such as lighting, pavement treatments, street furniture and other elements with a heritage aesthetic.

We know that there’s a really interesting story to be told, and we will be working with Heritage Newmarket and others to provide more information in these key areas, possibly through plaques, informational signage, and more. In the meantime, if you want to know more about Newmarket’s fascinating history, I’d encourage you to check out the links below to learn more about the Town and see how vivaNext is but the latest chapter in the ongoing story of getting people from A to B.

Links: