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Lakeshore East, West Early Works

Project Overview

Purpose of the Project

  • Preparatory works to enable the future addition of a fourth track on the Lakeshore East (LSE) Corridor are getting underway.
  • The fourth track will contribute to passenger journey time improvements for all transit trips on LSE and Stouffville Corridors, improve service reliability and deliver increased service benefits within the City of Toronto.

Project Location

  • The Lakeshore East rail corridor has been divided into segments for management. The West Corridor, is located within the City of Toronto limits from Pape Avenue to Kennedy Road.
  • Metrolinx is the sole owner of this section of the Kingston Subdivision
  • Operations within the Lakeshore East Corridor consist of two-way all-day services provided by Metrolinx between Union Station and Oshawa GO Station
  • The corridor serves the Lakeshore East as well as Stouffville services and operations by VIA, CN Freight, etc.

Other Project Components

  • The preparatory works that are required include: utility relocation, construction of retaining walls, storm water management infrastructure and bridge widening and rehabilitation at Woodbine, Warden and Danforth bridges
  • Construction of a new culvert

Aerial map showing two bridge locations over the Lakeshore East rail corridor: Woodbine Bridge and Warden/Danforth Bridge

Infrastructure Required: Retaining Walls

  • Retaining walls come in a variety of formats
  • Along the Lakeshore East corridor, the type of retaining structure needed is known as a T-Wall
  • These walls do not require piling for installation and will not go above the height of the rail corridor
  • The walls are made of precast concrete, in a T shape and assist with stabilizing the slopes on either side of the rail corridor
  • We want to hear from you regarding the retaining wall façade options!

What’s Changed

  • The contract was tendered in Summer 2020, with construction set to begin in winter 2020-2021.
  • The project was initially scheduled to be delivered as a Build Finance (BF) contract using Infrastructure Ontario's P3 model, however due to the current COVID-19 situation and challenges in the marketplace, the procurement model was re-evaluated and the project is now being delivered as three smaller Design-Bid-Build (DDB) contracts.
  • Remodeling the procurement allows the team more flexibility to prioritize the works during a time when fewer trains are running. This is good news for the community who live alongside the tracks.
  • It does mean that in some area’s construction will begin sooner than originally planned, but the advantages for the project team and community are significant.

What’s Happening Now

This project will now be procured as three separate Design-Bid-Build (DBB) packages.

The three packages of work break into the following geographic sections:

  • Central Section: Woodbine to Wolcott. Section in red on map
  • West Section: Pape to Woodbine. Section in blue on map
  • East Section: Wolcott to Kennedy. Section in green on map

The Central Section will begin first.

Infrastructure Required: Culvert, Retaining Walls, Bridge Expansion and Grading

  • Several bridges will need to be expanded to accommodate a future fourth track.
  • A culvert is a tunnel carrying a stream, or open drain under a road or railroad.
  • Retaining walls are a structure designed and constructed to hold up the soil and earth, where there is a difference in grade next to the rail corridor.

Early Works Required

Quantity

Culverts

1

Retaining Walls

12 sections

Grading

5.2 miles Pape to Kennedy

Bridges

3

Map showing the three different sections of work: West Section, Pape to Woodbine; Central Section, Woodbine to Wolcott; East Section, Wolcott to Kennedy.