{"id":27533,"date":"2020-09-19T13:02:28","date_gmt":"2020-09-19T17:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=27533"},"modified":"2020-09-19T13:02:34","modified_gmt":"2020-09-19T17:02:34","slug":"metrolinx-continues-design-work-on-underpass-to-minimize-impact-on-property-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/metrolinx-continues-design-work-on-underpass-to-minimize-impact-on-property-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"Metrolinx continues design work on underpass to \u201cminimize\u201d impact on property owners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Metrolinx is forging ahead with design work the planned Wellington Street East traffic underpass with an eye to \u201cminimize\u201d impacts to nearby property owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This past winter, dozens of residents filled the auditorium of the Aurora Community Centre for a public open house on Metrolinx\u2019s plans to expand GO Transit across the province, including plans for all-day two-way train service along GO\u2019s Barrie corridor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An integral part of the plan is the construction of a traffic underpass on Wellington Street East at the rail crossing to ensure the steady flow of traffic once all-day service is in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the underpass will not just impact the area immediately north of the GO Station; construction of the underpass will continue substantially further east and west of the site, with the proposed eastbound entrance to the underpass near Walton Drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the area property owners speaking out against the plan \u2013 from the disruption construction would cause to their businesses to eliminating street-level traffic \u2013 were the owners of York Medi Spa, which recently moved to their Wellington Street location from Newmarket, as well as York National Realty, whose premises near the rail line are now earmarked for an incoming cannabis retailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the summer months, Metrolinx has been soliciting online feedback on their plans from the community and a virtual public meeting is now set for \u201clate October\/early November\u201d to provide an update on the grade separation, according to Metrolinx\u2019s Matt Llewellyn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis grade separation is\u2026a critical upgrade that will safely enable future service increases, such as two-way all-day GO Train service,\u201d said Llewellyn. \u201cWith trains travelling in each direction as frequently as every 15 minutes, trains could be going through the crossing approximately every seven minutes. By building a road underpass for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles, we will not only significantly increase safety \u2013 but also convenience. No more waiting for trains in order to get across the tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe underpass is currently in early design and Metrolinx is assessing design options to minimize private property acquisitions. We\u2019re doing this by providing alternative access to properties rather than full acquisition as much as possible. We will be reaching out to impacted property owners in the next few weeks and will negotiate in good faith to find a resolution or settlement for property owners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Metrolinx declined to elaborate on what \u201calternative access to properties\u201d entails from their perspective \u201cgiven the commercially sensitive nature\u201d of the conversations around land acquisitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n<a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F27533&#038;t=Metrolinx%20continues%20design%20work%20on%20underpass%20to%20%E2%80%9Cminimize%E2%80%9D%20impact%20on%20property%20owners&#038;s=100&#038;p&#091;url&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F27533&#038;p&#091;images&#093;&#091;0&#093;=&#038;p&#091;title&#093;=Metrolinx%20continues%20design%20work%20on%20underpass%20to%20%E2%80%9Cminimize%E2%80%9D%20impact%20on%20property%20owners\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F27533&#038;text=Like%3F\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Metrolinx%20continues%20design%20work%20on%20underpass%20to%20%E2%80%9Cminimize%E2%80%9D%20impact%20on%20property%20owners&#038;body=Like%3F:%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F27533\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Metrolinx is forging ahead with design work the planned Wellington Street East traffic underpass with an eye to \u201cminimize\u201d impacts to nearby property owners. This past winter, dozens of residents filled the auditorium of the Aurora Community Centre for a public open house on Metrolinx\u2019s plans to expand GO Transit across the province, including plans [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-7a5","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 12:52:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27533\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}