Construction in the Port Lands - November 2024

[@riseofazrael]

Amazing project, can't wait to see it finished.

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

With the rate anything gets done in the GTA we'll be looking at many years before this project gets fully completed.

[@JohnNorton86]

Amazing work, anyone who says the government can't do anything right. Here is an example of a government project which has done a massive task and executed it very well. It's great seeing such progress. Well done WFT.

[@glent7853]

Yes, it has only taken 15 years. The remaking of the don valley walking trails were to be finished in 2024, but funny, they had problems getting equipment into the area. If only they had thought they would need equipment when it was planned.

[@eldeluxo]

It will be a shame to see this area rammed with condos and other commercial interests, oh well just Toronto becoming whatever it's trying to become.

[@Bruce-l]

@@eldeluxo the island will be downtown adjacent, condos and office buildings should be expected. also I think that it's better we build tall in Toronto instead of building out into our precious farms and destroying the most fertile land in ontario

[@nickloss2377]

​@@eldeluxocondos are guaranteed. These improvements aren't just for existing Toronto homeowners to benefit from. It's a growing city.. It needs a place to put the workers that are keeping the economy moving. Sorry if you don't like the reality of city living.. But condos are needed on a massive scale. We can't build outwards cuz of the green belt and urban sprawl is another issue selfish nimby folks tend to complain about. And this was industrial land. I suppose you would prefer it to have remained abandoned industrial complexes rather than places people could live. Torontonians never cease to amaze me with their selfishness

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

@@nickloss2377 *These improvements aren't just for existing Toronto homeowners to benefit from. It's a growing city.. It needs a place to put the workers that are keeping the economy moving.* You're kidding yourself if you believe most of the new housing going up here will be to benefit the average person. Most of it will get bought up by rich investors and companies looking to make good money reselling or renting it out. If developers REALLY wanted to make housing that helps with the housing crisis, they would build bigger units than a shoebox that could house a family like they use to do and then sell it at a halfway reasonable price so that more people can actually afford to buy it. Of course doing that won't maximize profits so no private developer would ever do it. The only way it could ever get done is if the government built it themselves for the benefit of the general public and not for making big profits. This is why I wished Ontario would have its own crown construction company who's sole purpose is to build major public projects with as little private help as possible. Just build it at a break even cost and then sell or rent it at a reasonable price that most people could afford which is something no private enterprise would ever do.

[@BradPower]

Love these drone walkthroughs.

[@Abby-ug4xc]

Yay, I love these updates! Can't wait to see it even more green next summer

[@coced]

to the editor: read about frame interpolation

[@shifty7082]

facts, but on a positive note the narration and explanations were quite lovely!

[@yeeaahhzz]

Charles Sauriol would be proud

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

While I'm glad that SOME work is being done, why is it that there aren't tons of crews working on this project to get things done quicker? Nearly every single project in the GTA looks empty much of the time or it only has a few people working on it at any given time. Why can't we have more people working on these projects and get things done in months or a few years maximum instead of many years? In Arizona TSMC recently finished its first huge state of the art chip factory there with 4 years of construction and in Toronto we can't get a simple LRT line open or finish some work on the Portlands in double or even triple the time? Something is very wrong with how we do things in Canada.

[@lackofavailablenames]

@@UzumakiNaruto_ Toronto has over 4x as many active cranes as any other city in North America. We employ over 40% of Ontario's construction workers and employ more than the entire state of Arizona, who are also able to draw expertise from neighbouring states. Construction is spread thin across the city. I'm not sure we can just throw more workers at any given project. That said I'm pleasantly surprised at the progress of this project given the terrible pace of the Eglinton Crosstown. It's clear something has gone terribly wrong with Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario and the lack of accountability is deafening.

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

@@lackofavailablenames *Construction is spread thin across the city. I'm not sure we can just throw more workers at any given project.* Many of those construction cranes and crews seem to be working on private projects and not ones like these. And here's an idea. If Toronto/GTA has so many projects going on that almost all of them seem to be empty much of the time and progress is so slow, then how about just CUTTING BACK on the number of projects going on at the same time and putting more crews on fewer jobs so that they can get done in a much shorter period of time? I don't think it would be that difficult to plan the project out, make sure you have all the manpower, equipment and materials all lined up and ready to go AND THEN start the job and go fulltime on it so that everything goes relatively smoothly and with few stoppages. And if all this sounds too hard for our construction companies to do, then why not hire a foreign company to do it for you if they can do it better for the same if not better price? It boggles my mind that the Gordie Howe Bridge which is barely 3 km long has taken 7 years to hopefully finish in 2025 while in that same 7 year timespan China was able to build 50 km of bridges to connect Shenzhen and Zhongshan across the Pearl River Delta that includes 7 km of underwater tunnels. Somehow the Chinese have figured out how to build such massive projects in a still reasonable timespan and yet we struggle with much smaller projects with much more money being thrown at it. Clearly its not the size and scope of projects that's the problem, but the planning, organization and leadership that's the issue when China can build huge public projects all over their nation without too much trouble while here in Canada we struggle to do anything without a massive amount of money and timelines that can span generations.

[@lackofavailablenames]

@@UzumakiNaruto_ Like you said, many of these projects are private and are outcompeting the government. How do you propose the city or province convince companies to abandon their current contracts? How much should we pay for foreign labor to draw them in from afar? Where do we house the extra workers? The construction industry employs hundreds of thousands of labourers in the GTA. We are currently in a housing crisis and many of the private construction projects are housing projects. Guangdong province has 8x the population as Ontario so we can't make any 1-on-1 comparisons. That said, I do wish the government would try to learn more lessons overseas. Much of China's construction is state owned, while PPP projects in Ontario are stalling out and going over budget. I think PPPs have been a black hole of accountability and should be discarded for all future large construction projects.

[@louisvelho9855]

You can't compare a 4 storey factory in Arizona to a massive Neibourhood in the Portlands.

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

@@lackofavailablenames *many of these projects are private and are outcompeting the government. How do you propose the city or province convince companies to abandon their current contracts? How much should we pay for foreign labor to draw them in from afar?* Many construction companies ARE NOT outcompeting the province. They have no competition with them. I'm saying the province should create its own crown construction company and hire people and train them if needed and then have them do nothing but build major public projects so that we don't have to be at the mercy of private companies who often do a poor job/go over budget/take too long without any consequences. Stop using these crappy ass companies and allow for a crown company to build these major projects and if they need extra expertise or aren't capable of building certain projects themselves then hire the best people even if they happen to be from a foreign company rather than using the same incompetent and corrupt companies that we're using now just because they're Canadian. *Where do we house the extra workers? The construction industry employs hundreds of thousands of labourers in the GTA. We are currently in a housing crisis and many of the private construction projects are housing projects.* If you're hiring a foreign company to bring workers to Canada, you're not housing them permanently. They're only here for the duration of the project. Hire a Chinese company to build a brand new Gardiner Expressway for example and say it will take them a year or two to do it. After its done they'll all leave. Even if you factor in housing and food costs for these foreign workers as part of the project cost, it will likely still be much less than all the money spent on renovating the Gardiner that we're doing now. Its costing like 3.5 BILLION to rehab the Gardiner over many years and I'm pretty damn sure that a Chinese company could tear down the old one and build a brand new Gardiner with new materials, architecture and engineering techniques that would last much longer for the same price if not cheaper.

[@marktaylorcampbell]

When is the section between Carlaw and Don Roadway complete?

[@WaterfrontToronto]

This work is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2025.

[@SumitKumar-em7qp]

❤

[@Nock4Six]

Amazing. Are they planning to rebuild the off ramp from the Gardiner to Lakeshore right where it turns and switches to the DVP?

[@alexhuras2821]

A new cherry st off ramp, and they mentioned lakeshore will be expanded from the current 2 to 6 lanes to accommodate traffic

[@Nock4Six]

@ thanks!

[@kriskool]

Much needed housing is mentioned, but I imagine this is going to be super expensive housing... not helpful with the issue of affordability.

[@WaterfrontToronto]

The plan for the new island includes affordable and family-friendly housing. As planned, it will deliver as many as 2,700 affordable rental units.

[@agfrench82]

@@WaterfrontToronto lol

[@Xocolatben]

Yes in deed, just like the remake of Regent Park, where all the units went to the sitting city councilors and their friends ... some of the displaced residents moved back, as promised, right?

[@unseeninja]

A new park for a new tent city

[@Xocolatben]

Mosquito and black fly ponds, in downtown no less! Lighted pathways to bring people close to the swarms for easier feeding? Good luck! P.S. the video starts with a slack water area in the center of frame. Then at the Cherry st. south bridge @0:38, on the left @2:29, @3:04 the Commissioners street bridge and the Don greenway spillway.

[@stevefrost2196]

It will be moving water. What don't you understand? Before it was barely moving. That's a breeding ground Do some research on mosquitos and black flies. They don't exist in moving water. Do some SIMPLE research before you make false comments please.

[@Xocolatben]

​@@stevefrost2196 ... watch the video, BEFORE you post your ignorance.

[@bobsobie678]

Rename it to veba madfu park.

[@MrJesseray06]

That giant crane monument is very questionable decision.

[@cingkole7893]

ook island

[@michaelkay6830]

New bridges look nice but are under sized and too narrow. Industrial trucks need wider lanes. It's already crowded. Wait til thousands of people move in. It will be gridlock. Planners messed up.

[@dinahforbes4298]

The plan is for a streetcar route. Plus it's a short bike ride to downtown.

[@baymathiya4581]

A substantial part of this development must be given back to Indigenous Peoples. This is their land.

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

How is any of this land 'Indigenous land'? They were immigrants to North America as well if you have forgotten that little detail.

[@ryleighloughty3307]

There will still be flooding, but now it will destroy more expensive stuff.

[@Aviation494]

I think the saddest part about this is how they removed many historic railroad lines in the Portland lands in order to make this happen.

[@jaygatz4335]

And the ones on Lakeshore. But they hadn't been used in a long time.

[@eldeluxo]

"Ookemin Minising Island" is a pretty catchy name, was it dreamt up by Mayor Chow?

[@kaieteurcanada]

Catchy...? its damm confusing to pronounce and doesnt sound like something to be found in downtown Toronto.

[@the6ix72]

@@kaieteurcanadaIts a native name. You know what else is a native name? Toronto.

[@Xocolatben]

and her backing group of nitwits. I am still amazed that the stench of a sitting city councilor living in subsidised housing faded so completely, After the death of her husband, Jack Layton - look it up

[@kaieteurcanada]

@@the6ix72 the name Toronto is classy... Ookemin Minising Island is confusion and will never be a household name.

[@aurora.22K]

Beautiful. Couldnt have named it anything worse though. Yikes.

[@jayman105]

How come the 'island' didn't get a proper Canadian name?

[@part_of_the_gamily]

What are you talking about? It is a proper Canadian name. I think it's wonderful.

[@the6ix72]

The island was named by Indigenous people. What is proper Canadian to you? an British name?

[@jayman105]

@@the6ix72 More woke nonsense.

[@stevefrost2196]

@@jayman105 Another angry old Caucasian with no understanding of the meaning of woke. Sad really.

[@spaceremains]

Enough things are named after an old white man already.