b'PROJECT PROFILEDIGITAL SCREENS INSTALLED ON THE WEST PLATFORM AT UNIONVILLE GO STATIONPHOTOS COURTESY OF METROLINXAERIAL VIEW OF THE STEELES AVENUE EAST UNDERPASS AND RAIL BRIDGE. WORK CONTINUES AT THE RETAINING WALLS, STAIRCASES AND ELEVATORSacross Steeles Avenue. Unionville GOsome of those had to be relocated. is also being expanded, and will gainIn addition, the TransCanada PipelineCUSTOMER SERVICE TICKET BOOTH 250 new parking spots. The improvedcrosses the Stouffville GO corridorAND SEATING AT AGINCOURTAgincourt GO Station has been in fulland it needed special care when trackGO STATIONservice since late 2021; the rest ofwas laid on top of it. Fencing or noise this station work is expected to bebarriers were installed on more than 11 completed by the end of 2022. Somekilometres of the corridor where doublehistoric tree, and the station name was double tracking and signalization remaintracking was being installed. changed in its honour.to be completed. Depending on field conditions, these will be finished by lateAnother aspect of the work involvedMetrolinx worked closely with Toronto 2022 or early 2023. dealing with a complicated network ofand Region Conservation Authority to existing structures on the site. Thepreserve other species of interest to From the beginning, the Stouffvillecorridor has been there for 100 years;conservationists in the area, such as project presented unique challengeswe are dealing with some infrastructurethe barn swallow, which is listed as a because work is being carried out in athat was built in the 1880s, saysthreatened species in Ontario. Because live rail corridor that has continued toAlkoka. We are always surprised by thethese cheerful little red, white and blue serve its commuter users. Through thisground. When you actually start digging,birds nest in human-built structures such whole construction, we are maintainingyoull find old pipe that was abandonedas the station itself, demolition activities service, Alkoka says. We areor left in the ground, or old concretewere scheduled during their migration scheduling so service is not interrupted. pieces, or soil that is not the best, andtime, and a new nesting structure was we take appropriate action. put in place to accommodate them upon Like many others, of course, the projecttheir return.encountered a less predictable snagHighland Creek crosses the corridor with COVID-19, but construction wasthree times, so three culverts haveEven with all these attendant challenges, not obliged to stop. We were shakenbeen expanded to accommodate thea public project of this size and scope a little bit at the beginning, but wewidening of the line. Thats alwaysoffers unique rewards in terms of job regrouped very quickly, says Alkoka.interesting, says Alkoka. We have allsatisfaction. For me as an engineerThe contractors set up their screeningthe environmental protection in place toand Ive been in this field for over 30 system, and we have our own. I believemake sure no debris goes into it. Thatsyearsits always interesting, because we were very successful in terms ofsomething we pay attention to. what were building now is going to serve working around it. Some advantage maythe generation of people we have now have been gained when service wasA particularly unusual site featureand coming up for 100 years at least. Im reduced, giving us more time to work oncalled for special attention at Old Elmcontent that Im doing something thats the track. GO Station, which was formerly knownvery significant, explains Alkoka.As as Lincolnville. It lies adjacent to ancomplicated and as big as these projects The narrow footprint of the rail corridorenvironmentally sensitive areaa smallare, sometimes they go unnoticed by necessitated meticulous staging andmarshand it has connections to birdthe general public. They dont see the coordination, and the multipurposemigrations, says Alkoka. It also has athousands and thousands of person nature of the site imposed numerous200-year-old elm tree on the site, andhours put into these things. Were extra details. For instance, says Alkoka,everybody wanted to save it. This is abuilding this region for the people living we run fibre-optics and cables throughmassive tree, close to two metres thick.here, and its going to improve their lives our corridors for other companies;The design was modified to preserve thea lot. BUILDERSDIGEST Quarter 1 202231'