Satellite image of Dupont railway
A few years ago when the West Railpath was being discussed, the Dupont railway line was also mentionned as a possible site for a bike path. At the time, I thought they were talking about using the hydro corridor just N. of the railway line and figured the reason it wasn't pursued was because of the cost of putting in bridges at each intersection. But looking at satellite images of the railway, it looks as though there's a road or a former rail line now unused, with its own bridges across main intersections. I wonder if this is what people were talking about using:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=43.67092,-79.4...
Does anyone know anything about this proposal, or the reason why it was eventually dropped? I realize there's a bike lane just North, on Davenport, and for the most part it isn't too bad. The rail line would be a particularly useful link for getting beyond Davenport to East of Yonge, although it doesn't seem to be possible to get to Mt. Pleasant on it. Darned ravines in that area are a royal pain in the arse.
Annie
It's funny you should ask. City Council just voted on "finishing the bike paths" along that hydro corridor:
The route will be around 3.7 km from what I can tell, following a south east route from Keele, south of Rogers Road. I doubt it will include any new bridges.
I went out with my dog yesterday to investigate. At Bartlett St., just West of Ossington, I was able to see the road pictured in the satellite image because there's no overpass at this intersection. To the West, the road is overgrown with weeds. To the East, there's a locked gate blocking access and the road is clear, so apparently it's being used in some way. It's much wider than it appears from the satellite image. I take a moment to kick myself for not bringing my camera. Oh well, I wouldn't know how to post the images anyway.
I then followed the Hydro Corridor NW - to the East it follows the tracks, but to the West it veers North. I stopped when it reached Davenport and headed home - 10am and it was already swealtering. It was a lovely walk for dog walking, particularly the little wooden boardwalk to the West of Dufferin, but I don't see how they could possibly make it useful for biking - commuters or otherwise. The path meanders along, taking you through the occasional playground and crossing roads mid-block, requiring button activated lights. Unlike hydro corridors in other parts of the city where the non-grid network of streets allows for long, uninterrupted stretches, in the bit that I walked every cross street cut through the path:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=keele+street+toronto&oe=utf-8...
You can see from the link above the diagonal swath of parkettes formed by the hydro corridor. Pretty, but I doubt I would ever follow this by bike if I was heading in that direction, even if I did have all the time in the world.
Conversely, the unused rail line/road S. of the Dupont tracks would allow cyclists to cover a long distance without ever dealing with stop signs or streetlights (since the overpasses are already in place). I don't think it would be overly popular as a walking trail because it's too narrow to allow for plantings and other scenic enhancements, and it's close enough to the tracks that a passing train would really set your teeth rattling. Not sure that whoever is currently using the road would be willing to sell it to the city.
After reading this post I took a ride out onto the unused rail line/road for the 2.5 km between Bartlett Ave and Davenport Rd on my mountain bike, and it's an excellent ride. It's easy to go around the gate at Bartlett, and there was very handy break in the fence just past Davenport.
If the city could get this land from CN or CP (whoever owns it) it would be very simple to put some Asphalt down for the stretch and a fence up. There are many places to make simple connections to the surrounding roads and neighborhoods.
As it stands, the gravel road, even grade, and seven bridges (which had pretty nice views) meant I flew along that area in a fraction of the time it would've taken on dupont or davenport, I'll definately be riding this more often (unless it rains, it'd probably be pretty muddy).
I'll take photos next time if anyone's interested, and I'll see if i can push east past Davenport (the road got overgrown at that point.
I'd love to see some photos, fred - particularly the access points.
Very cool - I will look out for that next time I'm in the neighborhood! Access is at Bartlett via the level crossing, and by a fence cut next to the abandoned spur line at Davenport?
So i did some more exploring, and took photos earlier today, which I'll upload a little later tonight.
Yea you can get on right at Bartlett, and after you pass the bridge over Davenport, you can go down the little hill on the right which brings you into the parking lot of some building at Dupont & Davenport. There are some other access points too (which I'll show in my photos).
Ossington and Christie are both easy to get on the bridge on the east sides. One of the nicer ones access points is at the east end of the Loblaws Parking lot (east of Christie).
I saw several dog-walkers and joggers on the path, and there was evidence of other cyclists, so it is being used by people (otherwise it's very hidden, except at Bartlett). It is a gravel path (sometimes more rocky), so it's best ridden with a mountain or maybe hybrid bike. Man though, you could just fly along if it was paved, especially if it stretched from the north end of the railpath all the way to Yonge.
For those who are interested, I've uploaded a collection of photos and captions onto Flikr for the path from Cariboo Ave to Yonge St.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brainfreezed/sets/72157622201...
Great photos Fred, I'll definitely check it out next time I'm headed that way. I wonder how much the rail company values that pickup-truck access road...
I didn't feel comfortable taking my dog along there - I was worried she'd panic if a train came by. Did any trains pass while you were exploring? How close are they to the path? I wonder how difficult it would be to get a pedestrian/bike bridge over the ravine to Mt. Pleasant. Throw in a bike lane up Mt. Pleasant and my kids would have an ideal route to school and me to the Eglinton and Laird area. sigh
I doubt anyone would bike to the Dupont subway and then take the subway downtown - it's far too easy to bike downtown from there for it to be worth changing modes. But it could be useful for people heading North, say to York U.
I explored the Dupont rail path from Bartlett to Davenport yesterday, it would be a great cross-town bike route. I bet there's a dozen similar areas in the city that could be easily transformed.
AnnieD - The stretch from bartlett to davenport has a good spacing between the tracks and the path, and ive ridden it three times now and only 1 train has come by. It seems the path is mostly used by dog walkers (i always pass four or five) and the odd jogger.
This rail corridor is CP Rail's main line for all of Canada.
They will not be selling it.
I fully support running a path through the parallel hydro corridor, and by all means, if money can be found, adding bridges for a more continuous and speedy ride.
But putting the trail in the rail corridor is almost certainly a No-Go.
GO Transit plans to begin servicing this corridor, possibly as soon as 2013, and in any event, well before 2020.
CP will almost certainly require GO to lay at least 1 additional track at all times for their operation, depending on frequency of service.
Based on current projections for growth in GO Ridership and serious capacity constraints at Toronto Union Station (even post-reno) its highly likely that GO will need to divert some Milton trains to this line, and VIA or GO will likely run service to Peterborough through here.
My overall sense that this will be a 4-track corridor at all times between Agincourt in the east and the Junction in the west (possibly all the way to Cooksville Station)
If you can find a place where the corridor was 5 tracks, and where there is no room required to platforms for a future station......then we might be able to squeeze something in; but I suspect not.
I think its the Hydro Corridor here where bike paths will be offered.
There are 3 abandoned rail corridors likely to see formal bike paths in the next few years.
CP Leaside Spur (N-S line from Eglinton to Oriole)
CP Scarborough Industrial Spur (follows Taylor Creek south from the mainline to the Gatineau
CN's old Scarborough spur which has an ROW running beside the subway (and above it) from Victoria Park Station to Warden Station (inactive) and Warden to Kennedy (limited 1-track activity)
GO's Weston Sub ** Railpath** this is going to be a very tight squeeze to finish
(none of the above have tracks anymore, except for the active portion of the CN Line)
The other major stuff is all parks based or hydro corridor based so far as I know