Transportation is important to us because it's not only how we get around, but it's also how we move goods. I like to eat, so I'd like to get food in to the city somehow. We like to trade and have things to buy, and so we have to move goods in and out of our city.

Long ago, the waterways were our major highways. In Ontario, we still have the Trent-Severn system, the Rideau Canal, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the Welland Canal as great working examples from our history. We still move people and goods on these, but to a much lesser extent now than in previous years.

But as much as our rivers and canals connect our communities, it also divides them. At least they did, until we built bridges. Bridges over the rivers connect our communities closer than ferries ever can.

Historically, trains came next. Trains are also an excellent means to move lots of people and goods, second in efficiency only to ships. But as navigable waterways are not everywhere, and tend to freeze up during the winter, the railways are really the next best thing. But they, too, can divide our communities. Heavy rail requires a dedicated right-of-way because the trains are so large, and so heavy, that they cannot stop quickly. In addition, it takes them a long time to get up to speed. Trains are most efficient travelling at a constant speed, so an unencumbered route suits them best. We can tolerate these few lines running through a city as large as ours, and where we need to frequently cross them (or where trains are frequent) we've built bridges, either as under-passes or over-passes. So far, so good.

Animal drawn vehicles have been with us since the dawn of civilization, in fact some would argue that this was what actually helped us to be able to create civilization. This is only good for people/goods movements of short distances. Every community had at least one livery not too long ago.

Automobiles and bicycles were late arrivals, historically speaking. Bikes came first and dominated for only a decade or so before our love affair with the automobile. These brought to urban dwellers the reality of personal mobility.

We still need ships & rail. Shipping is still an important means for agriculture and industry to move large amounts of goods efficiently. Because of trucking, freight rail is not as dominant as it once was, but fuel costs may well end up changing that trend. Rail is becoming increasingly important for moving people, especially at the regional level.

Ergo: Metrolinx and Go Transit.

GO Transit's ridership continues to grow, and it's importance in moving people around the region is only going to grow. Go continues to add cars to its trains, and to run more trains to move more people all the time. Routes have been added and continue to grow longer, too.

So what does this have to do with cyclists? Glad you asked.

Metrolinx and GO need to run more trains on the current Georgetown line. Mostly in anticipation of running to the airport. This line passes through Toronto, and as it does so it crosses through our communities and over (or under) some of our roads. The anticipated frequency of service demands that we change the level crossing at Strachan to an over-pass.

The current Environmental Assessment suggests that the rail bed be lowered by about 1.5 m and a large bridge be built from King street over the existing rail line.

Here's the rub. While we want to keep the Liberty community connected to the Ex and the Lake, the bridge itself would end up diving the Liberty community. Liberty and Wellington would just end where the Strachan bridge would be, and no longer connect with Strachan.

There is another option.
It is possible to lower the tracks even more, much more, and build the overpass over the rail line without separating the community. The disadvantage? Additional capital costs. The reason? Because of the few crossings of the rail line in the area, far too much is buried under the Strachan crossing of the rail line, including a Combined sewer connecting to a combined sewer overflow storage facility. This gravity fed sewer pipe would have to be modified, and re-routed. Deeper trenches need higher walls and higher walls will exert more stress, and have to be built stronger. A deeper trench also means a longer trench as the trains cannot tolerate steep inclines. That's where the additional costs will come from.

We have smart people who know how to do this kind of work; we do it frequently enough to know how. The challenges to do this are not technical. The question is this: Do we want to spend the extra money to save a part of our community, or are we willing to sacrifice the Liberty Community to save a few hundred million dollars?

Me, I'd rather spend the extra money, and yes I know it's my money as well as yours. But what if it were your community that would be scarred this way. Would you be willing to sacrifice your community for this? Or would you willing to fork out a few extra dollars in taxes for a while to cover the costs?

Let councillor Joe Pantalone know how you feel about this. He's hoping to not have to divide the community, and thinks the extra money will be well spent. He'd really like to know how you feel, so send him a note with your thoughts.