Toronto launches construction hub
Toronto’s Construction Hub Coordination Pilot project launched yesterday.
The project aims to reduce the impacts of construction, improve road safety and keep traffic moving around areas in the city with a dense concentration of construction activity.
Enacted at Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue West, where several projects, including the Crosstown LRT, are underway, the project will see an on-the-ground hub coordinator conduct logistical planning of the right-of-way, review construction management plans, connect travellers with real-time information, collaborate with enforcement officers and communicate impacts and changes to businesses and communities in the neighbourhood. The pilot will be in place for a year.
The move to create the Construction Hub Coordination Pilot project stems from a number of factors. Chief among these is the fact that Toronto is currently one of North America’s busiest construction cities. According to the City of Toronto, with 120 cranes at work, the city has the largest number of major construction projects among the 13 largest cities in North America.
At present, 237 high- and mid-rise buildings are under construction, while a further $1 billion is being spent on roads, bridges, sewers, water mains and expressways. Nearly 400,000 residential units and 11.1 million square feet of non-residential floor area are also in the city’s development pipeline. Active building permits in the hub area alone have been valued at $1.2 billion since 2016.
The decision also comes in the wake of the death of a 54-year old pedestrian who was struck and killed by a cement truck in the hub neighbourhood in September.
When the hub pilot project was announced last month, Toronto Mayor John Tory described it as an “important step in terms of trying to make this community and the community surrounding this intersection safer.”
“The co-ordinator will literally be the city's eyes and ears and everybody's eyes and ears on the ground every single day to make sure that these areas are first and foremost kept safe,” he said.
Toronto’s hub model is not unique. Seattle enacted a similar idea in 2016 when that city enjoyed historic construction activity. At the time, Seattle created four construction hubs in areas identified as high risk for mobility conflicts, and hosted bi-weekly coordination committee meetings to address issues as they arose. Doing so enabled city official and construction teams to look three weeks ahead and identify challenges.
As a result, Seattle estimates it was able to save 200 days’ worth of construction schedules, 1,600 tonnes of carbon emissions, and $15.5 million in overall costs.
Toronto’s hub project will be evaluated upon its conclusion in December 2020.