Stantec, PUBLIC WORK to co-design Toronto waterfront transit infrastructure
Waterfront Toronto has selected designers Stantec and PUBLIC WORK to design transformative infrastructure for the city’s waterfront.
The firms have been chosen to design the Queens Quay East Extension and Cherry Street portal as part of the Waterfront East Light Rail Transit (LRT). The project aims to reconnect Toronto’s downtown community with its waterfront, integrating urban ecology, active transportation, and place-making, while creating a flexible street.
The project work will include road design and right of way planning, public realm and landscape design, track design, and tunneling design services for a new LRT tunnel beneath the Gardiner Expressway.
“This is an opportunity to design a more inspiring connection that will enable better waterfront access for people, increase mobility options, improve our public space, and improve connections between the waterfront and surrounding neighbourhoods,” said Stantec vice-president Dave Sauve. “Laying the infrastructure foundation is the first step to building a place for community to live, work, and play.”
The design at Queens Quay East will integrate state-of-the art mobility options while prioritizing active transportation and transit use. An improved streetscape design will include dynamic curbs with flexible functions through the day, making more efficient use of space along the corridor. Once complete, the new LRT is expected to improve east-west access along Toronto’s waterfront. The project is one of several ongoing large-scale transportation and environmental works in the area, and will require a high level of project-management coordination.
“Queens Quay East is the opportunity to reinforce the world class identity of the Toronto waterfront public realm, while bringing new ideas about ecology, resilience and activation where these two iconic waterfront transit streets meet the river valley,” said Adam Nicklin, Principal and Co-Founder of PUBLIC WORK.
Stantec and PUBLIC WORK have a strong record of working together. PUBLIC WORK’s designers have extensive experience with high-profile public realm projects, including The Bentway in Toronto, and Under the K in Brooklyn, New York. Stantec has led significant urban corridor designs such as the West Side Urban Boulevard in New York City, the Red and Purple Modernization Program in Chicago, and the planned Green Line transit expansion in Calgary.
Stantec, meanwhile, is currently leading the Long Island Rail Road expansion in New York, and is the owner’s engineer on Metrolinx’s Highway 401/409 Railway Tunnel and the Hurontario LRT.