Construction started Monday on a new section of the
PATH system.
The underground system is already the world's biggest, with 28 kilimetres of idiosyncratically signed pathways connecting hundreds of retail shops underneath the city's largest office and residential towers from Atrium on Bay in the north down to Union Station in the south.
"We are adding a new section to the PATH system beginning at the northwest corner of Union Station," says John Kelly, acting head of the city's technical services division. "It's going to be constructed in two phases. We're adding about 200 metres from Union Station up to Wellington. The first phase is starting construction today, getting us from southwest corner of Front and York to the northwest corner of Front Street and York Street. It's only about 70 metres worth of tunnel, that will get you to an exit pavilion on that corner."
The expansion is meant ot relieve some existing pedestrian congestion, and to prepare for the expected increased in use of the system after
Union Station's exansion.
The original budget for both phases (the second takes the PATH up to Wellington and York) was $65 million, but in the years since it was approved in 2007, it's risen to $105 million. The city is looking into potential assistance from the province and the federal government.
Since all the land being developed in this addition is city-owned, there will be no extra retail added.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: John Kelly
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