Abstract Manager

Toronto’s downtown core has long faced significant transit congestion and new subway projects in the downtown core with tunneling components have not been built since 1959 (66 years ago). These complex projects have lengthy planning, design, and permit approval stages before moving to the procurement phase. Yet, the South Civil Contract of the Ontario Line project moved from planning and preliminary design to the procurement phase in just over a year from project award. This paper will focus on Exhibition Station (the Station), which is an important component in the South Civil Contract and is the west terminus for the Ontario Line.

To meet these aggressive timelines, HDR’s early coordination approach with the City of Toronto (the City) helped identify the City’s main requirements early in the process while reconciling the City’s vision with Metrolinx’ Ontario Line objectives. The HDR-led engineering team (OLTA) and their client, Metrolinx tackled the many challenges with a flexible and adaptive approach. A P3 contract model provided the best mechanism to manage risk by providing a reference concept design while allowing the contractor to innovate and optimize costs without compromising a speedy delivery. The bidding teams had the benefit of a design solution for the Station that was acceptable to all stakeholders and so could focus on the much more expensive tunnels and underground stations that comprise much of the South Civil project. This helped Metrolinx select a contractor specialized in tunneling, who might not be a specialist in roadway construction and urban landscape, without sacrificing the vision for the Station.

The Station construction will provide improved connectivity to Liberty Village community, to the TTC and GO networks and will relieve overcrowding at Toronto’s largest and most central transit hub, Union Station. Also, transit-oriented developments were integrated into the Station design from the planning stage for an efficient and integrated project. The adjacent proposed Liberty New Street will be constructed first with a small segment for Station access, but over time will be built out as developments in the area materialize.

The aggressive timelines would not have been met had OLTA not conducted early coordination work.  In-depth planning, access to the right expertise across North America and a highly collaborative process of interfacing with all stakeholders were some of the methods for success. The lessons learned from this project serve as a notable example of integrating a high order transit system into a vibrant community.