By Fred Alvarado Fred is a community journalist with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

Metrolinx held a virtual community update session on March 20th, addressing the upcoming piling construction at Moss Park Station as part of the Ontario Line project. The session covered the Ontario Line project overview, progress updates, construction look-ahead, piling construction, mitigating impacts and Q&A.

The information session was moderated by Sean Major, Senior Advisor for Community Engagement at Metrolinx and speakers included Daniel Cicero, Senior Management for Subways Sponsor, Francisco Metcalf and Aga Szczotka, Environmental Management for Ontario Transit Group, and Eric Devera, Deputy Station Manager at Moss Park Ontario Transit Group.

At the session, Metrolinx staff provided updates on piling, involving drilling to install structural walls. Piling construction will begin as early as March 25th, with expected completion by July 2024. Work hours are set from 7 AM to 7 PM on weekdays, with occasional extensions for consecutive tasks.
 
Residents can anticipate noise from drilling machines and concrete work, along with the presence of various equipment onsite. To minimize disruptions, Metrolinx assures monitoring, limited work hours, and adherence to designated routes for construction vehicles. Despite potential rescheduling due to unforeseen circumstances, efforts are in place to minimize disruptions to the community.

The new Moss Park station is one of the fifteen station locations as part of the Ontario Line, a twelve-billion-dollar rapid transit project that will run across 15.5 kilometres connecting the Ontario Science Centre to Exhibition/Ontario Place. The Moss Park Ontario Line station will connect a dense and fast-growing area of the city to the subway network. An estimated 7,300 people are expected to use Moss Park station during the busiest travel hour.

The station will be within a short 10-minute walk for more than 23,600 residents, in an area of the city where 4,100 households don’t currently own a car.