Commuter parking lots to lose hundreds of spaces during power equipment upgrade

Commuter lots to lose spaces during updates Hundreds of parking spaces at commuter lots will be lost while power equipment gets an upgrade. Paul Bliss reports.

A new project to fix outdated power equipment in the city’s west end will mean hundreds of fewer parking spots across several commuter lots.

According to Toronto Hydro, 40 per cent of its blackouts are because of aging equipment. But projects like the Crosstown LRT on Eglinton Avenue will depend on electricity to run, so they’re in need of a dependable supply of power.

Two new transformers will be added to Runnymede Station and ten kilometres of overhead wire and towers will also be replaced and upgraded as part of the project, which has been dubbed “Power West Toronto.”

Toronto Hydro is expected to foot the $60 million bill for Hydro One because the city needs the upgrades urgently in order to support the new transit infrastructure.

However the towers and wires run over busy commuter parking lots at Islington and Kipling TTC stations, which means that one third of those parking spaces will be gone for nearly two months starting in mid-September.

At Islington Subway Station, around 200 of the 534 spots will be gone. The Kipling-South lot will lose 115 of the 829 spots available. At Lomand, 75 out of the 283 parking spots will be blocked for construction.

However Hydro One hopes the construction will be quick.

“We understand that the construction will be disruptive and that’s why we’ve brought on every crew available, working from dawn until dusk, to complete this job as quickly and as safely as possible," Hydro One director of communications Jay Armitage told CTV News Toronto on Wednesday.

There are leaflets already circulating, being placed on windshields to advise drivers of the upcoming changes. Crews are expected to work between Monday and Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Crews will also be working on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Any work done on Sunday would require a permit, according to Hydro One. There will be 11 crews working at the same time. Large equipment will not be delivered at peak times in order to minimize disruptions to commuters.