Shiny new bridge will link Toronto's Union Station to a floating park
Toronto’s busiest (and most construction-addled) transportation hub is already crisscrossed by an ever-changing network of pedestrian passages and corridors, and a new bridge will soon bring yet another change to the increasingly labyrinthian map of Union Station.
The new pedestrian bridge being built over Bay Street at the east end of the station will soon link Union Station with the under-construction second phase tower of the CIBC Square complex now rising at 141 Bay Street.
As the tower ascends towards a 50-storey height just south of Front Street, work is well underway on the new footbridge that will link commuters with the office tower as well as the connected second phase of the popular CIBC Park that opened in 2022.
Toronto is about to get a shiny new pedestrian bridge but it means traffic headaches 👀 https://t.co/44lFtcVNEN #Toronto #PedestrianBridge #Bridge #Traffic
— blogTO (@blogTO) November 9, 2023
Construction for the footbridge commenced last year, and the structural frame of the new crossing has been gradually taking shape in the months since.
Looking south towards the new bridge over Bay Street (Fareen Karim)
The pedestrian connection is being constructed along the existing north heritage facade of the Bay Street rail bridge. However, instead of blocking out the existing riveted steel wall from view, the new bridge will act as a frame.
The bridge will frame the existing heritage wall to the south (Fareen Karim)
A City document explains that the existing heritage facade will act as the bridge’s southern wall, while a glass and steel envelope forming the other three sides “will create a vitrine-like effect, allowing for the now-enclosed heritage wall to be showcased through the transparent glazing.”
The City report adds, “This effect will be heightened at night with the interior illumination of the bridge.”
The bridge entering Union Station (Fareen Karim)
Spanning 40.5 metres from end to end and with an interior width of almost five metres, the new bridge is being constructed with aluminum and glass. Glass finishes will feature a low-visibility frit pattern to deter bird strikes.
The bridge entering the second phase of CIBC Square tower under construction at 141 Bay Street (Fareen Karim)
This will mark the second bridge constructed for the CIBC Square development, standing parallel to a similar 2020-opened bridge linking Union Station with the office complex’s first phase tower at 81 Bay Street and the replacement Union Station Bus Terminal operating out of its base.
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