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Union due

A few random thoughts on the long overdue Union Station redo approved by council last week.

First a gratuitous shot at the mayor’s critics if I may, since, according to some of those who visit this site, I’m in his pay (I wish).

Many were quick to pour cold water all over the mayor’s Union plans back when they were floated more than a year ago.

Just another pie in the sky, according to them, since there was no money forthcoming from the province and feds to make a real go of it.

Well, the good news is that the federal and provincial governments have finally come to their senses and anted-up to remake the historic landmark. The mayor’s full of good ideas, sometimes it takes his counterparts at higher levels, those who actually control the purse strings, to come around to the wisdom of his ways. It’s called vision. Sorry, am I fawning? Oh right, no place for that vision thing in local politics. But I digress.

Union can certainly do with a major overhaul.

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Right now the grandeur of the 1900s landmark that former city fathers moved hell and high water to build, is hidden by too many underutilized spaces. The kitsch is all-to-present. A Harvey’s in the Grand Hall?

For all its architectural brilliance, Union still has a Toronto of the 70s feel to it, not the major transportation hub of North America’s fifth largest metropolis.

The worrying part are the motives of the feds and the province. To be sure, each has its reasons for signing on to the mayor’s plan. More than a quarter billion reasons to be precise.

For the province, boosting GO Transit service, always good for a few more votes in the 905, is a priority. But without the commensurate expansion in local transit, we’re asking for rush hour disaster. The TTC’s stressed as it is. And not everybody coming in from the burbs walks to jobs in the core.

For the feds, a rail line connecting Union to the airport is the ultimate goal. Any rail link proposed to the airport must include stops within the city, if the link is to truly provide a worthwhile public service to users here. So far, the concept is being resisted. Who’s going to pay $25 to take a train from the airport when a cab, for most in the core, is just as cheap?

Weston’s a natural for one stop. An open-air platform already exists there. But several more are needed

The big gray area in the Union deal is the fact the identity of the firm that’s been chosen to manage the station is being kept under wraps until the final details of an agreement can be hammered out. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

The last time we went down this road the integrity commissioner had to be called in to investigate “irregularities” in the bidding process. Lastman’s crooked crew was in charge then.

A different group is running the show at city hall now. But when the most expensive piece of real estate in the country is up for grabs, there are bound to be a few of the old vultures circling. But perhaps I’m being too cynical, like those critics that panned the mayor’s plans for Union way back when.

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