Sometimes you go around it. Sometimes, you go over it. But Barrie’s answer to the lack of pedestrian access to the Allandale Station and waterfront is to go under it.

Go under the train tracks, that is.

“Pedestrian access to the waterfront in this area is long overdue and to see the designs approved by GO helps us clear that last major hurdle to our goal,” said Ward 8 Coun. Jerry Moore. “Residents have been anticipating this access for years, since I first received council approval several years ago.”

The issue dates back to June 2005 when the previous city council approved a pedestrian link north of Bayview Avenue, between Gowan Street and Lakeshore Drive.

At the time, the city had no plans to revitalize the 1905 station and its site – and earlier this year, the city signed an agreement with the YMCA of Simcoe Muskoka and the Correct Group of Companies to construct a mixed-use development that includes retail, professional offices, public arts spaces and a hotel/condo, as well as the restored station.

The plan also includes a second GO station – which outlaws the option of an at-grade crossing for a variety of pedestrian safety reasons. The city has to either go over or go under.

Barrie estimates a tunnel will cost $3.5 million to construct, slightly more than a $3-million overpass. Work would also include reconstructing Gowan Street at a cost of $4.3 million.

Barrie opted for the tunnel over the structure because pedestrians would be more likely to walk down two flights of stairs or ramps, rather than up six flights and down again.

“Also the overhead structure would not be aesthetically pleasing,” Moore added.
A tunnel here wouldn’t be the first for GO Transit; there’s already one at its Guildwood station.