Aug 19 2013
Chris Alexander, Member of Parliament for Ajax—Pickering, and Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister; Joe Dickson, Member of Provincial Parliament for Ajax—Pickering; and Gary McNeil, GO Transit president, announced the upcoming opening of a new parking structure at the Ajax GO Station. The new parking spaces will make it easier and safer for commuters to take public transit.
The new six-level parking structure features over 1,000 new parking spaces for a total of more than 1,300 spots. Starting Monday, part of the structure will be available to customers, opening approximately 700 of those spots on the first three floors. Once construction is completed on the additional floors, they will open to customers. All floors will be open by the end of the year.
“This is great news for commuters using GO Transit,” said Alexander. “These improvements will provide commuters in both Ajax and Pickering with better access to public transit, reduce commute times and take more cars off the road.”
“Adding more parking spaces will encourage more commuters to take public transit to get to work, school or appointments,” said MPP Dickson. “Our government’s public transit investments are making transit a better choice for commuters, reducing congestion on our roads and contributing to a better quality of life for Ontario families.”
“By adding 1,000 parking spots at Ajax GO Station, we are making it easier for our customers and local residents to take the train,” said Mr. McNeil. “Metrolinx is also making progress on our regional transportation plan, The Big Move, to offer alternate transportation for the approximately one million car trips that are made to and from Durham Region every day.”
The parking structure will also provide Ajax commuters with a new pick-up and drop-off area, a covered connection to a pedestrian tunnel leading to the train platforms, a covered connection to the bus platforms and pick-up and drop-off area, as well as a car counting system to display the number of parking spaces remaining on each floor of the garage. Eco-friendly features include high-efficiency LED lighting, daylight sensors, solar panels and a ‘white’ roof, designed to reflect the sun’s energy to reduce the city’s temperature. Cities are known to have higher temperatures than other areas, a phenomenon known as the heat island effect.
The total cost of the parking expansion project is $44.8 million. The Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario are each contributing up to $21.3 million, funded through the GO Transit Improvement Program, a $500-million joint investment announced by the federal and provincial governments. The Government of Ontario is contributing the remaining amount through Metrolinx.
Canada’s Economic Action Plan focuses on creating new opportunities for jobs and growth, and ensuring long-term prosperity for Canadians. Strengthening infrastructure across the country is an important part of this plan. Thanks to the Government of Canada’s leadership, and our strong economic and financial fundamentals, the Canadian economy has recovered from the global recession better than most other industrialized countries. Canada has been a leader among G-7 countries throughout the recovery, with more than 965,000 net new jobs created since July 2009. Find out more about the opportunities in the Economic Action Plan 2013 at http://www.budget.gc.ca/2013/home-accueil-eng.html.
These investments also support Building Together, the Government of Ontario’s long-term plan to repair, rebuild and renew the province’s roads and highways, bridges, public transit, schools and postsecondary institutions, hospitals and courthouses. Since 2003, Ontario has invested approximately $85 billion in infrastructure, which has created and preserved an average of nearly 100,000 jobs each year. For more information on how Ontario is revitalizing its infrastructure, visit ontario.ca/infrastructure.
GO Transit is Metrolinx’s regional public transit system linking Toronto with the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Metrolinx, an agency of the Province of Ontario, has developed a 25-year, integrated, regional transportation plan, The Big Move, which identifies Durham Region as an area where the population will grow by over 50 per cent by 2031 and that will require infrastructure investments. GO currently carries about 65 million passengers a year in an extensive network of train and bus services that spans more than 11,000 square kilometres. For more information on Metrolinx, The Big Move or GO Transit, visit www.metrolinx.com.