The Union Station subway platform and concourse improvements situated on Bay and Front Street offered a revitalization to the heart of Toronto’s financial district. The project consisted of the train and subway station expansion and renovation, which provides additional concourse space and a new second platform, including new electrical, mechanical and communication rooms. This expansion doubled the size of the current subway platform, further improving the flow of Toronto Transit Commission and Go Transit passengers. The project also included a pedestrian corridor for GO Transit riders to bypass the TTC’s paid area, and a separation of eastbound and westbound subway platforms. During construction, the installation team encountered some utilities and underground infrastructure challenges in the tree pits, but these were easily worked around and the ArborSystem® assembly went extremely well and according to plan.

AECOM, a large multi-disciplinary firm that has worked on various projects with GreenBlue over the years, was responsible for the landscape architecture elements of the project. Because of Union Station’s high profile location, AECOM’s goal was to create a space that further epitomized the busy downtown setting. The landscape architects involved were determined to provide the area with long-lasting street trees that would reach full maturity in the coming years. They worked to maximize the soil volume available by linking the tree pits together. There were approximately 21 trees on this project, all utilizing the entire ArborSystem® tree planting package – from StrataCell structural support modules providing plentiful rooting volume, to ReRoot™ and RootStop™ root management allowing healthy root growth while protecting the sidewalk and nearby utilities, to RootRain™ irrigation & aeration offering the tree’s rooting zone essential nutrients, to tree guards and grates protecting the trees in their vulnerable youth – the ArborSystem® provided everything the trees on this project need to not only survive for years to come, but thrive!

The entire GreenBlue ArborSystem® was utilized in this project – StrataCell structural support modules providing plentiful rooting volume, ReRoot™ and RootStop™ root management allowing healthy root growth while protecting the sidewalk and nearby utilities, RootRain™ irrigation & aeration offering essential nutrients to the tree rooting zones, and Ullswater™ tree guards & Monza™ tree grates protecting the trees in their vulnerable youth.