The city says construction of the new Barrie Allandale Transit Terminal on Essa Road will begin on Monday, Feb. 12.
Located at 20 Essa Rd., near Tiffin Street, the Barrie Allandale Transit Terminal, along with a new downtown mini-hub, will eventually replace the current downtown bus terminal on Maple Avenue.
The Barrie Allandale Transit Terminal will provide "seamless travel connections" between GO trains/buses and Ontario Northland for integrated transit access to Simcoe County, Muskoka and the Greater Toronto Area, according to the city.
During construction, there will be no access at Allandale Station to the following:
- Bus platforms 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10. As a result, Barrie Transit routes 1, 4, 7, and 8, LINX buses, and GO buses will be on a slight detour and will service temporary stops on Essa and Tiffin. Visit myridebarrie.ca/news for bus route detour plans.
- The Lakeshore and Tiffin intersection vehicle access to the pickup and drop-off area.
Access will remain open to the following during construction:
- GO train and platforms
- The eastern vehicle access to the pickup and drop-off area
- The vehicle pickup and drop-off area
- The pedestrian tunnel to and from Gowan Street
The city says the project will also include a commissioned work of public art that was approved by council on Feb. 7. The winning artist team, Brad Hindson and Michael Simon, known as Studio F Minus, are based in Toronto.
The artwork, entitled Exhale, will be a "monumental shimmering, kinetic cloud sculpture made of approximately 240 individual mirror-finished stainless-steel paddles connected to a stainless-steel armature, perched atop two painted structural steel poles."
The paddles will rotate and respond to wind while also reflecting the colour of sky at different times of day. The shadows cast by the artwork extend the reach of it and animate the plaza over the course of the day.
The location of the artwork in the outdoor plaza at the Barrie Allandale Transit Terminal was predetermined by the site design, according to the city. The artwork will be installed in 2025 as part of the construction project scope.
The Barrie Allandale Transit Terminal is supported by federal and provincial funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.
For more information on the project, visit barrie.ca/TransitHubsProject.
