'High-security' fence touted as 'unclimbable' being built right through Toronto park

A Toronto neighbourhood that fought Metrolinx over a planned Ontario Line route through their local park will now have to witness a prison-like barrier erected through their beloved green space as construction advances for the new transit project.

Metrolinx began construction of a "high-security fence" through Jimmie Simpson Park on Monday, a monolithic structure touted as "unclimbable" that will stretch across the park at a height of almost two and a half metres.

Locals who regularly use the park at Queen and Booth have spoken out against the Ontario Line since 2019, when it was revealed that significant modifications would be required for the stretch of rail corridor bordering the park, as well as the adjacent Bruce Mackey Park and McCleary Playground.

Locals already endured the construction of a new, wider rail bridge over Queen Street in 2024, a significant milestone in the Ontario Line and GO Expansion projects that involved the relocation of GO traffic to newly built tracks spanning Queen Street.

This week, work began on a new phase of the Ontario Line project that will involve the erection of a 2.4-metre-high fence along the rail corridor through these parks.

These prison-like walls are described in a Metrolinx construction notice as "high-security" and "designed to be unclimbable."

Metrolinx

According to the transit agency, "The fence will protect the new retaining walls and noise barriers until the final landscaping work is completed" and is expected to be completed by late April.

Parkgoers, local residents, and businesses in the area can expect to see construction machinery and "minor noise" during construction, with Metrolinx stressing that "monitoring instruments are in place to ensure that noise and vibration levels stay within acceptable limits."

Though the fence will certainly have a visual impact on parkgoers, Metrolinx states that the security measure will be installed from within transit agency-owned property against the rail corridor, and construction crews will not require access to the park during the fence installation.

To give credit where credit is due, Metrolinx's planned noise barrier and accompanying landscaping along this stretch does offer some notable improvements over the drab barriers that currently divide the parks from the rail corridor.

The transit agency shared details of these spaces back in 2023, forming an "activity line" of modern noise walls to dull the roar of passing trains complemented by pockets of tree-lined open spaces and cul-de-sacs.