Residents near the Georgetown GO corridor say that a Metrolinx plan to build five-metre-high noise walls along the future route of the Union Pearson Express threatens to cast an ugly shadow across their neighbourhoods.

“They’re just a huge blight, and they’re going to stretch for miles across the city. You think, five metres — that’s 16 feet. They’re massive,” said Kevin Putnam, a member of the Junction Triangle Rail Committee, who can see the railway tracks from his home’s second storey.

The walls, which will range from 3.5 to five metres high, are supposed to be effective in blocking out noise within 200 metres of the tracks, he said. Beyond that, they’re useless.

Pan Am Games visitors will ride the Union Pearson Express through a canyon of graffiti, Putnam warned.

But community representatives say some residents, particularly those with property beside the tracks, see the noise walls as a matter of survival.

“Within our own community there are deeply divided opinions,” said Simon Chamberlain, of the Mount Dennis Community Association. “Those who are opposed have trouble seeing why anyone would want them.

“Most people who live south of Eglinton whose property backs onto the tracks would prefer to get them. North of Eglinton, most people would probably prefer not to have them,” he said.

Residents living directly beside the tracks have the most to gain and also the most to lose from the barriers, said Chamberlain.

Putnam worries that the noise walls will attract graffiti and block the view of those walking in the vicinity. He fears they will also cast a shadow on the newly planted West Toronto Railpath park.

Metrolinx has enlisted residents’ input in designing their own walls. Its community liaisons have been showing pictures of a variety of noise barriers that include colourful materials and clear plastic panels to let the light shine through. But Councillor Ana Bailao (Ward 18, Davenport) said it’s not clear how much the quoted Metrolinx budget of $20 million will buy in terms of the various options.

“They’re showing us some pretty pictures. We need to understand: Are we going to have the money to build these walls?” she said, adding that there are other projects those millions could support.

Residents also want more data on whether all the walls will be needed when the Union Pearson Express trains are electrified, Bailao said. The earliest that project could begin would be 2017, according to Metrolinx.

The provincial agency said it is setting up nine noise wall community advisory committees to identify the type of wall material they want to use from an approved list. The committees will work with a landscape architect to help design the wall to ensure it is integrated with the surroundings.

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But Putnam believes simply opting out should be one of the choices available to residents.

A Metrolinx spokeswoman said the agency expects to begin installing the walls next year and hopes to have them complete by the launch of Union Pearson Express in 2015. It will reconsider that plan, however, if the community committee “reasonably decides that the design does not address the community issues and concerns.”

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