Update on meetings with the City and planned one-way streets
At our most recent AGM, the RRA made a presentation on one of the most important issues affecting our neighbourhood, that of Construction Management. With so many towers being built or proposed within a two-block radius, the community has been overwhelmed. Here is that presentation and the proposal for dealing with the major issues arising from this situation:
Since that presentation, several members of the RRA have met virtually with:
Barbara Gray, General Manager of Transportation Services at the City of Toronto and her team, Roger Browne and Craig Cripps;
Stuart McGhie, the Construction Hub Coordinator for Yonge & Eglinton;
Councillors Josh Matlow and Jaye Robinson and their staff.
We raised all the issues highlighted in our presentation and received commitments from the City that our concerns would be addressed and that regular meetings with the principals would be held to stay on top of the situation. One of our key recommendations is the development of a Master Planning Schedule that would ensure coordination of the numerous construction projects. The City's response is that with additional resources the Hub Coordination team would be able to control the interactions between the sites for better and smoother operations. We agree in principle with this idea as long as it is appropriately implemented. The second objective of a Master Planning Schedule would be to control the pipeline of projects at any one point in time and set appropriate limits and phasing of projects. We were told that City Council would be addressing this issue and that we would be kept informed. Here are some of the more specific actions the City has committed to:
Traffic agents at Yonge & Roehampton for improved traffic control;
Queuing areas for staging of construction vehicles off Roehampton & Broadway to control truck traffic;
Ensuring that all municipal and provincial laws pertaining to the control of noise, dust and hours of work are enforced;
Working on better parking enforcement on Broadway, Roehampton & Redpath;
Emergency vehicle access is being ensured through alternative route options and ongoing communication with Emergency Services to improve response times;
Working on better coordination between 311 calls and other City departments;
Considering additional resources to support the efforts of the Construction Hub Coordinator;
Working on a pilot program with U of T to monitor air quality.
With a recommendation from Transportation Services and the Hub Coordinator, City Council approved that Broadway and Roehampton be designated as one-way streets to mitigate traffic congestion. Roehampton would be one-way eastbound between Yonge and Mount Pleasant and Broadway would be one-way one-way westbound between Mount Pleasant and Yonge. This change is to be implemented by the end of 2021.