June 15, 2007
SOS Bulletin
I know many of you think that it is too late to stop the ROW project across St.Clair. We already have the ROW from Yonge to Vaughan Road, (and isn't that just a testimony to why we objected to this project in the first place!) But, it is not too late! The Allen Road stops at Eglinton; it was stopped before it was completed because of public opposition. So, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by keeping up our fight.
And we have something to fight about. The City/TTC have once again shown their complete indifference to the community, and their contempt for community consultation. They have held meetings on the ROW design for the Corso Italia area (Westmount to Caledonia, to commence this September) since this past March. They never presented the complete detailed design for discussion. And, they have ignored any input from the community on what they did reveal.
The City/TTC held an Open House last evening at the Piccininni Community Centre. There was no presentation with questions and answers, just information boards around the room and some staff available to answer questions. Staff confirmed that their design for the ROW at Dufferin and St.Clair is to have both passenger loading platforms on the west side of the intersection, eliminating the possibility for a left-turn lane for drivers travelling eastbound who want to turn northbound, from St.Clair to Dufferin.
However, remember that the Minister of the Environment placed conditions on her permission for the City to proceed. The City/TTC were to establish a liaison committee, the Transit Community Liaison Committee (TCLC), "to provide advice on the detail design and construction of the Project".
On May 16, 2007, the TCLC unanimously objected to this intersection plan because it will result in eastbound traffic proceeding to Northcliffe to make a U-turn on St.Clair, and then most likely turning north on Westmount to avoid the Dufferin/ St.Clair intersection. This means greater traffic congestion near the St.Clare School entrance on Northcliffe, and traffic infiltration into the neighbourhood in the vicinity of the school. The TCLC believed that the TTC design would result in a direct adverse impact on public safety.
Of course, when community members on the committee objected to this proposal, the City/TTC were adamant that there was no 'reasonable' alternative. They must have a 2.4 meter passenger loading platform, even though in other locations this width has been narrowed to 2 meters. (The platform width now is 1.5 meters.) Further, they resisted changing the design to have loading platforms on either side of the intersection, thus permitting a left-turn lane on the west side of the Dufferin intersection because the sidewalk cuts would be greater. The possibility of passenger loading from the sidewalk, like on King Street which will be 'tried out' later this year, was a non-starter; it wasn't even considered. Committee members were placed in the position of trading off community safety and sidewalk width, a lose-lose situation while the TTC held firm to their position. Nevertheless, committee members voted unanimously on May 16, and the City/TTC said they would take this back to the real decision makers at the City and TTC. So last night, there it was, NO CHANGE, and the community again ignored.
You might say, what's new? Isn't this just what we have come to expect, based on the experience we shared during the environmental study? In fact, the low turn out last evening revealed that the community has concluded, 'why bother', the City and TTC will do what they want anyway, regardless of what the community might say.
And, guess what? The Tender for this phase of the Project will go out TODAY! One might think that convening an open house last evening was disingenuous, because there never was any intention of considering information presented by the community, because there would be no time to incorporate changes in the tender specifications and still finalize the tendering documents today. And, again this is contrary to the Minister's condition that the Open House should bring forward general interests and concerns about the project.
Committee members are very concerned and have written to the Mayor and to the Minister, requesting that the project tendering be delayed until this issue can be cleared up and the community can have a properly designed intersection.
This is only one example of the errors with this project, but it is so egregious, and so typical of this project, that we should stand up and complain. The request to delay tendering is reasonable, and should be respected. These actions by the City/TTC are contrary to the Minister's conditions and a contravention of the Environmental Assessment Act. Further, Mayor Miller stated on November 13, 2006 upon his re-election, that, "I will remain committed to the idea that no individual, no community, no neighbourhood, can be ignored, marginalized or left behind". Let's ask him to honour that commitment.
SEND THEM A MESSAGE FROM THE PEOPLE OF ST.CLAIR!
Never give up!
Best,
Margaret