Dear Residents,

This month, if you're a Ward 22 resident living in a neighbourhood south of Eglinton Avenue, I'll be coming to your door to speak with you directly about the upcoming construction of the Eglinton – Scarborough Crosstown LRT- an exciting project that will run underground through midtown and connect our community to the rest of the city. As your local city councillor, I want to ensure that you are informed and engaged in this process.

While a new Eglinton Avenue rapid transit line will be a remarkable asset to our community and city, to be candid, like any construction project I expect there will be some challenges. While most of the tunnel boring work will not affect at-grade activities, at intersections where the new underground stations will be built, there will be cuts to the street and some temporary lane closures. To simply put it, there will be frustrating periods for all of us during construction.

To avoid increased lane closures and traffic disruptions, the TTC property (former bus depot) near the southwest corner of Yonge and Eglinton will be used as an off-street staging ground. After The Crosstown construction is completed, this site will be redeveloped and will include a new public square. In the meantime, I’ve asked the TTC for some aesthetic improvements to the periphery of the site- it’s been left as a derelict eyesore for far too many years.

Please be assured that I will be working closely with our community and the Eglinton Way Business Improvement Area in an effort to mitigate adverse construction impacts of the work being underground and at the station locations. There must be a plan to support local businesses and to assist local residents when they need immediate questions answered.

I'd like to share with you some information from Metrolinx and the TTC about The Crosstown, to give you a sense of what you can expect.

Construction of The Crosstown has already begun and the tunnelling from Black Creek Drive to Laird Drive is scheduled to begin this summer. The entire line will run from Jane Street to Kennedy Road, a distance of 25km, and riders will be able to transfer to the Yonge/University/ Spadina subway at Eglinton and Eglinton West stations and at Kennedy station riders will be able to connect to the Scarborough RT, the Bloor/Danforth subway, and the GO train. The Crosstown is scheduled to be operational in 2020.

There will be twenty-six stations along The Crosstown, including stops at Bathurst, Chaplin, Avenue, Eglinton and Bayview. Metrolinx and the TTC are in the preliminary design stage for Chaplin Station and it is important to them to get your feedback before the architectural design theme is finalized. There is an online survey available at The Crosstown website (listed below) which is available until May 9, 2012. There will also be a wider consultation meeting about The Crosstown on May 24 (see meeting notice below). Construction work related to tunnelling is scheduled to begin at Chaplin in late 2013. The station itself will begin construction in 2015.

Detailed information on The Crosstown can be found at the project's website: www.thecrosstown.ca. As well, you can contact Metrolinx, the provincial organization responsible for the project, at 416.874.5900 and the TTC at 416.393.3030, and visit their websites at www.metrolinx.ca and www.ttc.ca.

Together, we were successful at ensuring The Crosstown would be built. This line will help connect our city and relieve overcrowding on the current subway line. It is a project, in my opinion, which is frankly a generation overdue.

However, now that the project has begun, we must challenge Metrolinx and the TTC to do it well - on time, within budget, and working closely with local residents and businesses and to learn from past mistakes.

Sincerely,

Josh

Toronto City Planning Division - Meeting Notice

Community Consultation Meeting - Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown Planning Study

Date: Thursday, May 24, 2012

Location: Northern District Library, 40 Orchard View Blvd. (northwest of Yonge Street and Eglinton Ave. West)

Time: Meeting begins at 7:00 pm and ends at 9:00 pm

Over the next two years, the City of Toronto will undertake a comprehensive planning study of the Eglinton Avenue corridor to create a community-led vision that will help to anticipate future growth and redevelopment along the corridor resulting from the Crosstown line.  The study is being led by City Planning staff and will be completed with the financial support of Metrolinx, the regional transportation agency of the Province of Ontario.

City Planning staff is holding three Community Consultation Meetings to introduce the objectives of the study, discuss guiding principles and provide an opportunity for the community to provide feedback.  If you cannot attend any of the meetings, you can still make your views known or get on our update list by contacting the study team at:

Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown Planning Study

Metro Hall, 55 John Street, 22nd Floor

Toronto, Ontario M5V 3C6

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Phone: 416-392-2691

Fax: 416-392-3821

Further information on the planning study can also be obtained by visiting the City’s website at www.toronto.ca/eglinton. Be sure to check this website often for news and coming events.  For general information on the transit project, visit www.thecrosstown.ca.

Dear Residents,

To fund the expansion and improvement of public transportation and relieve traffic congestion for Toronto and the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH), it is imperative to move forward with a regional funding strategy.

Our transit needs are too urgent to continue relying on one-time provincial funding. Gridlock has become so severe that the status quo, traffic congestion that costs the GGH $6 billion a year and which has an adverse impact on our residents' quality of life, is unacceptable.

As we move forward with improving public transit for residents, we need to continue expanding our rapid transit system, including a connection with Toronto Pearson International Airport, relief subway lines to help ease the burden on the already overcrowded Yonge-University-Spadina subway line, priorities from across the City of Toronto and support state of good repair. Together, we must also reflect the transit needs of residents, including commuters, in Toronto and across the GGH region.

Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency, is currently preparing a funding strategy for their regional transit plan, The Big Move. There are a variety of funding mechanisms that may be considered including the feasibility of implementing road tolls or a regional sales tax dedicated to transit priorities.

This motion requests the City Manager to work with Metrolinx to explore a variety of regional funding mechanisms with officials from across the GGH to achieve these aims. Any funding initiative should be done on a regional basis to mitigate unintended consequences including job loss and consumer avoidance. Ultimately, we want the City of Toronto to have a leading seat at the table with its partners as Metrolinx's process moves closer to fruition.

Cities like New York already have regional transit authorities that have the ability to raise revenue to support their transit systems. Of course, if we as a city are satisfied with the status quo, a conversation about realistic ways to fund transit projects won't be necessary.

However, if we truly want a faster, reliable and more accessible public transportation system, we must have the courage to finally create a realistic way to fund it.

Sincerely,

Josh

Dear Residents,

There are many public issues that the City of Toronto and our city's school boards share in common, including school pools, field and park permitting, land use, nutrition programs, school traffic zones, etc.

However, aside from ad hoc meetings between bureaucrats, our governance model is such that there's currently no formal way for our respective institutions to problem-solve together for our common constituency - Toronto.

Therefore, I am bringing this motion to the May 8th and 9th City Council meeting for consideration. With Council's support, I look forward to a new relationship between our City and school boards based on mutual understanding, goals and working closely together for the best interest of our communities.

Sincerely,

Josh

Dear Residents and Friends,

On April 19, the Dance Manifesto was publicly unveiled by myself, and Guillaume Côté, principal dancer for the National Ballet, at the launch of the Canadian Dance Assembly’s I love dance/J’aime la danse National campaign and opening of Canada’s first National Dance Week held at Canada’s National Ballet School.

In accepting the nomination of dance Ambassador for I love dance/J’aime la danse, I was asked to share an inspiring testimonial for dance:

For me, dance is a language that defies boundaries. It's an expression of one's soul, culture, emotion and identity. Since I was a child, music and dance have played an important role in my life. Dance played a role in some of my greatest celebrations and contributed to my courtship of my wife. I deeply value the institutions and community in Toronto that support this art – one that reflects the vibrant diversity of our city.

Josh

Video: Dance Manifesto - Josh Matlow and Guillaume Côté

Photos from the Opening of Canada’s first National Dance Week and the Launch of the “I love dance/J’aime la danse” National Campaign, April 19, 2012

For more information on the Canadian Dance Assembly's I Love Dance National Campaign, you can visit their website at: http://www.cda-acd.ca/en/programs-services/national-campaign