Issues & Policies
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,
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,
Thank you to everyone who attended my Tenants' Town Hall. I hosted this community meeting to inform you of your rights and to discuss with you what action is needed to protect them. It was a pleasure seeing so many tenants actively engaged in our community.
Many of you have asked that information from the meeting be available online. Click here for a copy of my handout listing important resources. Click here for a copy of keynote speaker Kenn Hale's speech. To see photos of the event, please click here.
I would also like to thank the insightful speaker and panelists:
- Kenn Hale of the Advocacy Centre for Tenants - Ontario
- Gus Michaels and Kim Kilburn of the City of Toronto's Municipal Licensing and Standards division
- Tony Balenzano and Daphne Gerou of the Landlord and Tenant Board
- Geordie Dent of the Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations
- Daryl Chong of the Greater Toronto Apartment Association
Please do not hesitate to contact me or any of the services listed above regarding any relevant issues you may be having.
Sincerely,
Josh
February 7, 2012
Consider it a welcome declaration of independence. Toronto’s residents, urban planners and elected councillors will have a lot more say over neighbourhood development if this city succeeds in freeing itself from a century-old oppressor.
No, the bully Toronto wants to escape isn’t some local Scut Farkus (“He had yellow eyes!”) It’s the Ontario Municipal Board — an unelected, widely despised, quasi-judicial provincial agency with the power to overrule any community’s development decisions.
The board has repeatedly done just that in Toronto, notably in 2007 when it ruled in favour of developers and approved a series of highrise residential buildings on a culturally important section of Queen St. West. The decision came over the objections of local residents, the arts community, city planners, Toronto’s mayor and city councillors.
Read more: Toronto Star: Ontario Municipal Board interference in Toronto’s development needs to end
In response to a motion by Councillor Josh Matlow, seconded by Councillor Mike Layton, the City of Toronto's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee will be considering moving forward with increased fines and enforcement to Relieve Rush Hour Congestion Due to Unlawful Stopping, Standing, and Parking.
You can see the January 4th, 2012 agenda item by clicking here. Click here to read the Globe and Mail's Marcus Gee on on Curb hogs and click here to read the Toronto Star story on our progress.
Councillors Matlow and Layton are committed to taking action on improving the mobility of Torontonians no matter whether they drive a car, take public transit, ride a bicycle or are a pedestrian.
Traffic congestion is a significant problem for Toronto's motorists, public transit users and cyclists. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently noted that the Greater Toronto Area suffers from the longest work commute times in North America. This congestion costs the region's economy an estimated $3.3 billion per year while negatively impacting on the quality of life of our residents. The long-term solutions to this problem include building a more accessible, extensive and efficient public transportation system in addition to encouraging car-pooling and cycling.
In the meantime, council can take small, but important, measures to alleviate traffic congestion. One such measure is to provide sufficient deterrents to motorists and delivery drivers that stop, stand, park illegally or otherwise obstruct traffic on arterial roads during rush hour. Far too often, entire lanes of major roads are blocked due to an individual pulling over to grab a coffee in the morning or a delivery vehicle choosing the afternoon rush period to drop off their goods. Drivers along arterials often use bicycle lanes as a parking lane, forcing cyclists to dangerously merge into traffic. During rush hour this creates very unsafe conditions for cyclists. While currently not permitted, it is clear that current fines and levels of enforcement are not sufficient to deter such activities.
This motion seeks to improve traffic flow during the morning and afternoon rush hour periods by increasing the fines and level of enforcement for individuals that obstruct other motorists, public transit users and cyclists.
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