By Helen Braithwaite and Pennie Mathers
The closure of the Centre lane on Jarvis Street is imminent!!
On Tuesday May 5, 2009 the City of Toronto, Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, will vote on whether to close the centre (alternating) lane of Jarvis Street and narrow Jarvis to 4 lanes.
If approved the proposed lane closure will go to the City Council meeting scheduled for May 25/26 for final approval.
Once approved this “shovel ready” project could qualify for infrastructure funding and proceed quickly.
- This is not a joke!
- Residents living north of Bloor were not consulted as part of this process.
- Without your help this ‘innovative’ rotating lane will be closed in the foreseeable future!
Steps you must take today to help us resist this proposal:
Please email:
- Mayor Miller, mayor_miller@toronto.ca
- Glenn DeBaeremaeker, Chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, councillor_debaeremaeker@toronto.ca ; and
- your Councillor.
- Come to City Hall on Tuesday May 5 at 1:30 – Committee Room 1, 2nd Floor, City Hall; and let the Public Works Committee know how you feel.
- Go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/closureofJarvis/ and sign the petition against the proposal.
- Make a donation to help fund our initiative to challenge this proposal with the assistance of legal, planning and traffic experts.
Background Information:
Councillor Rae’s office is leading a City of Toronto initiative to redevelop Jarvis Street between Bloor St. E. and Gerrard St. E. The intent of the project is to:
- Make a more attractive residential streetscape for the Jarvis St. community;
- Widen and upgrade the sidewalks to make them more user friendly; particularly for those with disabilities; and
- Make it less of a north-south commuter route.
To create this residential-friendly environment the City proposes to:
- Eliminate the reversible middle lane;
- Widen the sidewalk on eastern side of the street; and
- Place new trees and plantings along the roadside.
This project will require tearing up Jarvis completely and resurfacing it. The current budget suggests this can be done for approximately 7 million dollars. The recent work on St. Clair suggests the actual cost will be in the tens of millions of dollars.
The project is well down the City approvals path with a traffic study completed in 2005 and an Environmental Assessment completed in 2008. The traffic study concludes that there will be no adverse impact on traffic flow and the time of commute with the elimination of the middle lane. The study also concludes that there will be no net increase in traffic in the City of Toronto or the Jarvis St. corridor in the next five years. There is no independent assessment of the validity of this traffic study available yet.
For more information:
Go to the City’s web site at: http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/jarvis/index.htm#consultation to read more.
Opposition:
A number of resident associations are concerned that:
- Citizens north of Bloor were not fully consulted about this project or given a full opportunity to participate in the environmental assessment.
- This project is going for approval in front of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on May 5, 2009 when the full report is still not available to the public – and thus there is not a chance for full comment.
- We believe that the closure of one lane of traffic on Jarvis Street will cause significant traffic delays and aggravate an already congested traffic environment in the central city. Without any realistic alternative means to assist residents’ in making their commute in a timely manner this project does not make sense.
- The closure of the centre lane of Jarvis Street and the significant cost that involves is being proposed on the basis of a traffic study that is faulty and based on “hypothetical data”. We are proposing that the City collect accurate data on the impact of the lane closure by closing the middle lane on a trial basis for two months (during regular traffic flow; not the summer!). This would allow the community and the City to assess the real impact and plan improvements to Jarvis in the most cost effective manner.
- The closure of centre lane will cause traffic delay that will increase pollution along the corridor through higher tailpipe emissions.
- The cost of this project is not an effective use of taxpayer’s money. In a City where budgets are stretched to the limit, the need for a non-essential public works project is difficult to justify and the benefits are not clear; especially during a time of economic uncertainty. The City’s estimate of the cost of this project could keep our public pools open for two years! Given the recent experience with the cost overruns for the construction on St. Clair – the real cost of this project is likely to run into the tens of millions of dollars.
We believe that many of the objectives of this project can achieved without reducing the capacity of this major commuter artery.
We are supportive of:
- City of Toronto efforts to make the streetscape of Jarvis Street more attractive through plantings or other beautification initiatives;
- City of Toronto efforts to make the sidewalks along Jarvis Street accessible to those with physical handicaps; and
- Any initiatives to help slow down traffic on Jarvis Street to meet the local residents’ concern arising from speeding traffic.
We are looking to urgently educate residents in Toronto about this project due to the potential impact to the City of Toronto.
Helen Braithwaite and Pennie Mathers are both Sales Representative with Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd./JOHNSTON AND DANIEL DIVISION, Brokerage. Helen and Pennie are regular contributors to the Muddy York blog. Their website is located at www.twoperspectives.ca
