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Black Creek at Rockcliffe Special Policy Area Flood Remediation and Transporation Feasibility Study

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Northern Light

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The above study is has a set of recommendations which will greatly impact this area:

All of Black Creek in the section in the photo below, from Alliance in the North/East to Jane in the west will be naturalized, widened and deepened. This is roughly 1km of channel that will be naturalized, a large environmental and aesthetic gain.

The Jane St. Culvert will be replaced by a 102M Bridge.

A change will also be made to the Rockcliffe crossing of the creek as well.

Subject to further design, and study, work could get underway as early as 2022.

The only disappointment here is that they won't address the Humber Blvd channel section at all. Which is no real surprise since it would be hideously expensive and likely involve extensive expropriation.


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Prioritization as follows:

1.Upgrade Symes Road Crossing of Lavender Creek and Widen/Deepen Lavender Creek to Southern Private CrossingThe primary focus of this phase would be to upgrade the Symes Road crossing of Lavender Creek and the associated channel widening/deepening to accommodate the new structure. The existing structure overtops and results in overland flooding during the 2-year event. Improving the conveyance capacity of this crossing will result in an immediate flood risk benefit related to high frequency flooding, which will be further improved through the implementation of the subsequent alternatives.
2.Remove Southern Private Crossing of Lavender CreekThe removal of the southern private crossing on Lavender Creek is proposed to be implemented as the crossing is not in use and does not require replacement, therefore the structure removal will mitigate any local hydraulic constraints.
3.Construct Flood Wall/Berm at Weston RoadThe flood wall proposed at Weston Road is the lowest cost alternative, with limited impacts to municipal infrastructure and utilities. This alternative will provide a 350 year level of service (once downstream improvements are in place), by eliminating the overtopping of Weston Road, therefore reducing the overland flooding into the Cordella Avenue area of the neighborhood.
4.Upgrade Jane Street CrossingThe upgrade of the Jane Street crossing is the highest cost of theproposed alternatives, however, will provide significant flood risk benefit.
5.Naturalize, Widen and Deepen Black Creek –Jane Street to Rockcliffe Blvd.Black Creek is proposed to be naturalized and widened to approximately 50 to 55 m (top width) channel,to provide improved conveyance and accommodate the upgrade of the Jane Street bridge to a 102 m span. In addition to widening, the channel will also be lowered from Jane Street to Rockcliffe Blvd to provide a uniform bottom slope.
6.Upgrade Rockcliffe Blvd. CrossingWith the proposed channel works along Black Creek completed downstream of Rockcliffe Blvd, this can facilitate the construction of the proposed Rockcliffe Blvd bridge to a 52 m span structure. This should be completed subsequent to the Jane Street crossing upgrade and proposed channel works
7.Naturalize, Widen and Deepen Black Creek –Rockcliffe Blvd. to Alliance AvenueThe Black Creek channel works are proposed to continue upstream of the widened Rockcliffe Blvd. crossing, until downstream of Alliance Avenue. The creek bed slope will be maintained in the proposed channel works, to ensure a uniform slope from Alliance Ave to Jane Street.
8.Widen and Deepen Lavender Creek from Southern Private Crossing to Confluence with Black Creek & Upgrade Northern Private CrossingThe channel widening and deepening of Lavender Creek from the southern private crossing to the confluence with Black Creek would be the final stage. With the proposed channel works, the northern private crossing can be upgraded to accommodate the 22.5 m top width of the channel. The proposed works for this section of Lavender Creek should be completed once the flood mitigation alternatives for Black Creek have been implemented as the backwater conditions from Black Creek significantly influence the flooding conditions and hydraulic performance of Lavender Creek

TRCA report is here: https://pub-trca.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=5954
 
Details from City website and press release.

City of Toronto receives federal funding commitment to help address flooding in the Rockcliffe-Smythe neighbourhood

Today, Mayor John Tory, Councillor James Pasternak (Ward York Centre), Infrastructure and Environment Committee Chair; and Councillor Frances Nunziata (Ward York-South Weston) joined the Government of Canada to announce a commitment of a $19 million investment in reducing the impact of severe storms and flooding in Toronto’s Rockcliffe-Smythe neighbourhood. Representing the Federal government at the announcement was the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Member of Parliament for York South – Weston.

The federal government’s funding commitment is being made through its Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) for Jane Street crossing improvements to mitigate Black Creek flooding in the area. The City of Toronto is contributing $28.5 million to the remaining costs of the project.

The Jane Street crossing improvement project involves expanding the Jane Street crossing over Black Creek. The existing crossing is undersized and results in flooding of Black Creek during extreme events. The project will reduce flooding in the Rockcliffe-Smythe neighbourhood by reconstructing the existing crossing to allow for increased conveyance capacity of Black Creek flood waters underneath. It is a critical component of a broader flood mitigation strategy for the area.

While the Jane Street crossing upgrade will provide some flood relief, it will enable the implementation of additional flood mitigation measures, such as river widening and larger crossings, which will protect the area from flooding. These changes are needed so the river can be widened to reduce water levels within the river system. Once that is done, basement flooding protection work in the area can be effective.

In recent years, the Rockcliffe-Smythe community, near Jane Street and Eglinton Avenue West, has been affected by heavy rains – the area has suffered from flooding during heavy downpours and flash floods. During heavy rain, the sewer systems and overland drainage routes, such as roads, local rivers and streams can become overloaded, which has led to basement flooding.

In response, the City has been working in collaboration with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). Each has completed environmental studies of the area seeking options to reduce sewer system, overland and riverine flooding.

Construction of flood mitigation measures is expected to begin after 2024. An updated Environmental Assessment will begin this fall.
 
Provision in the construction for the Jane Street Crossing Project over the Black Creek should include space for a future Jane LRT. Either surface or underground tunnel rough-in, or even both if we haven't decided on which.

Better to do so now, instead of digging it back up in the future.
 
W. K. Lis said:
Provision in the construction for the Jane Street Crossing Project over the Black Creek should include space for a future Jane LRT. Either surface or underground tunnel rough-in, or even both if we haven't decided on which.

Better to do so now, instead of digging it back up in the future.
Click to expand...

Any LRT here would be underground. (south of Eglinton)

It would also be at a depth well below the creek.

Not sure that any provisions for that are required here, though I could stand to be corrected.
 
Northern Light said:
Any LRT here would be underground. (south of Eglinton)

It would also be at a depth well below the creek.

Not sure that any provisions for that are required here, though I could stand to be corrected.
Click to expand...

Should a rough-in for a station at Jane Street & Alliance Avenue be included? Or just make sure that access can be done without making things messy. Think about Line 6's & Line 1's Keele West Station construction.
 
junctionist said:
I dream of the Humber Boulevard portion of Black Creek being reworked into a public space in the middle of the neighbourhood, like Cheonggyecheon in Seoul.
Click to expand...

My dream for the space would be a bit greener; but I appreciate the sentiment just the same.

But, unfortunately, without expropriating everything on one side of the road, there really isn't room to do a lot.

The channel is as deep as it is to contain regulatory storm floodwaters.

As little water as there is normally, you can't bring the water closer to the surface, or people closer to it, without widening the channel.

If you maximized the reduction of the existing road footprint (no parking, one lane each way) you could re-purpose in the range of 4-5M per direction or 8-10M total.

To moderate the depth at all, the first 6M go the channel; that leaves you only 1-2M per side for walking space/streetscape.

The channel width wouldn't be ideal either.

You could certainly put in decorative fences, lights, and crossings; and the channel walls could be re-done with armour stone which would look a fair bit nicer.

But to really 'fix' the channel, you need at least 20M for the channel; a streetscape zone/median would require another 5M per side minimum for a total of 30M at the low end.

Lot depth on the north side of the road is ~37M , so there is a plausible solution.

But as this area isn't prone to flooding right now, because of the channel, I don't see the requisite money coming forth anytime soon (though I would be happy to be wrong!)
 
W. K. Lis said:
Should a rough-in for a station at Jane Street & Alliance Avenue be included? Or just make sure that access can be done without making things messy. Think about Line 6's & Line 1's Keele West Station construction.
Click to expand...

Keeping in mind we don't have an EA, let alone detailed design for either the new bridge or a Jane LRT; my very rough guess of what will happen would be this:

Red represents a probable new bridge location. ( while it is possible they could re-align Alliance, I think its unlikely. Alliance is sitting on an embanked hill now, and there was no mention of putting Alliance on a bridge.)

Blue represents an approximate location for a Jane LRT station at 100M platform length. At 150M it would go roughly to the north limit of the plaza on the north side of Dalrymple.

So I don't think work on the new bridge likely has a material impact.

The height over Jane is too low for any LRT to cross under a prospective bridge.

So its likely that any LRT would be well down; and would probably skirt to the side of the bridge so as to eliminate any issue of conflict with supports.

But that's 100% guess work on my part, the EA may draw a different conclusion. Completely worthwhile to flag it during the E.A. process just to be sure its accounted for, if it needs to be.

1604189899980.png


I should add here, I would not be surprised to see a slight re-alignment of the creek to the south, to allow a more natural, 45-degree slope down from Alliance. to the creek.

Though I don't see it moving much to the south at Jane, as this would create potential issues on the other side. I could see a shift of maybe 15-25 to the south at Jane.

(again, amateur guess)
 
From my point of view, the creek would be shift to the south to create smooth curb starting on the west side and to connect to the east side further south of the current location. This would require a new bridge with a wider span.

The 2nd option is to build a new Jane St bridge with longer clear span and set back from the current location.

Since there is no EA for the Jane St LRT/BRT, you have the option to allow for pier extension to be built at the same time as the new bridge is being built or wait until an EA come out. Elevating X RT line over the valley is a good option, but will run into the elevated Crosstown Line at Eglinton. Running the X RT on the road is the best way as it makes it more easy to tunnel Jane south of Eglinton to Bloor.
 
The next report on this heads to the May 25 meeting of Infrastructure and Environment Ctte.


Recommended solution below at a cost of 371M, to be delivered (subject to funding) over 10 years:

1652815039032.png



Sigh..........for all the money, the preferred alternative keeps the concrete channel instead of naturalizing.........

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****
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Not mentioned is that if you properly secured the floodplain as floodplain, the basement upgrade program could be scaled back or eliminated.....
 
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