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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

The Beltline is getting an overhauled entrance (work apparently started last fall) off of Moore Park Avenue.

Trail access here will be closed in May-June of this year.


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Project Description here:

www.toronto.ca

Beltline Trail at Moore Avenue Improvements

The City is planning improvements to the Beltline Trail entrance at Moore Avenue. This project provides an opportunity to replace the aging infrastructure and will result in a safer, more accessible route for pedestrians and cyclists while minimizing negative impacts on the surrounding...
www.toronto.ca www.toronto.ca
 
jelbana said:
Do we have any information on whether phase 3 will get funded at some point?
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It does not appear in the 10-year capital plan.

That doesn't mean it won't reappear.

But, both because of the problems associated w/the preliminary route (would damage ecologically sensitive space); and because phase 1/2 have eaten more money than expected, I think its on the back burner for now.

But that's not official, and I could be wrong.
 
Some - modest - modest upgrades happening this week on Bloor St E. I call some section the good, the bad and the ugly. What do you think?
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jelbana said:
That's unfortunate.

If I recall correctly, you previously mentioned that one of the options could have been to route the trail through the Flemingdon golf course rather than go along the east side of the railway? Is there any chance that that could be considered once again? Also, in your opinion, is that the best potential solution? Would love to hear your thoughts on this, your posts in the past on the East Don Trail have been very informative.

Furthermore, to what extent are councilors involved in whether to bring the plan forward or not? I realize that most of the path goes through DMW's ward, but at least part of it is in Bradford's ward, and so he might be more open to discussion?
Click to expand...

The golf course is infinitely preferable as a route.

Most of its space is mowed, little of it is of high ecological value in its current state.

But hey, instead of me blathering, how about I copy/paste the relevant portions of the Environmental Assessment?

So first, this is an image showing the routing options for 'phase 3' (well, a narrowed list, there were 9 options originally)

Black is what's under construction now.

Orange (Hillside Trail) is what's currently proposed that would go through some ecologically sensitive areas.

Pink (River Walk) is what we should build.



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Here you can see a comparison of the three routes..

Note that River Walk scores best in a number of areas including ease-of-use/accessibility (its mostly flat)
as well as least damage to vegetation and wildlife habitat.

Hillside by comparison does the most damage to the environment but will also be very up/down with some steep'ish grades, not ideal for many trail users.

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This is the scoring sheet, positive numbers are good, 0 is neutral, negative numbers are bad.

Note that the route through the golf course scores +9, while the currently proposed Hillside route scores only a 2.
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This is just an aerial view of the area today.

The light coloured area on the east side of the river just south of Eglinton is wetland and very good habitat.

The only section of the River walk w/ecological impacts is also just south of Eglinton, but there is no wetland, and section of forest is smaller.

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The full E.A. is available here:

EDT_ESR_Full_FINAL_31Oct2016.pdf
 
Last edited:
As to the issue of Councillors; The E.A. is set.

Because it did study the golf course option, it could be altered by addendum fairly easily.

But I don't see that happening in the near term.

The political will to expropriate all or a portion of the golf course likely isn't there.

Building on the existing proposed alignment may happen; I just think its a proposal that staff lack enthusiasm for at the moment, for the reasons I've outlined, so absent a political push, it may sit for a bit.
 
jelbana said:
Thank you, I appreciate your response. My initial hope was that if/when the public golf courses question comes up again in a couple years that that would make the decision to use the river alignment easier. I now realize that Flemingdon golf club is privately owned, so I guess that isn't really a possibility.
Click to expand...

I'm fairly sure The City/TRCA had leverage; to the best of my knowledge a portion of the course is on publicly owned, leased land.

I'm not sure when the lease expires........

Tangentially, I have to tell you I was nothing short of angry when the TRCA quietly extended the leases for Donalda Golf Club without securiing a publicly accessible trail.

They renewed through 2060. (the lease didn't even come up til 2036).

The report for that is here: https://trca.ca/app/uploads/2016/04/05-16-ReportPackage-Executive-Committee_Jul08_2016.pdf on page 271
 
I just don't personally see the golf course going anywhere anytime soon, to be honest. Especially for a multi use path. You know who likes golf? Old rich white men, who own large industries and have political connections in the municipal government.
 
robmausser said:
I just don't personally see the golf course going anywhere anytime soon, to be honest. Especially for a multi use path. You know who likes golf? Old rich white men, who own large industries and have political connections in the municipal government.
Click to expand...

You may well be correct.

However, this is the lowest cost, least swank private course in the City.

There's no 'big money' protecting this course.

There is table land where the clubhouse/parking are; and that could be used as table land park space in an area short of that; or to provide affordable housing, potentially.

There's also very poor access from the adjacent low-income area into the valley (none actually), the nearest access is either Don Mills south of Overlea; or well north of Eglinton off Wynford.

The bulk of the course is not developable as its floodplain.

The payoff would be what the business is worth + the potential value of any developable table land.
 
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