Roads: Redway Road Extension / "Leaside bypass"

[WislaHD]

Rapid transit or no rapid transit I think one thing that can be agreed upon is that Thorncliffe Park currently is very isolated from the rest of the city and has very poor road connections to the surrounding areas.

Question is, what can be done about it?

There is the Redway extension which can go southwest to Bayview, and it can also go northeast through Village Station road. Thorncliffe Park Drive can be extended west to meet Village Station/Redway. And of course, there is the possibility of extending Leslie south to Thorncliffe Park, the routing and engineering of which is up to question.

 

[Johnny Au]

There is no doubt Thorncliffe Park is very isolated. It only has three entrances: both ends of Overlea and Beth Nealson. No wonder why Coca-Cola Canada moved its head office from there to the east side of downtown.

 

[MrsNesbitt]

There's no question that a traffic solution is badly needed in the Leaside area - I confess that even I have cut through the neighbourhood streets on occasion - and Redway / Village Station could very well be that solution, but any arterial road construction in the area needs to be planned very carefully. A future GO Midtown RER or DRL would find a Leaside and/or Thorncliffe Park station absolutely essential; especially for the RER proposal, a Redway extension (or especially a Village Station extension) has serious possibility of interfering with that station placing if planned improperly.

 

[nfitz]

Rapid transit or no rapid transit I think one thing that can be agreed upon is that Thorncliffe Park currently is very isolated from the rest of the city and has very poor road connections to the surrounding areas.

A short distance down Overlea to Don Mills Road, and then your down the hill and right on the DVP. I haven't lived quite in Thorncliffe, but I thought Flemingdon Park was very easy to access when I lived there.

Surely Redway is more a Leaside issue than a Thorncliffe issue.

 

[WislaHD]

There's no question that a traffic solution is badly needed in the Leaside area - I confess that even I have cut through the neighbourhood streets on occasion - and Redway / Village Station could very well be that solution, but any arterial road construction in the area needs to be planned very carefully. A future GO Midtown RER or DRL would find a Leaside and/or Thorncliffe Park station absolutely essential; especially for the RER proposal, a Redway extension (or especially a Village Station extension) has serious possibility of interfering with that station placing if planned improperly.

Naturally it would be best to coordinate efforts. Especially as DRL or Midtown GO would lead to development incentives in the area, it would be best to have a new street layout to improve accessibility and create new potential sites for development. There are many large parking lots behind current structures in the area that can be opened up by a street extension that are just ripe for development, take here for example.

A short distance down Overlea to Don Mills Road, and then your down the hill and right on the DVP. I haven't lived quite in Thorncliffe, but I thought Flemingdon Park was very easy to access when I lived there.

Surely Redway is more a Leaside issue than a Thorncliffe issue.

Flemingdon Park isn't too bad but Thorncliffe Park is certainly more of a challenge.

Leaside (for arbitrary historical reasons) includes Thorncliffe and Flemingdon. In any case, a Redway extension means people in Thorncliffe Park have a direct access to Bayview Ave and therefore to downtown. And while it would be more challenging than a simple Redway extension to Bayview, an extension northeast through Village Station road to Thorncliffe Dr is also possible. The existing power lines is a barrier however.

 

[nfitz]

Flemingdon Park isn't too bad but Thorncliffe Park is certainly more of a challenge.

It's 800 metres - 1 minute drive, down Overlea from the corner of Overlea and Thorncliffe to Don Mills Road. If heading out at AM peak, there's no congestion on Overlea, until you get to Don Mills Road, and then only some if your turning left. If you turn right to the DVP it's clear sailing to the DVP.

In any case, a Redway extension means people in Thorncliffe Park have a direct access to Bayview Ave and therefore to downtown.

It's 1 minute to the DVP from Thorncliffe. You just come off the DVP onto Bayview if that's what you want to do. Even if your at Overlea and Millwood, it's not a big deal in rush hour to take Pape and Mortimer (Pottery) to Bayview (or Pape/O'Connor/Broadview to Pottery).

Redway isn't for Thorncliffe. It's to get people off Moore and Millwood (west of Laird).

 

[MrsNesbitt]

Naturally it would be best to coordinate efforts. Especially as DRL or Midtown GO would lead to development incentives in the area, it would be best to have a new street layout to improve accessibility and create new potential sites for development. There are many large parking lots behind current structures in the area that can be opened up by a street extension that are just ripe for development, take here for example.

Flemingdon Park isn't too bad but Thorncliffe Park is certainly more of a challenge.

Leaside (for arbitrary historical reasons) includes Thorncliffe and Flemingdon. In any case, a Redway extension means people in Thorncliffe Park have a direct access to Bayview Ave and therefore to downtown. And while it would be more challenging than a simple Redway extension to Bayview, an extension northeast through Village Station road to Thorncliffe Dr is also possible. The existing power lines is a barrier however.

Both Flemingdon and Thorncliffe are your garden-variety "tower-in-the-park" communities, but I too have always found Thorncliffe to be more isolated than Flemingdon. With the latter, the bulk of the population density, although not exactly street-facing, is within fair range of Don Mills Rd and Eglinton Ave, which will be even more significant once the Crosstown opens up in the area (although we can debate endlessly, with good reason, about why it should've been grade-separated all the way to Don Mills). With Thorncliffe however...the entire neighbourhood is tucked away off of Overlea, surrounded only by industry to the north and valley to all other sides. A Village Station extension would help for connectivity purposes, but unless it were to run directly under the power lines, it would pose some fairly significant space constraints for eventual DRL or RER use of the rail corridor.

 

[44 North]

Maybe it would take people off Southvale Dr. and Moore Ave. https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.6985428,-79.3636785,16z

Yes, that's exactly what a Redway extension is for. Drivers use Moore and Southvale to travel between Laird and Bayview, and it's a nightmare for commuters, local residents, and local resident commuters. As for others talking about how it would benefit Thornfliffe...that has little to do with this.

 

[officedweller]

On Metro Morning, John Parker mentioned (during a discussion of traffic volumes in Leaside arising out of the fatality at Millwood and McRae) that he has been discussing with staff the possibility of some sort of relief for local traffic. Does anyone have any idea what he has in mind?

Looks like he is reviewing past Leslie St. Extension documents - i.e. extending Leslie from Eglinton to Bayview (and funelling to Bloor St.)

http://leasidelifenews.com/leslie-st-extension-is-back-in-discussion/

Interesting history re: Leslie St. Extension:

http://murraygcrawford.wordpress.com/tag/leslie-street-extension/

In Ed Levy's book, he notes a proposed 1994 rapid transit route (bus?) was proposed to follow the alignment of the [failed] Leslie St. Extension - red line here:

...
Figure 13.0.1 is not sufficiently detailed to indicate the precise alignment of the proposed Don Valley route, and the accompanying text provides no clarification for either the east-west or north-south sections. As for the latter, a clear change from the earlier configuration is evident in Map 3: rather than following Pape Avenue, the alignment appears to follow the Bayview Avenue Extension from the main CN/GO Transit rail corridor northward to a point immediately south of the CP North Toronto Subdivision (the “midtown tracks”), and the never-implemented Leslie Street Extension alignment to Eglinton Avenue East.[2] The apparent use of the Bayview Avenue Extension and the “ghost” of the Leslie Street Extension suggest that express bus service (rather than heavy or light rail) was the mode proposed, at least initially.
...

http://levyrapidtransit.ca/chapter-...ansit-expansion-program-1992-94/#.VKnH8tItCUm

 

[pman]

Yes, that's exactly what a Redway extension is for. Drivers use Moore and Southvale to travel between Laird and Bayview, and it's a nightmare for commuters, local residents, and local resident commuters. As for others talking about how it would benefit Thornfliffe...that has little to do with this.

Of course the Redway extension would simply transfer the "nightmare" to Governor's Bridge, Rosedale and Sherbourne south of Bloor, unless the City is prepared to ban through traffic from Redway onto Nesbitt and actually enforce that ban by stationing a police officer at Bayview and Nesbitt 24/7.

 

[toronto647]

Any update on this Leaside south extension? Now that Eglinton LRT is almost built and the heavy densification will almost be a catastrophe for traffic in that area. Throw in the Ontario Line in 7-8 years thats a recipe for disaster for new developments and increased car mobility

 

[innsertnamehere]

shhh didn't you hear, all new road infrastructure is pointless because of induced demand. Toronto shouldn't build a single new road ever again!

Seriously though - the Redway Road extension to Bayview would be super easy to build - it literally just has to be 600m of a new two lane road and it would do a lot to make travel around Leaside a lot easier, letting cars avoid the local neighbourhood streets along Moore and Southvale.

 

[toronto647]

shhh didn't you hear, all new road infrastructure is pointless because of induced demand. Toronto shouldn't build a single new road ever again!

Seriously though - the Redway Road extension to Bayview would be super easy to build - it literally just has to be 600m of a new two lane road and it would do a lot to make travel around Leaside a lot easier, letting cars avoid the local neighbourhood streets along Moore and Southvale.

I feel like Doug Ford would get this matter sorted out and built.. probably not on his rader yet. I feel like this is badly needed and will really support the area and the city as a whole.

 

[Northern Light]

Redway won't happen.

I was one of the people who stopped it from happening, same w/the Leslie extension.

I stifled it twice, if it comes up again, I'll stop it again.

Crothers Woods through which Redway would pass is an Environmentally Sensitive area, and an absolute jewel. In another 3-5 weeks it will be full of Trilliums, Bloodroot, Trout-Lily, Wild Geranium and ferns.

To destroy that for a road is an entirely unreasonable idea.

See this thread for my photos of Crothers Woods:

Crothers Woods

I blew off work this afternoon (one great thing about working for yourself!) .....to get some much needed sunshine. I went for walk in Crothers Woods, which is the forested north slope of the Don Valley below Thorncliffe and Leaside. Documentary tour follows: Trailhead signage...

urbantoronto.ca

 

[innsertnamehere]

The stretch where Redway would pass would be (I imagine) mostly along the rail corridor, north of the hydro towers. Looking on google maps, which is an admittingly faulty source, most trees seem to be smaller brush because of height restrictions of the hydro lines. The only major tree losses seem to be closer to Bayview Road where Redway would connect to Nesbitt.

The main parts of Crothers Woods, in the valley itself, would of course be completely untouched.