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Will Liberty Village get its much-needed new street?

Right, so a short-sighted reach for the quick fix of development charges and a patch of sponsored boulevard upgrades is being traded for an eternity of substandard city planning. It will be impossible to provide a terminus for the Gardiner that allows for the eventual removal of the elevated expressway if there are no viable exits from the western Gardiner to the road network. Without that land, you can also forget about an intermodal station west of Union. There should be enough remaining parcels of former industrial lands west of Bathurst and Front to allow us to build the transit structure we need but can't afford now.
 
Just received this email:

Liberty New Street - Class Environmental Assessment - Notice of Completion

The City of Toronto has completed a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA) that has recommended the construction of a new east-west road extending between Dufferin Street and Strachan Avenue in Liberty Village. The new road would be located on the north side of the GO Transit Lake Shore West rail corridor.

Following consultation with the public, adjacent property owners, government agencies and Aboriginal communities, City Council has endorsed the preferred design identified in the EA, which consists of the following:
  • a new road with two traffic lanes (one in each direction)
  • a multi-use path for cyclists and pedestrians on the south side of the road
  • a sidewalk on the north side of the road
  • landscaping and civic improvements, including south-facing lookouts, where possible
  • two-way connections at all intersecting north-south streets, except for Strachan Avenue, which would be restricted to right-in right-out movements
Construction of the new road is subject to available funding. Potential implementation of the new road could follow a phased approach.

Currently there is no schedule for construction.

Opportunities for Review
The study was carried out following the requirements for "Schedule C" projects under the Municipal Class EA process. An Environmental Study Report (ESR) has been prepared and has been placed on the public record for a 30-day review period starting September 29, 2016 and ending on October 28, 2016.

The ESR is available for review online at toronto.ca/involved/projects/libertynewst

Direct link here: Liberty New Street Environmental Study Report (15 MB PDF)

For assistance in reviewing this file, please phone Jason Diceman 416-338-2830

The ESR is available for review in print at Toronto Public Library branches, as follows:
If you have any outstanding concerns with the project, City staff would be pleased to discuss them further. Please contact City staff listed below.

Jason DicemanCity of Toronto – Public Consultation UnitMetro Hall, 19th Fl., 55 John St., Toronto, ON M5V 3C6Tel: 416-338-2830 Fax: 416-392-2974 TTY: 416-338-0889Email: jdiceman@toronto.ca
Visit:toronto.ca/involved/projects/libertynewst

If concerns regarding the project cannot be resolved in discussion with the City of Toronto, a person or party may request that the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change make an order for the project to comply with Part II of the Environmental Assessment Act (referred to as a Part II Order), which addresses Individual Environmental Assessments.

Written requests must be sent to:

The Honourable Glen Murray
Minister of the Environment & Climate Change
77 Wellesley St. W., Ferguson Block, 11th Fl., Toronto, ON M7A 2T5

AND

Ministry of the Environment & Climate Change
Environmental Approvals Branch
135 St. Clair Ave. W., 1st Fl., Toronto, ON M4V 1P5


If no requests are received by October 28, 2016, the City may proceed to construct the new road as outlined in the ESR at such time as available funding has been secured.

Jason Diceman

Sr. Public Consultation Coordinator

Public Consultation Unit, PPF&A
City of Toronto
Metro Hall, 19th Floor
55 John Street
Toronto, ON M5V 3C6

416-338-2830

jdiceman@toronto.ca

Follow us on Twitter - @GetInvolvedTO
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Allandale25 said:
Just received this email:
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Even without a construction schedule or funding, it's an important milestone that the EA is done. Especially considering the bullet dodged with the Front Street Extension.

hToaS97.png
 
Also nice to see that the cycle and pedestrian component has survived given that, in the first PWIC hearing, Councillor Holyday expressed his hope that we "wouldn't be planning on putting in a bike lane here or anything like that."
 
Some interesting notes I took reading the report:

  • They looked at an alternative way to extend Hanna Avenue, instead of extending it on an angle along the current work road, but decided against it due to property requirements.
  • There will be a public lookout point at the foot of Atlantic Ave, providing a view of downtown and the rail corridor.
    Z2z17mI.png

  • Open public spaces can be integrated on the north side of the street, east and west of Hanna.
    4hxne2j.png

  • A telecommunications tower south of Pirandello will have to be relocated.
  • sLa2fKR.png

  • Access at Strachan will be right-in/right-out only.
  • Construction is proposed in phases. Total implementation costs:
    • A: $15-17 million
    • B: $18-20 million
    • C: $32-35 million
    • D: $3 million
    • All: $68-75 million
  • UYmlV8z.png
 
Will they call it Front St so that if it eventually connects it makes sense?
 
It's the back of the Ex and the back of Liberty Village, and that area was never the lakefront. I assume it will be named for someone who died tragically and/or nobly.
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
Will they call it Front St so that if it eventually connects it makes sense?
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Front Street will never be extended. The only way to do so would be through tunneling and we all know that the city would never do that in a million years- especially when they rejected the bridge proposal due to costs.
 
Forget politically unpalatable. If these lands are developed with more condos, there can be no removal of the Gardiner. There has to be a way of offloading traffic from the western Gardiner eventually, even if this council can't think beyond the next shiny condo planning proposal. This street plan itself is fine temporarily, but if this a gateway to more condos that will prevent important infrastructure uses, it's a problem. There can still be some condos, but there should be bigger picture thinking here. Think about the possibilities for cyclists and pedestrians in a city without an expressway separating the core from the waterfront. If you can't maybe some future generation can. The city will blow it again no doubt.
 
pstogios said:
$68-75 million? That's a crapload of money. Why is this so expensive?
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So looking at it again, it seems that the actual construction cost is estimated at $12.65 million. This excludes "utility relocation, property acquisition and costs that may be associated with injurious affection or business loss," so any additional estimates must be for those items.
 
From Exhibition Station at https://engageio.ca/en/engagement-initiatives/exhibition as part of the Ontario Line project.

1645115055428-png.380693

A new street along the southern boundary of Liberty Street is proposed, named “Liberty New Street”. The new street will have a two-lane cross-section and will extend between Dufferin Street and Strachan Avenue, immediately north of the railway corridor, intersecting with Mowat Avenue, Fraser Avenue, Jefferson Avenue, Atlantic Avenue, Hanna Avenue, and Pirandello Street. Sidewalks will be provided along the north side of Liberty New Street, and a multi-use path will be provided along the south side to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists. Since the control type at each intersection was not specified in the EA, the intersection control measures recommended in the Ontario Line Exhibition Station Site Plan Review Transportation Impact Assessment (Ontario Line Technical Advisor, May 2021) were carried forward, with the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Liberty New Street being all-way stop-controlled, Atlantic Avenue and Liberty New Street being signalized, Dufferin Street and Liberty New Street being signalized, and Strachan Avenue and Liberty New Street being a right-in/right-out configuration.
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Ontario Line:

Exhibition Station will be a terminal station for the proposed Ontario Line subway, which will operate at 90-second headways, connecting Liberty Village and Exhibition Place with the neighbourhoods along the Ontario Line alignment to the east. Exhibition Station will also provide convenient access to the Lakeshore West GO rail and TTC streetcar services nearby.
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Lakeshore West GO Train:

GO train frequencies are expected to increase over time following electrification of the corridor, resulting in 15-minute peak service, and 30-minute off peak services in both directions. New eastbound and westbound express GO platforms will be added to Exhibition Station, to be located in the middle of the station just north of the eastbound local GO platform at the southern end.
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Streetcar Extension:

The TTC has plans to extend the existing streetcar services from the Exhibition Loop to the Dufferin Gates Loop as part of the Waterfront LRT, providing enhanced streetcar connections within the network west of Exhibition Place.

Changes resulting from the extension project will include:
  • New westbound streetcar platform at Manitoba Drive / Nova Scotia Avenue;
  • Possible grade-separated north-south crossings for pedestrians at Manitoba Drive / Nova Scotia Avenue to be used during special event peak hours;
  • New streetcar stop at Centennial Park (Dufferin Gates) for both directions, located north of Centennial Park east of Dufferin Street. The west side of the intersection to be protected for a future westerly extension; and
  • Signalization of Dufferin Street at the Dufferin Loop.
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Bus Transit Services:

Bus bays will be located on Liberty New Street to accommodate redirection of bus routes through Liberty Village. The westbound bus bay will be located between Jefferson Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, and the eastbound bus bay will be located just east of Atlantic Avenue (based on current assumptions and subject to change based on City of Toronto and TTC future plans). The new bus bays will accommodate Route 29A (Dufferin) with a 3.3-minute headway, 63 (Ossington) with a 3.5-minute headway, and 929 (Dufferin Express).
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