Eglinton is Toronto's true beating cross-city artery. By 2020 though, the street will look much different to the Eglinton Avenue we know today. Metrolinx is building the Crosstown LRT which will deliver east-west rapid transit across the middle of the city

To capitalize on this massive infrastructure investment, City of Toronto planners and designers are calling on community input on how we can make Eglinton a better street for all. You can be a part of the vision by attending one of three community meetings, to be held between 6:30pm and 9pm at each of the following events. If you can't make it to the meetings, don't worry, the city's official Eglinton Connects website provides other ways to get involved!

Eglinton Connects Logo, image courteys of City of Toronto

The City's Eglinton Connects program is seeking new ways to make sure residents, businesses and commuters get the most out of the street in the future, turning the street into something to be celebrated rather than just used. To make sure they get it right, planners are breaking down the vision into three categories:

• Building Eglinton, which seeks to define built form on the street;
• Traveling Eglinton, which seeks to balance how all modes of transport interact and create connections on the street; and
• Greening Eglinton, which looks at connecting and adding green spaces across the corridor.

Planners have already gained some critical ideas and feedback from the community so we'll provide a quick overview of what they've heard and done.

In Building Eglinton planners have identified several locations along Eglinton where mid-rise development is appropriate and possible, keeping in line with the widely accepted mid-rise on the avenues mantra of the Official Plan. City staff have also identified 6 key Focus Areas where tall buildings and higher density development is warranted. They are: Caledonia, Dufferin, Bayview, Laird, Don Mills, and the Golden Mile. In addition, intensified development is being studied separately at the three mobility hubs: Mount Dennis, Yonge-Eglinton, and Kennedy.

Don Mills Focus Area with tall buildings, City of Toronto

In Traveling Eglinton, the balance between pedestrians, cyclists, autos and transit is a little more complex as the street width changes throughout the city. On the underground LRT portion between Black Creek and Brentcliffe, most bus service will be removed so planners and traffic analysts have proposed new ways to put the extra road space to better use. New bike lanes, better sidewalks and parking spaces will all be considered.

Potential Street layout along Eglinton, image courtesy of City of Toronto

Eglinton Avenue traverses many of the ravines that make up the landscape of our great city. However, there is a great disconnect between the Humber, Black Creek, Don, and all other green valleys and spaces between and beyond. With Greening Eglinton, the City is looking at ways to connect our natural green spaces and how to bring out some of their essence to the street. Greening the LRT trackbed is one of the key proposals, along with new neighbourhood parks and plaza's along Eglinton.

Greened Trackway with grass in Paris, image courtesy of City fo Toronto

Check out the official Eglinton Connects and Crosstown LRT websites for more in depth details about both projects. As both projects move forward, UrbanToronto will keep you up to date. Leave a comment below or join our extensive Forum discussion to join the conversation about our changing Eglinton.