Leslie Street option cheapest: TTC.
Alternate routes for the future TTC Ashbridges Facility.
Photo/COURTESY
Back in February, the TTC told the residents of Leslieville a transit corridor would be required to connect a soon-to-be-built streetcar maintenance facility just north of the Ashbridges Bay Water Treatment Plant to Queen Street, and the commission believed Leslie Street would serve as the best route for this.
After receiving an adverse reaction from local residents and city councillors concerned about the implications of having 230 light rail vehicles (LRVs) travelling to and from the facility on Leslie Street on a daily basis, the TTC came back to the table Thursday, April 8 at a public consultation at the EMS Academy on Eastern Avenue to discuss alternative route options.
After hearing the concerns of the community TTC Service Planning spokesperson Bill Dawson told residents the TTC has looked at nine other possible routes to connect the LRV facility with Queen Street.
However, some of those routes have already been deemed impractical for use.
The first eliminated from the list was using Commissioners Street, which would connect to Cherry Street and then up to Queen. However, near the mouth of the Don River, there is a lift-bridge that would prevent the TTC from installing the necessary tracks and power lines.
The next two eliminated alternatives were Carlaw Avenue, via an existing freight train corridor that connects to Commissioners Street. But installing power lines for the LRVs would block freight traffic in the area, an unacceptable option.
According to the TTC, the best alternative routes are Coxwell Avenue via Lakeshore Boulevard, or using Connaught Avenue and Knox Street, nearby side streets just east of Leslie Street.
However, to use these alternative routes pose further implications. While Coxwell Avenue seems to be the human-friendly option, since it has the least amount of residential dwellings on that stretch, the cost to build the line would be the most expensive, with total construction costs estimated to be $91 million, since the street is the furthest away.
Using Connaught Avenue via Knox Avenue brings the costs down almost in half, close to $46 million, but Connaught is a narrow street with a denser residential presence.
Then there is Leslie Street, another busy residential road that still serves as the most direct route to the future facility. The TTC says the cost to build this line would be the most affordable at $41 million.
"Overall, Leslie is still the best option," Dawson said.
But many local residents feel the TTC should take their eyes off of that option.
Janet MacDonald has lived at the townhouses at Marigold Gardens near Queen and Leslie Streets since 1979, and says she is disappointed by the lack of compassion the TTC has for the impact the streetcars would have on the residents.
"I'm really concerned about sleep deprivation once these vehicles start rolling by my house at five in the morning," she said. "There are going to be serious health implications and I don't see them (the TTC) raising any of these issues."
Earlier in the meeting, Dawson told the residents the TTC is taking steps to minimize the noise and vibrations caused by these new LRV vehicles.
Dawson said the LRVs will be installed with 'advanced semi-soft wheels' that use a rubber sleeve to cut down on excessive noises. There will also be a 'bogie skirts' used, which are designed to reduce noise by encasing the wheels in the outer frame. In all, the TTC says these vehicles will cause noises ranging from 60 dBA to 67 dBA, which Dawson described as amounting to "the lower end of busy street noise", similar to that made by trucks and buses.
Despite this, local councillor Sandra Bussin, who supported the location of the facility at the last meeting, has changed her tune. She wants to reopen the issue of building the $345 million facility elsewhere.
"I would like the TTC to investigate other options," she said. "The Ashbridges Bay facility is not a perfect fit, but it's a pragmatic approach to house those vehicles."
Last month, city councillor Paula Fletcher echoed these concerns in a letter she sent to the Toronto Transit Commission's General Manager Gary Webster and its Chair Adam Giambrone. She pointed to the "extreme" noise and the lowering of property values as some of the consequences of using the street.
There will be another public consultation in the coming months, but no date has been announced yet.
The TTC hasn't committed when it will make its final decision on which route will be chosen.
For more information or to address concerns, contact Lito Romano, TTC Community Liason at 416-397-8699 or email him at lito.romano@ttc.ca
There is also information about the LRV planning process at www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/lrv
- with files from David Nickle