As a plan to remake Highland Creek Village nears completion, residents to the south worry it will sacrifice the quiet of their streets.
Driven by the development applications in the village, the study also includes ideas for reinventing Hwy. 2A.
A parallel to Kingston Road that flows traffic into Hwy. 401, 2A has long been a high-speed dividing line between communities at the eastern end of Scarborough.
But the Highland Creek study proposes a future where 2A is "framed" by buildings of three to 11 storeys and "no longer a 'Freeway.'"
A visual presentation for the study identifies pictures, drawn by village residents in a design meeting this summer, as an opportunity for "better and more safe pedestrian connection between (the) Centennial and Highland Creek communities."
The pictures show a traffic light at a new intersection on 2A linking Military Trail below the village with Colonel Danforth Trail in Centennial.
Art James, who lives on Colonel Danforth, says the idea - which community planner Graig Uens stresses is only conceptual and would need an environmental assessment to proceed - will "destroy" his street.
The 85 households on Colonel Danforth and Jean Dempsey Gate see the possible connection - forming a widened "thoroughfare" for southbound traffic to Lawrence Avenue, perhaps by extending Colonel Danforth to Meadowvale - as a major concern, he said this week.
"Many people have asked that it be taken off the table," said James, adding many of his neighbours say "we are becoming the victim of someone else's planning."
Ron Moeser, the local councillor, won't say whether he supports the road link, but admits the idea is controversial.
"I'm keeping my powder dry," he said, but added planning exercises require looking at all options for the long as well as the short term.
"It's a very difficult traffic pattern in there," Moeser said about the village streets.
The councillor, who hopes to bring the study to Scarborough Community Council in Februrary, said he will give an unofficial group of residents, including members of the local community association, a chance to privately review and comment on it first.
"I want them to have those comments without my influence," he said.
A working group that has guided development of the plan is also expected to have its last meeting before the end of the year, while a community meeting on the study is forecast for January.
Completed city plans for other sections of Kingston Road, notably in commercial areas of Birch Cliff and Cliffside, have built-in permissions for taller, mixed-use buildings, but so far townhouses have remained the project of choice for builders along the road.