The TTC says that while the new super streetcars they've ordered will be larger and hold more passengers, they will actually run quieter.
Liz Lundy sure hopes so, because the current streetcars rumbling by her Connaught Avenue home are driving her crazy.The streetcars rumble by on Connaught Avenue on their way to and from the well-travelled main streetcar line on Queen Street to a maintenance and storage facility (called Russell Yard) on Eastern Avenue.It currently houses half of the TTC's streetcars with the other half stored in the west end at Queen Street West and Roncesvalles Avenue.A third larger maintenance facility just got the green light from Toronto City Council in June at the intersection of Leslie Street and Lake Shore Boulevard, along with a corresponding connecting track (which runs on Leslie Street from the new facility to the busy Queen Street route).On Wednesday, July 28, the city held another of its ongoing community consultation meetings both to inform and to listen to concerns from the surrounding community.It was at that meeting Lundy offered her own first-hand experiences to Leslie Street residents who will soon face the same predicament."Daily we have dust problems from the streetcar tracks," she elaborated after the meeting to Toronto Community News.The TTC, she explained, uses sand on the tracks to minimize the screeching sounds."But the problem is that no one takes responsibility for the removal of that (sand). And so that becomes really fine particulate that then comes into our windows on a daily basis and it's not cleaned up by the city or the TTC."We haven't had street cleaning - ever."Worse, yet, the sand apparently doesn't do the job it's supposed to do."The noise and vibration are well beyond the acceptable levels," she said. "This summer there has been excessive noise and unfortunately because the tracks are going to be replaced probably next year to facilitate the new streetcars, there is nothing really being done about that noise level because it's going to be fixed about a year from now so we're having to live with absolutely incredible noise levels."And it's a noise level at 2, 3, 4 and 5 a.m. in the morning, and tracks that are just not working, tracks that have big thumps and certainly affects our home. Our foundation is affected by it."The TTC says that although the new light rail vehicles (LRVs), as they prefer to call them, are about twice as big and will be able to hold twice as many passengers - they will actually run a lot quieter."There's potential that this could help on many levels on the noise level," agreed Lundy. "But there's also potential that it could be worse. I mean the weight alone of these long trains could be worse in terms of the vibration and the effects on the foundation of our home. The noise might be better. The dust I don't know. It's going to be difficult to tell until they're replaced."Either way, she said her own experience with the TTC has been mixed."It's not fun and it's quite tedious to have to advocate for yourself. I'm a daily TTC user so I support the TTC, but I would appreciate the TTC being a better neighbour on that front."While Leslie Street residents have obvious concerns that continue to be raised at public meetings and in our media coverage, nearby residents also voiced concerns.Peter Mullin, a resident of Knox Avenue (just east of Leslie), was concerned traffic studies commissioned by the TTC seem to be limited to just Leslie Street and not the surrounding area.He said some Knox Avenue neighbours are concerned their street has already turned into a commuting route - something they believe will only get worse when the new streetcars start using Leslie Street.What the Knox Avenue neighbours think is happening, he said, is motorists are basically using Knox Avenue as a shortcut instead of Leslie Street (between Queen Street and Eastern Avenue) in "an effort to avoid one set of lights at Leslie.""And we strongly feel that the streetcars using Leslie will divert more traffic down our street."Interestingly, both Knox Avenue on which Mullin lives and Connaught Avenue on which Lundy lives were both among the proposed links to the new maintenance facility, but were ultimately rejected by council in favour of Leslie Street.Naturally, the July 28 meeting at the Toronto Fire Academy at 895 Eastern Ave., running well over two hours, raised numerous issues and concerns over what is a massive $1.4 billion municipal project, which includes the huge maintenance facility, the Leslie Street link and, lastly, the 200-plus new LRVs the TTC recently purchased to replace its aging fleet.While the new facility, expected to employ about 470 people, will be used to house and maintain the bulk of the new vehicles - about 100 of them - the two existing maintenance yards (at nearby Eastern Avenue and in Roncesvalles) will still remain in operation, each servicing and housing about 50 vehicles.While the wheels of government can sometimes move slowly, this whole process is moving uncharacteristically fast, which is also proving to be a flashpoint with the community, some thinking it's being rammed down their throats without due process or diligence.Both the maintenance facility site and its Leslie Street link to Queen Street were only confirmed by council in June and the fast-track environmental assessment, complete with public and provincial reviews, is slated to be completed in time for removal of contaminated soil to possibly start late this fall.Construction of the facility would follow as early as next spring followed by the laying of track on Leslie Street in 2012 with completion targeted for 2013.Not surprisingly, there seemed two related thrusts at the public meeting: those continuing to attack the original decision of where to place the facility and linking tracks; and those resigned to ensuring the impacts be reduced or mitigated as much as possible.TTC officials expect more than 200 trips per day by the new LRVs on Leslie Street to and from the facility, mostly prior to the morning rush hour and then after the evening rush hour.The city and TTC operate a thorough website on the project. A complete rundown on the July 28 meeting will be posted, as have previous ones. Complete project specs and info can also be found. Log onto www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/lrv/Next up are two meetings where the public can check out the three landscaping designs submitted as part of a competition. They can also be viewed at the above website. The meetings will be held (in a tent):- Aug. 8, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., southeast corner of Leslie Street and Lake Shore Boulevard. Accessible along the Martin Goodman Trail;- Aug. 10, 4 to 8 p.m. at Ashbridges Bay Park (southeast corner of Coxwell Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard).