Bike lanes approved for Yonge Street in rebuild of North York Centre

Thestar.com
Dec. 18

After a decade of transportation debates at city hall characterized as a “war on cars,” council Thursday approved redesigning a section of Yonge Street in North York Centre to improve and expand pedestrian space, including dedicated bicycle lanes.

What one councillor called the future Champs-Élysées of Toronto has had other names -- REimagining Yonge, Transform Yonge.

The central controversy was always whether bicycle lanes would be placed directly on Yonge Street -- reducing car lanes by two -- or whether they should be sidelined to a service road on the west side.

As one of their final acts of 2020, council voted Thursday for a plan that would reduce car lanes from six to four and build cycling lanes from Bishop and Hendon Avenues north of Finch Avenue to Florence and Avondale Avenues south of Sheppard Avenue. The plan would also extend and landscape the existing median, and significantly improve the streetscape on either side of the road.

“This day has been a long day coming,” said Willowdale Coun. John Filion, who has championed the transformation for his ward as planning for the future. He thanked local advocates and others for their work.

“I have literally dreamed about Transform Yonge many nights since this last came up. Sometimes they were nightmares, but recently they’ve been a bit sunnier than that.”

City staff made the case for a redesign in a renewed report before council this week.

“Despite being second to downtown in civic importance, scale, and growth, investment in the state of good repair and the quality of the Yonge Street streetscape has not kept pace with the area’s transportation network, and the scale and density of development,” a staff report said.

The total capital cost of the redesign is now estimated at $60.4 million -- of which $29 million to $35 million would be required anyway to simply rebuild the area to today’s standards, city staff said.

In March 2018, facing re-election that fall, Mayor John Tory pushed for an alternative plan that would move cycling to Beecroft Road at a higher cost, over concerns about gridlock.

In an effort to save the staff-recommended plan from defeat, Coun. Joe Cressy -- a progressive voice on council who has the mayor’s ear -- convinced a majority of councillors at the time , including Tory, to defer the item to a future, unspecified date and have staff return with more information.

The timing saw Tory handily re-elected without having to vote on the controversial item.

Staff have made some adjustments to the original plan since then, including modifying curb lanes to allow for better access and safety related to TTC buses turning. It’s also since been endorsed by the medical officer of health as the “preferred alternative which best delivers on the evidence-based design principles” that promote health as well as safety for vulnerable road users.

The plan was resurrected Thursday, and with Tory’s support, easily passed in an 18 to 5 vote. Councillors Michael Ford, Stephen Holyday, Denzil Minnan-Wong, James Pasternak and Michael Thompson were opposed. Councillors Cynthia Lai and Jaye Robinson were absent.

Tory said after listening to local residents, Filion, and seeing changes related to TTC access, he felt comfortable changing his mind to support what he called Thursday a “very responsible” plan.

“I had some hesitations about this and I’d said so, so in some respects my being here today to support this represents a modification of my position.”

Since 2010, when Rob Ford was elected as mayor, debates about transportation in Toronto have often been coloured by rhetoric that reducing car lanes, razing elevated expressways or building above-ground transit would inconvenience car drivers -- pitting different road users and often urban and suburban councillors against one another.

On Thursday, even Pasternak (Ward 6 York Centre) -- who opposed endorsing Transform Yonge on Thursday and unsuccessfully moved what Filion characterized as a “poison pill” motion that would have seen the main redesign return for yet another council vote -- admitted the politics have changed.

“When I ran for office 10 years ago, you could not mention bike lanes or bike on the campaign trail or you would lose and things have changed,” he said.

On Thursday, council also adopted a motion by Coun. Mark Grimes (Ward 3 Etobicoke-Lakeshore) asking for a review of the city’s heritage evaluation process with an eye to ensuring properties are protected even while undergoing consideration for heritage designation.

The motion follows on the heels of the destruction of a historic stone cottage in Mimico on Nov. 30. The home at 98 Superior Ave., was demolished hours before the Toronto Preservation Board was to consider adding it to the city’s heritage register. Only homes on the register can be protected from demolition.