Mayor's new vision of Vaughan is the opposite of a sustainable future

City must shift from its plans of sprawl and highways, writes Sony Rai

Yorkregion.com
June 11, 2021
Sony Rai
OPINION

Over the past year in lockdown, we’ve seen a new vision for Vaughan emerge, under the direction of Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua.

This vision is focused on building the GTA West Highway through 60 per cent of the Greenbelt in Vaughan, championing sprawl in the form of large warehouse distribution centres on environmentally sensitive lands.

The mayor’s new vision is the reverse of the sustainably focused gains made by the city over the past 15 years.

Thanks to the Kathleen Wynne Liberal government, Vaughan was able to direct future growth in a more compact and sustainable way, reducing its reliance on cars.

A new subway station provided the stimulus for a new urban centre at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC).

Thanks to the efforts of Coun. Marilyn Iafrate, the city was able to secure the new Kirby GO Station that will transform previously planned car-dependent sprawl into a compact urban neighbourhood.

The newly built Highway 7 Rapidway bus transit line has set Vaughan up well, eliminating its dependence on sprawl for future growth and reducing its reliance on cars for commuting.

Another potentially transformative infrastructure project is being planned by Doug Ford's Progressive-Conservative government that will impact Vaughan. Unfortunately, it is not being championed by the mayor or council.

Metrolinx has plans to add commuter rail service along the existing Canadian Pacific MacTier subdivision. That rail line is currently used for freight connections and travels north through Toronto, continuing up through Vaughan. In 2010, Metrolinx completed a study finding that introducing the service is feasible.

The study earmarked a number of possible station locations within Vaughan, making this project a transformative and important part of any future growth scenario for the city.
The study recommended three stations within Vaughan. They are: Woodbridge station at Highway 407 and Islington Avenue, Elder Mills station at Rutherford Road, and Kleinberg station at Major Mackenzie Drive.

On March 8, the provincial government announced that a future Caledon GO rail site has been designated in the township.

The province has also allowed future residential growth close to the rail site. Caledon Mayor Allan Thompson has come out supporting this project. The City of Vaughan has been silent about the line’s future.

The City of Vaughan needs to start planning and protecting the future station areas identified by the province as areas for future growth, not unlike the type of neighbourhood planned around Kirby station.

The lands around these future stations need to be envisioned as more than large parking structures. These lands should be planned as dense, walkable neighbourhoods with a mix of uses connected to transit.

We need to turn back the clock and shift Vaughan’s current vision away from sprawl and highways and back toward a sustainable future.