Item - 2018.PW26.6

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee deferred the item to the next meeting (February 27, 2018)  or to a special meeting of the Committee if it is scheduled by the Chair, for the purpose of hearing speakers and Committee debate on the item.

Yonge Street from south of Sheppard Avenue to north of Finch Avenue is in the heart of North York Centre - one of four dynamic mixed-use Centres in Toronto focused on growth of commercial office and residential uses existing side by side.  Centres with a healthy mix of uses help take pressure off public transit infrastructure and roads as they encourage people to live, work and play within a centralized geography.

Yonge Street is envisioned as a Complete Street that provides many transportation options and safe passage to the many destinations in this vibrant, growing neighbourhood. Improving Centres outside the core is critical to balanced growth and prosperity across the City and it is also key to the affordability of City services since new employment uses have a positive impact on City finances.

As a transportation asset, Yonge Street is at the end of its lifecycle - the roadway was last reconstructed in 1975 with roadway resurfacing occurring in 1994. Roadway reconstruction is needed on an approximately 50 year basis, with full reconstruction for Yonge Street required within five to ten years.

Today, the area has numerous challenges including boulevards that have deteriorated to such a degree that full reconstruction is necessary, inconsistent sidewalk widths and treatment of the public realm, a lack of pedestrian crossings and medians, and a lack of dedicated cycling facilities as well as concerns over traffic movement and pedestrian safety. Yonge Street has been identified as a priority corridor for safety improvements under the Vision Zero Road Safety Plan.

Transportation Services has carried out a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA), referred to as "REimagining Yonge" that considers how the street can be improved at the time of reconstruction.

The overarching goals of the "REimagining Yonge" project are to provide consistency and vibrancy to the public realm in keeping with the economic importance of North York Centre, address state-of-good repair and safety issues along the corridor, provide cycling infrastructure connectivity, improve pedestrian amenities, and facilitate efficient traffic movement through better utilization of the surrounding road network.

In Fall 2016, the "Transform Yonge" alternative (generally shown in Attachment 1) was identified as the preliminary preferred alternative. The preliminary preferred design would include a full reconstruction of Yonge Street within the City’s existing right-of-way to include cycle tracks, a centre landscaped median, wider boulevards and enhanced pedestrian crossings to improve safety. To achieve the enhancements included in the design, the number of travel lanes on Yonge Street between Sheppard Avenue and Hendon Avenue/Bishop Avenue (north of Finch Avenue) would be reduced from six (6) to four (4) lanes (Option 4B). South of Sheppard Avenue, the number of travel lanes would be maintained (Option 4A).
 

In May 2017, the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee directed that further review be undertaken to assess the installation of cycling facilities on Doris Avenue and/or Beecroft Road, rather than on Yonge Street. In addition, the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee directed that wider consultation be undertaken on the project, particularly with local businesses.

This report includes the results of the original phase of study, focussed on Yonge Street and referred to as 'Stage 1' and the results of the new phase of work, referred to as 'Stage 2,' which included:

- a comprehensive review of design options to implement cycling facilities on Doris Avenue and/or Beecroft Road and Willowdale Avenue from Bishop Avenue to Steeles Avenue;
 

- additional project development to determine an option for a secondary preferred alternative that does not reduce traffic capacity on Yonge Street;
 

- traffic modelling work to assess the new design option(s);
 

- 30% design of a secondary preferred alternative; and
 

- additional stakeholder consultation, including wider business consultation.
 

The results of the Stage 2 analysis identified, "Enhance Yonge and Transform Beecroft" as the preliminary preferred alternative. This alternative involves reconstruction of both Yonge Street and Beecroft Road. It would provide dedicated cycle tracks on Beecroft Road, maintain traffic capacity in North York Centre and address the state of good repair issues on Yonge Street. The "Enhance Yonge and Transform Beecroft" alternative was then compared against the "Transform Yonge" alternative from Stage 1 to determine which option best meets the project objectives.

While the "Enhance Yonge and Transform Beecroft" alternative is a viable option for addressing the study objectives, "Transform Yonge", identified during the Stage 1 phase of study, is being recommended as the overall preliminary preferred alternative as it better supports the objectives of the study based on the evaluation criteria and measures developed and can be implemented at a lower cost with less disruption to the North York Centre. 

Should City Council endorse a recommended design for REimagining Yonge contained within this report, the detailed design stage of this project could be advanced in 2018 by using funding available under the federally-funded Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF) program.