Item - 2022.IE29.17

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services and the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services to initiate dialog with Our Greenway Conservancy towards improving the public realm along arterial roads, ravines and hydro corridors within the Our Greenway Conservancy catchment area, at no cost to the City of Toronto.
 
2. City Council request the Deputy City Manager, Community and Social Services, and the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services, to cooperatively develop a Term Sheet, negotiate and enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with Our Greenway Conservancy to support the future planning, construction and maintenance of the project as substantially defined in the Term Sheet, by first quarter 2023.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has urged immediate climate action that is scaled up and applied more widely and equitably. The City of Toronto's TransformTO strategy also seeks to electrify transport and scale up the number of local trips where people can choose not to drive. However, walking, biking and transit are not always viable, safe or convenient options in northwest Toronto.

In 2020, Toronto City Council unanimously adopted item IE14.17, where City staff requested to work with Our Greenway Conservancy and community stakeholders, to consider next steps required to plan, construct and maintain their proposed urban linear park network, while aligning with City approved strategies and recommendations related to a just recovery from COVID-19, and explore funding opportunities supporting implementation.

Given that several of Northwest Toronto’s neighbourhoods score poorly across a range of equity indicators, the delivery of this project continues to be vital. A practical linear park network designed with local mobility and climate change in mind, will utilize parkettes, rain gardens, and plants as part of a mix of natural infrastructure that will enable the planned green active transportation corridors to withstand climate change stress and serve a range of equity-seeking populations over the long term. Creating a practical, reliable linear park network built along arterial roads, ravines, and hydro corridors will drastically expand the feasible and safe year-round active transport network, move goods and people without greenhouse gas emissions, increase critical connections to key anchor institutions, residential and shopping areas, and improve traffic conditions for everyone.

Realizing this project will prove the value of building urban linear park networks in our suburban communities, and highlight the benefits of leveraging the power of the conservancy model to deliver transformative impact without cost to municipal taxpayers.