Item - 2023.IE7.5

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council grant an exemption to section 3.6 of the Street Naming Policy, which states, "Streets that have been named, renamed, or assigned a Ceremonial Name or whose names have been reviewed within the previous ten years will generally not be renamed or reviewed” and direct staff to report in 2024 regarding a name for the existing Cherry Street and renaming “New Cherry Street” to “Cherry Street” as part of a broader engagement on place names in Villiers Island with Treaty partners and urban Indigenous communities.

2. City Council authorize the temporary full closure to all road users of Villiers Street from a point 144 metres east of Munition Street to Don Roadway, from November 30, 2023 to December 31, 2024, inclusive, to facilitate ongoing construction activities within the Port Lands.

3. City Council authorize the temporary full closure to all road users of Villiers Street from Don Roadway to Saulter Street South, from November 30, 2023 to December 31, 2024, inclusive, to facilitate ongoing construction activities within the Port Lands.

4. City Council authorize the temporary full closure to all road users of Old Cherry Street from Lake Shore Boulevard East to Villiers Street, from November 30, 2023 to December 31, 2024, inclusive, to facilitate ongoing construction activities within the Port Lands.

5. City Council authorize a northerly westbound cycle track on Commissioners Street, between a point 176 metres east of Don Roadway and Saulter Street, from November 30, 2023 to December 31, 2024, inclusive.

6. City Council authorize a southerly eastbound cycle track on Commissioners Street, between a point 176 metres east of Don Roadway and Saulter Street, from November 30, 2023 to December 31, 2024, inclusive.

7. City Council authorize the installation of temporary bicycle lanes on Cherry Street, between Mill Street and a point 134.5 metres south on the easterly northbound lanes and westerly southbound lanes, in effect at all times, to December 31, 2024, inclusive.

8. City Council continue to authorize the installation of temporary traffic control signals at the intersection of Commissioners Street and Cherry Street to December 31, 2024, inclusive.

9. City Council authorize a temporary westerly northbound and southbound cycle track on Cherry Street, between a point 23 metres south of Polson Street and a point 104 metres further south to April 30, 2024, inclusive.

10. City Council authorize to December 31, 2024, inclusive, temporary cycle tracks on the following sections of roadway,

a. Cherry Street from a point 134.5 metres south of Mill Street to Lake Shore Boulevard East;

b. Saulter Street South from Villiers Street to Commissioners Street; and 

c. Commissioners Street from Saulter Street South to Carlaw Avenue.

and amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 886, Footpaths, Pedestrian Ways, Bicycle Paths, Bicycle Lanes and Cycle Tracks, generally as described in Attachment 10 to the report (October 12, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services.  

11. City Council authorize a temporary westerly northbound and southbound cycle track on Cherry Street, between a point 23 metres south of Polson Street and a point 104 metres further south, to April 30, 2024, inclusive.

12. City Council authorize public highway designation for the lands set out in Attachment 11 to the report (October 12, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, to be dedicated in name as either Cherry Street or New Cherry Street, to take effect on the date that the last of the interest in lands in Attachment 11 to the report (October 12, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, is conveyed to the City.

13. City Council authorize public highway designation for the lands set out in Attachment 12 to the report (October 12, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, to be dedicated in name as Commissioners Street, to take effect on the date that notice of a lease authorizing their use as a public highway is registered on title to the last of the lands in Attachment 12 to the report (October 12, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services.

14. City Council authorize public highway designation for the lands set out in Attachment 13 to the report (October 12, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, to be dedicated in name as Villiers Street, to take effect on the date that the lands in Attachment 13 to the report (October 12, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, are conveyed to the City.

15. City Council amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950, Traffic and Parking, for Cherry Street and New Cherry Street, generally as described in Attachment 7 to the report (October 12, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, to take effect upon dedication of Cherry Street and New Cherry Street in accordance with Recommendation 12.

16. City Council amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950, Traffic and Parking, for Commissioners Street, generally as described in Attachment 8 to the report (October 12, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, to take effect upon dedication of Commissioners Street in accordance with Recommendation 13.                 

17. City Council amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950, Traffic and Parking, for Villiers Street, generally as described in Attachment 9 to the report (October 12, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, to take effect upon dedication of Villiers Street in accordance with Recommendation 14.                  

18. City Council authorize the appropriate City officials to take all steps necessary to implement each of the proposed dedications referred to in Recommendations 12, 13, and 14 above, including requesting the City Solicitor to prepare and submit the relevant bills and to pay any costs necessary to register the resultant by-laws, if required.

19. City Council authorize the General Manager, Transportation Services, to negotiate, enter into and execute an agreement with Waterfront Toronto on terms and conditions satisfactory to the General Manager, Transportation Services, in relation to, among other things, street and pedestrian lighting on, as well as the construction, maintenance and warranty work of, the Interim Commissioners Street and the Commissioners Street bridge; as well as to negotiate, enter into, and execute any other necessary agreements or documents, on behalf of the City, to temporarily exercise the City's authority.

20. City Council authorize the General Manager, Transportation Services, in issuing any requisite permits as delegated in Municipal Code Chapter 743, Streets and Sidewalks, Use of, to include additional permit terms as the General Manager of Transportation Services deems necessary and appropriate in the interim.

21. City Council direct that Waterfront Toronto be responsible for all costs incurred with respect to road repairs, traffic signage modifications, installation of traffic control set-up, and installation of traffic control signals for the Interim Commissioners Street.

22. City Council authorize the appropriate City officials to submit directly to Council at the appropriate time any necessary bills to amend the appropriate City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapters, and any Schedules to the Chapters, to reinstate the traffic and parking regulations to what they were immediately prior to the by-law amendments made in connection with the report (October 12, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services.

23. City Council authorize the appropriate City officials to submit directly to Council at the appropriate time any necessary bills to amend the effective date of any dedication by-law(s) and / or traffic and parking regulation by-law(s) made in connection with the report (October 12, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, to, among other things, insert a specific effective date.

24. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the necessary bills to give effect to City Council's decision, including the necessary bills to amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 886, Footpaths, Pedestrian Ways, Bicycle Paths, Bicycle Lanes and Cycle Tracks, and City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950, Traffic and Parking, and City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make any necessary clarifications, refinements, minor modifications, technical amendments, or by-law amendments as may be identified by the City Solicitor or General Manager, Transportation Services, in order to give effect to Recommendations 1 to 23, inclusive.

This report recommends the following roadway openings and temporary closures as part of a larger package of openings and temporary closures required as construction of the Port Lands Flood Protection Project progresses toward completion, anticipated by the end of 2024:

- Dedication and opening of the fully completed, realigned portion of Cherry Street, including new cycling infrastructure and new bridge crossings over the Keating Channel from Lake Shore Boulevard East to Commissioners Street;

- The interim naming of the portion of the realigned Cherry Street between the Keating Channel and Commissioners Street to "New Cherry Street" and the naming of the portion between Lake Shore Boulevard and Keating Channel as "Cherry Street";

- Designation of the lands which contain the travelled lanes, trails, and sidewalks as public highways and to implement traffic and parking by-laws for each of the final opening of Cherry Street north of Commissioners Street and the interim opening of Commissioners Street, east of existing Cherry Street to Don Roadway (including Commissioners Street Bridge), also known as the "Interim Commissioners Street" and Villiers Street, from Cherry Street and a point 359 metres. Each designation its respective associated traffic and parking by-law amendments are to take effect in respect of has been constructed to the satisfaction of the City and accepted and commissioned by the City and after all property rights allowing its use as a public highway have been granted to the City by the relevant landowner and registered on title;

- Re-opening of Commissioners Street, between Cherry Street and Don Roadway, in an interim condition, in order to accommodate the on-going construction of the Port Lands Flood Protection Project;

- Temporary closure of existing Cherry Street from Lake Shore Boulevard East to Villiers Street to accommodate the planned demolition of the former lift bridge over the Keating Channel. A staff report will be submitted at a later date to close the subject section of existing Cherry Street permanently;

- Temporary closure of Villiers Street to all road users, between a point 144 metres east of Munition Street and Don Roadway, from November 30, 2023, to December 31, 2024, inclusive, to allow for the continued construction of the river valley north to the Keating Channel. A staff report will be submitted at a later date to close the subject section of Villiers Street permanently; and

- Temporary full closure of Villiers Street to all road users, between Don Roadway and Saulter Street South, from November 30, 2023, to December 31, 2024, inclusive, to accommodate construction staging operations.