Item - 2024.SC16.8

The Scarborough Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council amend the Official Plan and Highland Creek Community Secondary Plan substantially in accordance with the draft Official Plan Amendment included as Attachment 1 to the report (September 3, 2024) the Director, Transportation Planning, City Planning and the Director, Community Planning Scarborough District, Development Review.

2. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the draft Official Plan Amendments as may be required.

The Scarborough Community Council commenced a public meeting on September 19, 2024, and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

Highland Creek Village is located in south-east Scarborough. The Village was one of the first neighbourhoods established in Scarborough. Today there is a mix of commercial, residential and institutional uses in the Village. There are a number of active development applications in the area, primarily along Old Kingston/Kingston Road and Military Trail presenting opportunities to secure some transportation improvements in the area through the development review process.

The area’s transportation network consists of highways/expressways as well as arterial, collector and local roads, bounded on the south and north by Highway 2A and Kingston Road/ Old Kingston Road respectively, and between Military Trail in the west and Meadowvale Road in the east. Key issues with the transportation network include:

• poor active transportation options, including a lack of safe and dedicated active transportation infrastructure;
• angled and minimal on-street parking; and
• current street network geometry that does not easily support future development.

In 2012, City Council directed Transportation Services to undertake an Environmental Assessment (EA) / Transportation Master Plan (TMP) in the area as part of its decision on the Highland Creek Village Area Study (Area Study) - Final Report to review the feasibility of changes to the area’s transportation network.

At its May 5 and 6, 2021 meeting, City Council endorsed the preferred street, pedestrian, and cycling network solutions associated with the Highland Creek Village Transportation Master Plan study and authorized the General Manager, Transportation Services to prepare the Highland Creek Village Transportation Master Plan based on the preferred street, cycling and pedestrian network solutions and issue the Notice of Completion.

City Council also directed the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to prepare an Official Plan Amendment to reflect the planned right-of-way widths and new street connections associated with the Transportation Master Plan (TMP).

This report outlines the necessary amendments to the Official Plan that result from the recently completed and approved Highland Creek Village Transportation Master Plan (HCV TMP) study. The associated transportation improvements will be vital in helping achieve the overall planning objectives for the area. The attached draft Official Plan Amendment, which includes changes to Official Plan Map 3 (Right-of-Way Widths Associated with Existing Major Streets), Schedules 1 (Existing Minor Streets with Right-of-Way Widths Greater than 20 Metres) and 2 (The Designation of Planned but Unbuilt Roads), as well as to the Highland Creek Community Secondary Plan, implement the findings of the Highland Creek Village Transportation Master Plan.

This report also includes a summary of the outcomes of the recently completed and approved Highland Creek Village Transportation Master Plan undertaken under the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (MCEA) process to consider transportation and servicing infrastructure needs in the Highland Creek Village area to support its current and longer-term redevelopment. Additional objectives included creating a balanced multi-modal transportation network, attracting investment to the community and improving the area’s various streetscapes, consistent with the vision for the area.

The Highland Creek Village Transportation Master Plan's preferred solution provides a continuous, multi-modal transportation network that accommodates all users and will support reinvestment of City-owned land for public objectives once the Highland Creek Overpass is removed.

The transportation network, streetscape and sidewalk improvements associated with the preferred solution provide a positive environment for pedestrians, support the City’s cycling network, and provide new bus routing opportunities for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). The preferred solution includes a number of improvements to the street network in the area including new signalized intersections, the widening of the Military Trail right-of-way to accommodate dedicated active transportation infrastructure, as well as the implementation of larger infrastructure projects, such as the removal of the Highland Creek Overpass and the conversion of Highway 2A between Lawson Road and Highland Creek to an arterial road. The more complex projects would require completion of additional phases of the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment process, before confirming if they should proceed to detailed design and construction.

The primary capital costs for the City could include improvements to Military Trail ($4.2 million), including potential signalization at Highway 2A and the potential dismantling of the Highland Creek Overpass ($7.5 million). As the Highland Creek Overpass was last reconstructed in 2000, and its service life is expected to continue to at least 2028 and beyond, it is not proposed for the City to make changes to this structure over the short-term, but rather to plan for its potential removal in the long-term.  Regarding the improvements to the intersection of Military Trail and Highway 2A, it is important to note that the City is working to secure them through area development.

This report recommends the approval of an Official Plan amendment that is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement and conforms with the Growth Plan.  Approval of the Official Plan Amendment will enable the improvements identified in the preferred solution to be implemented and advance the Transportation Master Plan’s preferred solution of a multi-modal transportation network in Highland Creek Village.