Item - 2025.TE27.52

The Toronto and East York Community Council:

1. Requested the General Manager, Transportation Services and the Director, Waterfront Secretariat to report back to the Toronto and East York Community Council in the first quarter of 2027 with an update on:

a. opportunities to make pedestrian and cycling safety improvements in the vicinity of Ontario Place, aligned and coordinated with works that are to be undertaken by the Province and its Ontario Place redevelopment partners; 

b. opportunities to address congestion management and traffic safety on Lake Shore Boulevard near Ontario Place, aligned and coordinated with works that are to be undertaken by the Province and its Ontario Place redevelopment partners; and

c. opportunities for City-led improvements to City assets for pedestrian and cycling safety and congestion management near Ontario Place.

2. Requested the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer, Exhibition Place, the Director, Waterfront Secretariat and other appropriate Divisions, to review all opportunities for pedestrian and cycling safety improvements to Exhibition Place, including engagement related to Ontario Place, as an important public space, City asset and economic driver for Toronto, that is City land.

At its meeting of January 14, 2025, Toronto and East York Community Council directed the General Manager, Transportation Services and the Director, Waterfront Secretariat to report back in the fourth quarter of 2025 on:

- opportunities to make pedestrian and cycling safety improvements in the vicinity of Ontario Place, aligned and coordinated with works that are to be undertaken by the Province and its Ontario Place redevelopment partners; and

- opportunities to address congestion management and traffic safety on Lake Shore Boulevard near Ontario Place, aligned and coordinated with works that are to be undertaken by the Province and its Ontario Place redevelopment partners.

This report provides an update on the proposed safety and congestion management improvements in the Ontario Place area, including:

- proposed safety improvements for pedestrians, people cycling, and people driving at three (3) key intersections on Lake Shore Boulevard West, fronting the Ontario Place redevelopment;

- a description of the ongoing work to address congestion management and improve traffic safety on Lakeshore Boulevard West, in the vicinity of the Ontario Place redevelopment; and

- potential options to improve north/south pedestrian access between the Ontario Place redevelopment and Exhibition Place, nearby transit stops, and other off-site improvements to be considered in coordination with further design and implementation work.

Designs related to the Ontario Place redevelopment are in progress, including designs for work that will be undertaken by Infrastructure Ontario (IO) on behalf of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports, and work that will be undertaken by the site's tenants. Given that this design work is ongoing and given the need for coordination of designs for the development site and the public right-of-way, it is proposed that staff report back with an update in Q1 of 2027.