Twelve Days of Bicycles - Eleven Trails Ablazing

UPDATE (2016/02/09): This post has also been featured in Dandyhorse, which can be viewed at this link.

Until February 15, 2016, stakeholders of the West Toronto Railpath Extension have the opportunity to comment on the Environmental Study Report (ESR). Hard copies of the report exceeding 400 pages (including appendices) can be read at the Parkdale, College-Shaw, and Fort York Libraries, while an online version is also available at http://www.toronto.ca/westrailpath. The West Toronto Railpath is a multi-use path popular with west-end residents which goes along the Kitchener GO corridor from Cariboo Street to the current terminus of Dundas Street West. This first phase was completed in 2008 and won an urban design award in 2011.

Existing West Toronto Railpath next to Kitchener GO Line

As part of the recommendations from the 2012 Bikeway Trails Implementation Plan, an environmental assessment for extending the West Toronto Railpath – first identified as a trail candidate in 1998 – was launched. The EA had the study area split into the following three sections:

• North (bridges required at Dundas Street West and Lansdowne Avenue)
• Centre (from Lansdowne Avenue to Dufferin Street)
• South (from Dufferin Street to the future Fort York Pedestrian & Cycling Bridge)

Railpath Extension Study Area (Page 3 of Section 1)

 Three key goals were set for this EA. These include the development of a high quality active transportation facility with the “dream trail” following as closely to the Kitchener GO line as possible, connecting communities along the corridor from the Junction to Liberty Village, and connecting with future active transportation projects such as the following:

• Fort York Pedestrian & Cycling Bridge
• Northern Linear Park / Under Gardiner
• Liberty New Street
• King Liberty Pedestrian/Cyclist Link
• King High Line
  
• Contraflow routes such as Argyle-Florence (complete except for Waterloo due this year) and a proposed Brock bicycle boulevard extension in Parkdale via Spencer-Elm Grove or Cowan.

Existing & Planned Cycling Infrastructure (Page 2 of Section 4)

The West Toronto Railpath’s second role as a linear park addresses the issue of Toronto’s west end having the lowest amount of parkland per capita in the city. This is in spite of several large parks in proximity such as Trinity Bellwoods Park and Sorauren Avenue Park; the latter of which has been the focus of a potential bridge to connect with the Railpath.

Parkland per Capita (Page 7 of Section 5)

The consultation process consisted of three public meetings each attended by 80-110 people, as well as two stakeholder workshops. These involved the City of Toronto, Province of Ontario, Metrolinx, and external stakeholders such as the Cycle Toronto and Friends of the West Toronto Railpath. Communication was also done with aboriginal communities such as the Mississaugas of New Credit in the event archaeologists identified ancestral burial sites.

Preferred Alignment of Railpath Extension (Page 14 of Section 7)

The recommended alignment is to build the “dream trail” adjacent to the Kitchener GO line from Dundas Street West to Abell Street; southeast of the Queen-Dufferin intersection. Given the lack of land south of Queen Street and the number of concerns raised at Public Meeting #3 such as sharrows, trees, and parking (link to Dandyhorse article about the meeting); no recommendation was made south of Abell Street and the EA mentioned further study would be needed.

The cost of the extension per Section 8 of the report is approximately $22.8 million including a 20% contingency for cost overruns and 5% for public art and urban design features. Of the expenditures, crossing the Barrie GO line is reported to be the most expensive covering almost a third of the total cost ($7.3 million).

Hard copy of Railpath Extension Environmental Assessment

Those wishing to comment on the environmental assessment are encouraged to contact Maogosha Pyjor with the city’s Public Consultation Unit by phone at (416) 338 2850 or e-mail at mpyjor@toronto.ca.

Blaze away!
Rob Z (e-mail)

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