[caption id="attachment_11020" align="aligncenter" width="415" caption="St Clair West of Keele St. (Google maps Image)"]
[/caption]Moved up from Comment Post froma comment posted by Manny.... thanks Manny
There is a meeting tomorrow April 16, 2012 for Ward 17 regarding widening the road at St.Clair and Keele between Old Weston Rd and Keele right under the bridge. I encourage all to go out and show your support to get the road widened to two lanes each including the widening the bridge. This also impacts Ward 11 so the more people in favour of widening the road the better chances it will be implemented.
St. Clair Right of Way
Road Modifications – St. Clair & Old Weston Road
PUBLIC MEETING
(A)s cheduled a public meeting on Monday, April 16, 2012 – 7:00 PM at the Joseph J. Piccininni Centre, 1369 St. Clair Avenue West, just west of Lansdowne Avenue. The purpose of this meeting is to get your input on proposed modifications that are both necessary and urgent. TTC/City Staff will be on hand to provide us with information and options on what improvements can me made; please make every effort to attend.
Traffic movement on St. Clair Avenue West, between Keele Street and Old Weston Road has become dangerous and a total nightmare. Residents and the business community have expressed their deep concern over this stretch of roadway, as congestion and gridlock create unreasonable travel times.
This intersection is not safe and immediate changes are needed to make it safer for TTC users, motorists and pedestrians. To realize this goal, I have moved recommendations at the Etobicoke York Community Council and at the TTC, asking the Commission to report back as soon as possible on the feasibility of implementing these changes
Personally, with the financial situation the city is in - i think this is not a good use of pubic funds and should be deffered till a later time.
ReplyDeleteAgree.
ReplyDeleteI firmly disagree. This project is exactly the kind of use of tax dollars that is appropriate. We have an underpass on a busy main street that is dark and crumbling. It's completely inadequate for St. Clair traffic since it's too narrow with only one lane. All it takes is one vehicle breakdown for it to become impassable. Cycling through it doesn't feel safe; many cyclists take the single lane of traffic.
ReplyDeleteThe St. Clair and Old Weston Road intersection is dysfunctional now because of the traffic bottleneck. Development in the area is happening like the shopping centre at Keele and St. Clair, and the city must stay on top of its infrastructure. When the city defers underpass projects, it tends to defer them for decades after they're needed. We need to get moving on this now. This issue cannot be neglected, especially if the St. Clair-Old Weston Road area is to be revitalized.
the Airport lne (ARL) goes over this bridge.. Metrolinx will not do anything that could delay this. It won't happen.
ReplyDeleteI could not attend the meeting yesterday but spoke with someone who did.
ReplyDeleteThe plan is to do some adjustments to some of the TTC platforms, signs, etc.. for the short term but the long term plan is to have EA assement for the widening of the road which includes the bridge from what I understood. There is suppose to be some sort of petition to sign soon, contact either Councillor Palacio office or Nunciata Office for details. As for the bridge the work can happen while the trains still pass above this is done on many bridges that need widening etc. the tracks still remain in place. I agree this might not happen for the next to years or more for the widening of the road.
Seems lke motion has temporarily passed for the widening of the road according to the meeting notes from today's councillors meeting with ammendments.
ReplyDeletehttp://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2012.EY15.10
Petition with 117 Signatures.
ReplyDeleteCommunications
(April 17, 2012) Petition from Councillor Cesar Palacio, Ward 17 - Davenport, containing approximately 117 signatures respecting road modifications on St. Clair Avenue West (EY.New.EY15.10.1)
(http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2012/ey/comm/communicationfile-29776.pdf)
It looks like it went through today and was adopted with amendments with the city clerks office approval.
ReplyDeletehttp://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2012.EY15.10
This item was considered by Etobicoke York Community Council on April 17, 2012 and was adopted with amendments.
Toronto Sun article published after the city meeting yesterday.
ReplyDeletehttp://m.torontosun.com/2012/04/18/st-clair-bottleneck-needs-easing
The city’s public works committee agreed Wednesday to have staff look at fixing a “total disaster” of a traffic bottleneck along the St. Clair right-of-way.
Councillors Cesar Palacio and Frances Nunziata requested a start on widening the CP rail bridge over St. Clair Ave. between Old Weston Rd. and Keele St. to allow more than one lane of traffic in each direction.
Staff are expected to report back in May on how the city could help traffic flow better underneath the rail bridge.
“This is not a discussion about (the St. Clair) exclusive right-of-way, this is not a discussion about LRTs, this is not a discussion about subways,” Palacio stressed to the committee. “This is about a problem that we have at one section of the road between Old Weston Rd. and Keele St.
“We have a bottleneck situation there where the congestion is tremendous. It’s a total disaster actually in terms of the congestion. The environmental impacts in terms of the local community, it is unbelievable.”
Palacio said commuting in the area is a “total nightmare” and “something needs to be done.”
Public Works chairman Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong stressed the situation is a long way from a quick fix.
“Staff have to look at it and decide where it stands in the priority list of all the other capital projects that are on the list,” Minnan-Wong said.
These updates have been excellent.
ReplyDeleteIf Cesar Palacio had any idea what was going on in his own ward this issue would have been dealt with years ago. The increased traffic at that intersection has been a 10 year trend but Cesar Palacio was nowhere to be seen. Another instance of "who elects this guy?".
ReplyDeleteIt seems May 16, 2012 is the date for the report to be made to Counsel by the Public Works Committee.
ReplyDeletehttp://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/decisionBodyProfile.do?function=doPrepare&meetingId=5628#Meeting-2012.PW14
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2012.PW14.4
The traffic is really bad here but it would not be as bad if they finished the Toronto Diamond rail-to-rail grade separation project. This has had the road closed for a long time and it will ease the congestion on St Clair slightly when built.
ReplyDeleteActually, his position along with Councillor Nunziata was to widen the underpass since the TTC started planning the ROW project, but they claimed at the last meeting to have been ignored by council back then.
ReplyDeleteEnvironmental Assement for the widening of the road and bridge between Old Weston rd and Keele/Weston Rd on St.Clair has been approved.
ReplyDeletehttp://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2012.PW15.3
May 16, 2012
The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee recommends that:
1. City Council direct the Acting General Manager, Transportation Services, to initiate and carry out an Environmental Assessment Study of the St. Clair Avenue/Rail Crossing between Keele Street and Old Weston Road.
City Council Approves the EA Study for the St.Clair Avenue Bridge Widening at St.Clair and Keele/Weston - Old Weston Rd on June 06, 2012.
ReplyDeletehttp://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2012.PW15.3
Recent Update by the TTC (Road Widening)
ReplyDeleteMEETING DATE: September 27, 2012
http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Commission_reports_and_information/Commission_meetings/2012/September_27/Reports/Traffic_Issues_on_St.pdf
By looking at the 2013 - 2022 Capital Budget it seems the Keele to old Weston Rd road widening and bridge reconstruction got approved with the work being started in 2015 -2018.
ReplyDeleteSt. Clair West / Metrolinx
Grade Separation
$32,000,000 (under pass widening just east of Keele)
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthread.php/19344-Major-Transportation-Works-(Roads)-2013-2022
http://www.toronto.ca/budget2013/pdf/cap13_an_transportation.pdf
By viewing the 2013 – 2022 Capital Budget it seems the Keele to old Weston Rd road widening and bridge reconstruction got approved with the work being started in 2015 -2018.
ReplyDeleteSt. Clair West / Metrolinx
Grade Separation
$32,000,000 (under pass widening just east of Keele)
www.toronto.ca/budget2013/pdf/cap13_an_transportation.pdf
ReplyDeletewhy not have the streetcars turn at st clair instead of going all the way to keele? This way we would have two lanes back instantly.
ReplyDeleteOr have a bus that runs from St Clair station to keele to feed that new mall that is opening up. Alternately we could incourage people use the keele station buses to access this new stockyards mall.
It would be so much easier to talk to the TTC and have the streetcars loop at st clair and make that the last stop.
Where on St. Clair should the streetcars turn, though? Having a continuous streetcar route is the best option for transit. In my opinion, the streetcar should go even further to Scarlett because west of Gunn's Loop, the service is split between two bus routes, and it works quite poorly. Having two car lanes on St. Clair west of Old Weston Road but no streetcar service would be even worse than the current situation. We have this dated underpass between Old Weston and Keele that we just have to rebuild. Cities grow and have to replace their infrastructure.
ReplyDelete