Mayor John Tory is highlighting the need for a long-discussed light rail transit line along the city’s waterfront as he continues to lobby the provincial government for billions of dollars in new transit funding.
Tory held a news conference Tuesday in Toronto’s Humber Bay Shores neighbourhood, near Lake Shore Boulevard West and Park Lawn Road, to draw attention to the lack of “high level transit” in the area, which he warned will constrain growth and negatively impact the lives of thousands of residents if not addressed.
City staff have previously said that the condominium-heavy neighbourhood is one of several waterfront areas that will, at a minimum, see their population double by 2041. Other such sites include the Port Lands, the West Don Lands, the Unilever Site and the East Bayfront area.
“Our Etobicoke waterfront has exploded with development. This demonstrates confidence. People want to live here, but transit has not kept up. Simply put we have allowed development to take place without funding and building transit at the same time,” Tory said. “The funding I am seeking today is for the future but it should have been committed in past years and that’s why I have a great sense of urgency.”
Back in 2007 there was an approved plan in place to build a light-rail transit line in a dedicated right-of-way along Lake Shore Boulevard West from Long Branch GO Station to the Exhibition Loop but the plan was cancelled under then mayor Rob Ford in 2010.
In 2016, the city then launched the “Waterfront Transit Reset” in order to take a broader look at ways to improve transit along the waterfront from Long Branch east to Woodbine Avenue.
The first phase recommended further analysis of a light rail transit line along Lake Shore Boulevard and possible improvements to the existing streetcar service in the area, including traffic signal priorities that would allow for faster service.
Those projects, however, remain unfunded.
Speaking with reporters, Tory said that development in the area, particularly near Park Lawn Road and Lake Shore Boulevard, has created an immense need for more transit. He said that if all three levels of governments don’t move forward in funding projects to address the need for transit in the area then we will be “repeating the mistakes of the past,” namely the approval of increased density without the proper transit to serve new residents.
“We have development here now, we have condos and apartments building and residents here now and people living here now with inadequate transit. That is something that governments shouldn’t take pride in, the fact that we approved all these things without adequate transit,” he said. “We should not have thousands of residents who live minutes from the downtown shortchanged on transit.”
In addition to the “Waterfront Transit Reset,” city staff are also currently working to prepare a master transit plan for the area south of the Queensway from Park Lawn Road to Humber Loop.
