Professional Documents
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2014 South of King Street Newsletter
2014 South of King Street Newsletter
2014 South of King Street Newsletter
Mike Layton
Ward 19 TrinitySpadina
mikelayton.to
Dear Neighbours,
I am very proud to work closely with many of you on so many significant local
improvements. We have accomplished so much and there is still a lot of work to
be done to build a strong community.
Together we went up against Las Vegas giants and stopped a mega casino from
being built at Exhibition Place. It was thanks to thousands of you speaking out
at public meetings and signing petitions that my motion to stop the casino was
supported by the majority of City Councillors.
Stay in touch
Visit www.mikelayton.to for city-wide and local
updates on everything from construction notices
to political issues at City Hall. Visit my website to
sign up for my e-newsletter.
twitter.com/m_layton or
Follow me on twitter at
find me on facebook at facebook.com/layton.mike
We are building two pedestrian and cycle bridges to help connect communities
on either side of the rail corridors. We have installed traffic lights at East Liberty
and Strachan, added pavement markings and stop signs, as well as improved
lighting throughout neighbourhoods. Significant local park improvements have
also been made with many more to come.
(416) 392-4009.
I thank you for the opportunity to serve our community and encourage you to
call, email, or meet with me to discuss any concerns or ideas may have.
Mike Layton
City Councillor
Ward 19, TrinitySpadina
100 Queen Street West
Suite C47
Toronto, ON
M5H 2N2
(416) 392-4009
councillor_layton@
toronto.ca
FPO
Union Bug
Executive Assistant
Jamie Kirkpatrick
jkirkpa2@toronto.ca
Special Assistant
Scheduling & Parks
Marco Bianchi
mbianch@toronto.ca
Constituency Assistant
North of College Street
Angela Surdi
asurdi2@toronto.ca
Constituency Assistant
South of College Street to
Rail Corridor
Ashley Da Silva
adasilv2@toronto.ca
Constituency Assistant
South of the Rail Corridor
Heather Leger
hleger@toronto.ca
Liberty on the GO
To address our growing communities we need
to improve transit in the Liberty Village, King
West, and Fort York neighbourhoods.
That is why I have been working with Metrolinx and the TTC to create a more affordable
and integrated fare at Exhibition GO Station
and to add a Liberty Village/King West Station
on the Kitchener GO Line. Making it easier for
people to take the GO to Union Station (a ride
of less than 8 minutes) and then hop on the
TTC for less, will help make room on the 504
King Streetcar.
Liberty Villages growth has outpaced investments into local public transit options and
New Streetcars
The King streetcar line is the busiest in the city
with over 57,000 daily passengers. The Queen
streetcar has over 45,000 daily passengers. The
lines are over capacity and my office regularly
receives complaints that riders wait for several
cars during rush hour before making their way
on to one with room to board. This is unacceptable. Public transit is meant to get us where we
need to go quickly and affordably.
The TTC has ordered new streetcars to relieve
some of the pressure on the routes moving
through Ward 19. They are scheduled for roll
out between 2014 and 2018. The TTC will
also be constructing (and modifying) streetcar
platforms to allow people with mobility challenges and strollers to easily board the new
low floor streetcars.
The new streetcars are accessible, have more
seats, boarding from all 4 doors, air conditioning and, can accommodate bicycles. Not only are
they modern, spacious, and comfortable, but they
will also increase our rush hour capacity by 32%.
You may have noticed the new streetcars already
as the TTC tests them on our streets. The 510
Spadina, the 511 Bathurst, and the 509 Dundas / Harbourfront are scheduled to be deployed
beginning in 2014. The 501 Queen and the 508
Lakeshore will roll out starting in 2015 with the
504 King route having the new vehicles beginning in 2016.
Lights for
Liberty!
Traffic lights have now been installed at East
Liberty and Strachan. The City was waiting
until Metrolinx completed its work on the
corridor to begin installation of the permanent lights at East Liberty Street and Strachan Avenue. It is clear that waiting for action
to be taken was not an option for our growing
community.
My office and hundreds of residents through
the LVRA pushed to get temporary lights installed at the intersection and in 2013 this
was finally done. These lights are an important step in significantly improving what we
all know is a packed and difficult intersection.
When Metrolinx completes its work on the
corridor and the intersection is properly
aligned, permanent lights and turning
lanes will be installed. We have lots of work
to do to improve transit in the neighbourhood
and the lights are an important piece that will
significantly improve the current situation.
strong sense of place and referencing the historic wood cribbing excavated on the site. The
public spaces of the library are directly connected with the park.
The new library will include a broad range
of collections; meeting, collaborative and
study spaces; increased access to technology for research, learning, working and recreation. The library will have a collection size
of 35,000 items for all ages, include zones for
adults, teens, and children, comfortable reading lounges, free access to high-speed internet and even an outdoor reading garden and
green roof.
It will be a 15,000 square foot two storey building with a view to Fort York and the downtown core. An integrated public art project is
planned based on The Journals of Susannah
The architect of the library is the firm of Kuwabara Payne Mckenna Blumberg (KPMB),
a Toronto based firm responsible for the TIFF
Bell Light Box, the Royal Conservatory Centre for Performance and Learning, as well as
the National Ballet School and Gardiner Museum. The library is a much needed amenity
to help build our community in the Fort York
neighbourhood.
very specific restrictions on the airport to protect neighbourhoods on the waterfront. The
agreements restricted airport expansion so that
new neighbourhoods could be built in the area.
The addition of jets and changes to the Tripartite Agreement threaten the liveability of these
neighbourhoods.
Our city has spent considerable time and money
to revitalize our waterfront so it can be a place
of pride for our citys residents. Any changes to
our waterfront must help and not harm these
efforts.
This area includes the Quality Meats operations, and the City-owned shelter, day care,
and works yard. It will discuss potential
changes to the types of employment on the
land, the appropriate built form, transition
and buffering of new developments, as well as
pedestrian, cycling, and park space improvements. It will also take into account the importance of maintaining views of the Fort York
National Historic Site. This study will identify
the areas unique heritage attributes, protect
Much of the land in the area needs to be remediated since the sites include a former lead smelting operation, former incinerator, former casket
manufacturer, as well as the abattoir operated by
Quality Meat Packers and the City Works yard.
The area also includes many amenities that are
important to the community, including the day
care, shelter housing, the community gardens,
and the future southern extension of Stanley
Park which will provide the north landing of the
Fort York Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge.
When Mayor Ford first took office, his administration attempted to stop the Fort York
bridge. After a long battle, and working together with many in the community, we managed to save the bridge. I have been working
to get all of the City divisions, including Planning, Waterfront Toronto, BUILD Toronto,
and Transportation Services to the same table
to ensure we move forward as quickly as possible on building the Fort York Bridge.
Stanley Park
Update
Work toward further improving Stanley Park
continues with a distinct focus on ensuring the
safety and accessibility of the space for all parks
users.We have already seen the installation of our
brand new ping pong tables, and will soon see
path and seating upgrades, accessibility ramps,
and a new fence around the playground coming
to the area of the park north of King Street.
On the south side of the park, we expect to see
the berms and fence removed along the north
end to make way for more seating for casual
park users and open sight lines into and out of
the park. In addition to these changes, the entire
park will see an increase in the amount of light
standards in an effort to ensure that everyone
feels safe in their neighbourhood park.
A contractor has been hired to start this work
beginning mid-August with the installation of
the new light standards. Workers will be mindful to limit the impact the construction will have
on park and permit field usage and create safe
working zones for those inside the park. Access
to the wading pool will not be impacted by the
construction.
One of the new ping pong tables in Stanley Park in
in use.
Photo by: Andrew Louis
Improving
Traffic in Your
Neighbourhood
The very rapid and recent growth in the Liberty Village, Fort York, and King Street West
neighbourhoods has resulted in significant
strains on the local transportation network.
Bike Sharing is
coming to you!
BIXI Toronto is now Bike Share Toronto. The
Citys popular bike sharing program has been
saved and is now controlled by the Toronto
Parking Authority (TPA). The TPA has chosen
Alta Bicycle Share, which runs systems in New
York, Chicago, and other cities, to manage and
operate the program.
I have been working to expanding bike sharing
in our ward since I took office. We now have a
few stations along Queen Street West with approved new stations for the King West neighbourhood and along Bloor Street West.
Now that our bike sharing program is on secure footing, we will be looking into adding
more stations throughout Ward 19.
You can find out more at bikesharetoronto.com.
New bike sharing station at Queen and Niagara.
Cycling
Part of relieving car traffic and pressure on
the King streetcar is providing safe and inviting alternatives - such as better cycling infrastructure. While we build pedestrian and cycling bridges and expand Bike Share Toronto
we are also expanding the bikeway network in
your neighbourhood.
Winter Cycling:
In the meantime, in order to preserve the existing scale and character of the street until
the Bathurst Study is complete, we have put
in place and Interim Control By-law that will
prohibit new retail and service uses as well as
additions to existing retail and service uses for
the lands on and flanking Bathurst Street, between Dupont Street and Queen Street West.
The City held many public meetings throughout 2013 and there will be more to come in
2014. The Study should be finalized by mid
2014. Contact my office to get involved or find
out more.
Fort York
Boulevard
Connection
I have been working towards greater connectivity in the Fort York Neighbourhood and
much needs to be done as the neighbourhood
is built over the coming years. Fort York Boulevard is connecting east of Bathurst Street.
First, the connection will be available for
westbound traffic from CityPlace and soon
after it will also be opened up for eastbound
traffic across Bathurst.
Get Involved
My office is always available to
help. I regularly post updates on
my website mikelayton.to, but I
encourage you to get involved
in a local residents group
as well. I work very closely
with many of the community
associations listed here. They
work very hard to keep me
up to date and advocate for
changes from much needed
street sweeping along Strachan
and street lighting needs on
East Liberty, to policy pieces
such as improved transit
services and requesting a new
GO Station.
libertyresidents@gmail.com
twitter.com/libertyresident
w
ww.facebook.com/
groups/134014576700915/
w
ww.facebook.com/pages/Friendsof-Fort-York/126934687317176
twitter.com/GiveMeLibertyTO
fortyorkneighbourhood@gmail.com
w
ww.facebook.com/
groups/308729295861921/
w
ww.facebook.com/groups/lvparkfriends/
Please contact my office with any
questions, comments or issues.
100 Queen Street West
Suite C47
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
(416) 392-4009
councillor_layton@toronto.ca
www.mikelayton.to
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