Item - 2015.EY10.37

Humber Bay Shores is a relatively new community in ward 6, comprised almost exclusively of waterfront condominiums in the Lake Shore Blvd. West and Park Lawn Rd. area. Several condos have been constructed over the last few years, resulting in thousands of new residents in a small geographic area, and several more condos are still under construction. In addition to the increased number of residents, there are hundreds of dump trucks and construction vehicles travelling around this intersection, with the majority concentrated during morning rush hour.

Until recently, Park Lawn Rd. north of Lake Shore Blvd. W was zoned for employment uses, however, the Ontario Municipal Board overturned City Council’s decision and permitted the construction of residential buildings in place of employment uses.  As a result, several condos have been built with more currently being constructed in the Park Lawn and Lake Shore Blvd W area. This new density was never considered in the City’s plans for the area, and ward 6 is now suffering from a traffic crisis.

The Park Lawn Rd. and Lake Shore Blvd. W intersection was recently widened to accommodate a greater flow of traffic, but it is not enough. In 2012 I requested a comprehensive Transportation Study for the area http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2012.EY20.32. This study likely will not be completed until 2016, but something needs to be done now.

With the simultaneous construction on the Gardiner Expressway, a significant number of eastbound commuters exit the Gardiner at Park Lawn and funnel through the Humber Bay Shores community during the morning rush. This volume of commuters is so great that Humber Bay Shores residents are often unable to exit from their buildings, and ward 6 residents west of Park Lawn are backed up for several kilometres. Ward 6 residents are suffering through unnecessarily long eastbound commutes, because of this temporary cut through traffic.

I am requesting that we look at the possibility restricting southbound (right) turns onto Park Lawn Road from the eastbound Gardiner Expressway during the morning rush hours, for the duration of the construction on the Gardiner Expressway.