Item - 2015.TE12.72

The Toronto and East York Community Council referred back the report (October 13, 2015) to the Director, Transportation Services, Toronto and East York District for further consideration, with a request that the General Manager of Transportation Services, General Manager of Parks, Forestry and Recreation and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning review the expected pedestrian, traffic, and transit impacts of alternative options to improve pedestrian connectivity on Spadina Avenue between the Metrolinx rail corridor and Lake Shore Boulevard West, and recommend to the Toronto and East York Community Council in the first quarter of 2016 the preferred option, including but not necessarily limited to:

 a.  a signalized pedestrian crossing on the north side of the intersection of Spadina Avenue with Lake Shore Boulevard West;

 b.  a pedestrian bridge above Spadina Avenue connecting the two halves of Southern Linear Park; and

 c.  a pedestrian bridge above Spadina Avenue in line with Mariner Terrace, completing the final link in the pedestrian pathway that will run from Navy Wharf Court to Bathurst Street, through the new schools and community centre being built at Block 31.

As the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) operates a transit service on Spadina Avenue, City Council approval of this report is required.

At the June 16, 2015 meeting of the Toronto and East York Community Council, Transportation Services was directed to undertake a pedestrian safety review on Spadina Avenue, between Lake Shore Boulevard West and the Metrolinx rail corridor, and advise on the feasibility of installing a pedestrian crossing on the south side of the Bremner Boulevard/Fort York Boulevard intersection, as well as any other safety measures.

Transportation Services does not support the installation of a pedestrian crossing on the south side of the Spadina Avenue and Bremner Boulevard/Fort York Boulevard intersection, based on the negative impacts on the intersection capacity that will result.  The City of Toronto's policy requires that pedestrian crossings not be permitted where they will conflict with dual turn lanes at an intersection.