Item - 2017.PW22.7

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee recommends that:

1. City Council endorse the preferred designs of the Lower Yonge Precinct Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Study outlined in Attachments 6 and 7 to the report (June 1, 2017) from the General Manager, Transportation Services;

2. City Council authorize the General Manager, Transportation Services to publish a Notice of Completion and file the Environmental Study Report for the Lower Yonge Precinct Schedule "C" Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA) Study on the public record for a minimum 30 days in accordance with the requirements of the Municipal Class EA; and

3. City Council request the Deputy City Manager, Cluster B and the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer to include the applicable infrastructure projects required to meet the needs of the redevelopment of the Lower Yonge Precinct in the list of works considered for incorporation within the planned update to the City Development Charges By-Law, and for consideration as part of the 2018 budget process.

Comprised of former industrial lands within the downtown core, adjacent to the Toronto Harbour and in close proximity to the Financial District, the Lower Yonge Precinct is at the heart of Toronto’s transforming Central Waterfront. Despite its location, the Precinct lacks suitable transportation infrastructure, servicing capacity, and community facilities necessary to unlock its development potential.

Redevelopment presents an opportunity to transform the Precinct into a unique destination supported by good urban design and infrastructure planning consistent with the Central Waterfront Secondary Plan and Official Plan objectives for the waterfront. These objectives envision an area that is sensitive to its historical roots while creating future homes, workplaces, schools and community facilities for up to 13,000 residents and 15,000 employees (Attachment 2). Several residential and mixed-use developments have been recently completed and a number of properties are either under construction or are in the midst of the development approvals process.

As the industrial waterfront of the past transitions to a mixed use residential and commercial neighborhood, a different mix of transportation infrastructure is needed with a greater emphasis on building complete streets to encourage walking, cycling, and transit use. Approved by Council in 2015, the Lower Yonge Precinct Transportation Master Plan (TMP) was jointly carried out by Transportation Services, City Planning and Waterfront Toronto and identified key transportation improvements in transportation infrastructure needed to support redevelopment of the Lower Yonge Precinct while balancing local and regional transportation demands:

- easterly extension of Harbour Street (from Yonge Street to Lower Jarvis Street),
- realignment of the Yonge Street/Harbour Street intersection,
- conversion of Harbour Street from one-way eastbound to two-way operations (from York Street to Yonge Street),
- shortening of the Lower Jarvis Street off-ramp from eastbound Gardiner Expressway
- removal of the Bay Street on-ramp,
- reconstruction of Yonge Street (Queens Quay to Front Street) and lower Jarvis Street (Queens Quay to Lake Shore Boulevard East),
- construction of a new street, extending between Queens Quay East and Lake Shore Boulevard, east of Cooper Street, and
- extension of Cooper Street north to connect with Church Street and The Esplanade.
 

The purpose of this report is to provide an update on additional Environmental Assessment (EA) work that has been completed to advance the infrastructure identified in the TMP.