Item - 2020.IE18.2

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council authorize the General Manager, Transportation Services to issue a Notice of Completion and to file the Environmental Study Report Addendum for the North York Centre South Service Road Environmental Assessment Addendum Study in the public record for a minimum 30 days in accordance with the requirements of the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment.

The plan for North York Centre - one of four dynamic mixed-use Centres in Toronto - is focused on growth of commercial office and residential uses existing side by side. Centres with a healthy mix of uses help take pressure off public transit infrastructure and roads, as they encourage people to live, work and play within a centralized geography.

The North York Centre Service Roads - comprised of Doris Avenue and Beecroft Road - form a ring road around the North York Centre, east and west of Yonge Street.

The Service Roads serve several purposes, including:

- connecting North York Centre with a finer grained transportation network in order to better manage traffic flow along Yonge Street and other alternate routes;

- providing convenient rear access to residential, retail, and office buildings on Yonge Street; and

- forming a boundary for the high-rise development within North York Centre in relation to the adjacent stable residential neighbourhoods.

The completion of the southeastern portion of the Service Road that would link Doris Avenue and Tradewind Avenue across Sheppard Avenue and east of Yonge Street was first studied in detail in a 1996 Environmental Assessment, followed by an Environmental Assessment Addendum in 1998. In 2013, the study was reopened to address important changes in the study area, including extensive high-rise development in North York Centre. 

In the intervening period, various options for connecting Doris Avenue and Tradewind Avenue across Sheppard Avenue have been re-assessed (and presented to both Council and the public) with the objective of improving traffic flow to better accommodate growth in North York Centre and mitigating impacts to private property.  

As a result of the review that has been undertaken, this Environmental Assessment Addendum recommends a two phased approach as follows:

Phase 1 – Interim Condition:

- Tradewind Avenue would be extended up to Sheppard Avenue East.

- This would result in an offset intersection at Tradewind Avenue / Sheppard Avenue East and Doris Avenue / Sheppard Avenue.

- Traffic signal phasing would be coordinated at the offset intersection to optimize traffic flow.

- Bonnington Place would be closed off in a cul-de-sac south of Sheppard Avenue East, as proposed in the 1998 Environmental Assessment.

- This was identified as Option C in the Environmental Assessment process, and would complete a portion of the future condition intersection, south of Sheppard Avenue.

Phase 2 – Future Condition:

- Doris Avenue would be realigned approaching Sheppard Avenue East to meet the northern extension of Tradewind Avenue, as described above.

- This would result in a single four-legged intersection, with a skew on the north-east quadrant.

- The appropriate timing of implementation of this future condition would be subject to property acquisition and completion of detailed design to minimize impacts where possible.

- This is a revised version of Option B identified in the Environmental Assessment process.

Based on the traffic analysis completed, while ultimately a single intersection would provide the most improvement for traffic flow in the North York Centre, the interim condition would also improve the overall performance of the future network when compared to the Future Do Nothing Scenario, and could be implemented sooner, at less cost, and with less impact to private property. As such, it is recommended that detailed design and property acquisition required for the Interim Condition be initiated following the formal completion of the North York Centre South Service Road Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Addendum.

North York Centre - Transportation Network Integration

The Doris Avenue extension (South Service Road) is one of two integral pieces of transportation network infrastructure (the other being Beecroft Road extension north to Drewry Avenue) required to support growth and development priorities in North York Centre. The North York Centre: REimagining Yonge Environmental Assessment, is being reported concurrently with this report on the Doris Avenue Extension. It is recommended that in order for the vision of REimagining Yonge to proceed, at least the initial phases of both the Doris Avenue and Beecroft Avenue extensions will need to be in place.