The City of Toronto will be resurfacing Lansdowne Ave from Bloor St to Wallace Ave starting the week of Oct 6. Please see below for the full construction notice.

The City of Toronto is extending the cycle tracks – separated bike lanes – that are currently in place along Richmond Street and Adelaide Street in the downtown area extending west from the vicinity of University Avenue. The new extension eastward from the University Avenue area is part of a pilot project to improve cycling infrastructure and enhance safety for all road users in the downtown core.

The new work will result in the extension of cycle tracks on Richmond Street, which is one-way westbound, from Parliament Street to York Street, and on Adelaide Street, which is one-way eastbound, from Simcoe Street to Parliament Street. Cycle tracks will then be in place on both Richmond and Adelaide between Parliament Street in the east and Bathurst Street in the west.

In addition, bicycle lanes will be installed on both sides of Peter Street, from King Street to Queen Street.

Beginning this week, the following work will be initiated as part of the cycle track extension:

• minor pavement repairs on both Richmond Street and Adelaide Street
• changes to on-street parking and stopping regulations, and
• installation of signage, pavement markings and flexi-post bollards (posts that bend when struck/contacted) to extend the cycle track on the north side of Richmond Street and the south side of Adelaide Street.

The installation of the cycle tracks is expected to be completed by the end of September, weather permitting. A map of the changes can be accessed at http://www.toronto/transportation/cycling. 

These changes are part of the Richmond-Adelaide Bikeway Environmental Assessment (EA) Study to evaluate the feasibility of cycle tracks and other cycling infrastructure in this area. 

The pilot project evaluation will focus on the effectiveness of the cycle tracks, options for the design of the separation between the cycle tracks and traffic lanes, the impacts on parking and loading for area businesses, and the effect on traffic flow.

More information about cycling in Toronto is available at http://bit.ly/1JrHGnB and by following them on Twitter @TO_Cycling.

I am pleased to inform you that Metrolinx has agreed to my reasonable request, which was passed unanimously at City Council in July to delay the EA process for the Davenport Community Rail Overpass project until late-October at the earliest. You can find out more details about the recent delay in this Toronto Star article.

This is a good first step and a sign of cooperation from Metrolinx as I along with many of my neighbours and the experts at the City of Toronto have requested that this delay take place. It is important for our community and the City to be able to have an opportunity to provide feedback, ideas, and requirements to Metrolinx. I also believe it is important for the public and the City to understand the reasons for proposing an above ground option as opposed to a below ground option.

I am looking forward to continuing this kind of cooperation as we discuss this project and how we can ensure that our community receives the best possible outcome. For an overview of some of the work I have done at the City to advocate on behalf of our community on this important issue, please visit this link. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact my office and I would be more than happy to help.

The work to replace the deck on the Gardiner Expressway, from Strachan Avenue to just west of Bathurst Street, resumes August 19.

While this work is taking place, two lanes of traffic in each direction will be open. The work is expected to be completed October 31, 2016.

While this work is taking place, the City is taking steps to minimize disruption to the travelling public, including implementing traffic signal timing changes to enhance traffic flow on nearby routes and working to plan improved co-ordination and response to incidents on the Gardiner Expressway

In addition, the daily closure of the westbound ramp from Jameson Avenue to the Gardiner Expressway will be temporarily suspended during the construction period.   When the construction work is completed, the normal closure on weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. will be reinstated in order to enhance driver safety and reduce congestion.

Drivers who use this route should consider options such as carpooling, taking transit, cycling to work, or travelling outside the usual rush hours.

The City has a web-based map to help residents and visitors make their travel plans, available at http://www.toronto.ca/roadrestrictions. Information about the City's planned capital construction work, which also affects roads, is available at http://www.toronto.ca/inview.

Public and industry input invited on regulations for Toronto's ground transportation industry

The City of Toronto is undertaking a review of the operations of Uber and similar technologies, including the public's interest in them and their impacts on Toronto's taxicab and limousine industries.  

Key areas of the review will include:

• What bylaw changes are necessary to bring new and emerging technologies into regulation as part of the City's for-hire ground transportation industry;
• How the City can ensure public safety and consumer protection are maintained; and
• How the City can ensure a level playing field is established and maintained with respect to commercial insurance, driver training, equality of fares and other licensing issues.

Members of the public and the ground transportation industry are invited to participate by taking an online survey, available at http://bit.ly/1S8vxx8 until August 14, 2015. In addition to the online survey, public input will be gathered through research conducted by IPSOS Reid, including a general population survey of Toronto residents, focus groups and individual interviews.

City staff will host several roundtable meetings with key stakeholders including taxi and limousine drivers and owners, taxi brokerages, limousine service companies, Uber and other technology-oriented service providers.

More information about the review and current regulations is available at http://bit.ly/1rOu4Qv.

City Staff will report the consultation findings and recommendations to the Licensing and Standards Committee on September 18. 

Road closures for events in Toronto this weekend (July 24-27)

Two festival events along with the Pan Am Games run, race-walk and cycling competitions will involve some road closures in Toronto this weekend. Residents and visitors are encouraged to come out and enjoy these events. Businesses in the areas involved will remain open as usual.

The Pan Am Games and other special events are important for Toronto, boosting the city's economy and providing opportunities to showcase local communities. Whenever possible, residents and visitors are encouraged to consider carpooling, public transit, walking or cycling to get around this weekend and throughout the Games.

Beaches Jazz Festival – Thursday to Saturday Queen Street East between Woodbine Avenue and Beech Avenue will be closed from 6 p.m. to midnight on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (July 23 to 25).

PrideHouse TO Celebrates Street Festival – all weekend Church Street from Alexander Street to Dundonald Street will be closed on Friday, July 24 from 6 p.m. to Monday, July 27 at 2 a.m. The intersection of Church Street and Wellesley Street will remain open to traffic during that period.

Training for cycling and marathon races – all weekend Full road closures of Colborne Lodge Drive (The Queensway to Bloor Street West), Centre Road, West Road, Spring Road and High Park Boulevard will take place from midnight on Friday, July 24 to 6 a.m. on Sunday, July 26.

Additional road closures will take place on Friday, July 24 from 10 a.m. to noon to allow athletes to familiarize themselves with the road cycling and marathon courses, including:

● Lake Shore Boulevard in both directions from Colborne Lodge Drive to Strachan Avenue will be closed.  Access to Ontario Place and the Gardiner Expressway will be maintained.

● The Queensway from Claude Avenue to Ellis Avenue will be reduced to one lane in each direction. 

● Bloor Street from Harcroft Road to Parkside Drive will be reduced to one lane in each direction.

● Parkside Drive from Lake Shore Boulevard to Bloor Street will be closed.

● Ellis Avenue, Ellis Park Road, Olympus Avenue and Harcroft Road will also be closed.

Men's marathon and cycling road races – Saturday The closures highlighted above for Friday, July 24 will occur again from 12:01 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, July 25 to accommodate the men's marathon and the cycling road races. The marathon will take place from 7 to 11 a.m. The cycling road races will take place from 1 to 8:45 p.m.

Note: Lake Shore Boulevard from British Columbia Road to Strachan Avenue will remain closed overnight.

During the closures noted, one lane of Lake Shore Boulevard, from Colborne Lodge Drive to Net Drive, will remain open using a counterflow system (no through traffic, local access only) to provide access for businesses and residents.

There will also be cycling detours. Some sections of the Martin Goodman Trail will be closed to bicycle traffic from Saturday, July 25 at 1 a.m.

until Sunday, July 26 at 2 p.m. Signage is in place along the 2.85-kilometre detour. Detour routes:

● Cyclists travelling east must exit the trail at British Columbia Road/Lake Shore Boulevard and then take the detour route north on British Columbia Road, east on Saskatchewan Road, south on Princes'

Boulevard and follow Prince Edward Island Crescent to Ontario Drive, south to Lakeshore Boulevard and travel east to rejoin the Martin Goodman Trail at New Brunswick Way.

● Cyclists travelling west must exit the trail at Remembrance Drive opposite New Brunswick Way and then travel west on Lake Shore Boulevard, north on Ontario Drive and immediately west onto Prince Edward Island Crescent, north on Princes' Boulevard  to Saskatchewan Road, proceeding west on British Columbia Road to rejoin the Martin Goodman Trail at Marilyn Bell Park.

Men's 50-km race walk – Sunday

Lake Shore Boulevard from British Columbia Road to Strachan Avenue will remain closed until 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 26. Local access will be provided only past Strachan Avenue. All drivers, including spectators driving to events, will need to show their Games event ticket to gain access beyond that point.

The race itself will take place from 7 a.m. to noon.

Cycling detours associated with this Pan Am Games competition will involve the closure of some sections of the Martin Goodman Trail to bicycle traffic from 1 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Sunday. Signage is in place along the 2.85-km detour. Details about detours for eastbound and westbound cyclists on Sunday are identical to the detour listings above for Saturday.

More information on transportation relating to the Pan Am/ParaPan Am Games is available at http://www.toronto2015.org/transportation.

Festivals and other special events inject hundreds of millions of dollars annually into the city's economy. In addition to road closures related to special events, a significant amount of road work is taking place in Toronto. People are encouraged to take public transit as a greener, faster and more affordable way of getting to their destinations. Those who need to drive in the general vicinity of special events should allow extra time to get to and from their destinations.

The City has a web-based map to help residents and visitors make their travel plans, available at http://www.toronto.ca/roadrestrictions.

Information about the City's planned capital construction work, which also affects roads, is available at http://www.toronto.ca/inview

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games.

You might recall that back in April City Council passed my motion to direct Toronto's Chief Planner to ensure that land-use planning and urban design considerations are part of the EA process being carried out by Metrolinx on the Davenport Community Rail Overpass. As a result, the Chief Planner wrote to Metrolinx on June 16, 2015 with a list of key issues that City staff have identified after reviewing information they have received from Metrolinx to date.

I am pleased to report to you that today Toronto City Council has unanimously passed my most recent motion on this matter. Council has endorsed the list of issues as identified by the Chief Planner and has asked that Metrolinx address and properly fund them. Additionally, Council will be requesting Metrolinx to extend their project schedule by two to three months in order to provide for more time to address City staff and community comments before they start the Transit Project Assessment Process.

This project will greatly impact our community and therefore I hope that Metrolinx can accommodate my reasonable request. I have been working with local residents' groups, elected representatives, City staff and Metrolinx so that our community receives the best possible outcome from this project. It is my hope that we can continue to work together.

City of Toronto seeks input to build Cycling Network Plan

The City of Toronto's Transportation Services division is in the process of developing a new 10-year plan for Toronto's Cycling Network. Toronto residents and businesses are being asked to provide their input by commenting on the draft Cycling Network Plan map.

A technical analysis has been undertaken to design the draft map which shows how Toronto's cycling network could be expanded and improved. More than 10,500 individuals from across the city completed the phase one survey and 3,600 individuals used the City's smart phone app to submit data from over 59,000 cycling trips. Input received from phase one consultations has been used to inform the draft map that is now being circulated as part of the second phase of consultations.

The phase two online consultation is now underway, and will be available until July 31 at https://torontocyclingnetwork.metroquest.ca.

The information collected from the online consultation will assist City staff in developing a report to Council on proposed cycling network projects to be implemented over the next 10 years.

On the draft Cycling Network Plan map, some major corridors have been identified as candidates for opportunities to create City-wide cycling connections. On these major corridors (Yonge Street, Bloor Street, Danforth Avenue, Kingston Road, Midland Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard in Etobicoke) it is recognized that to achieve any cycling network link, a Major Corridor Study would be needed to properly assess traffic impacts and work with all interested stakeholders.

Aside from allowing respondents to rank potential projects identified by the Transportation Services division, the online consultation allows residents to identify which existing cycling routes need upgrades, as well as which routes they think should be added.

The next step for the project is the phase three consultations involving drop-in consultation events, featuring conversations in motion for interested stakeholders who wish to cycle with City staff and discuss specific locations and routes on site.

Information from each phase will assist staff in developing a report to City Council on the proposed Cycling Network projects to be implemented over the next 10 years.

More information about the project is available at http://www.toronto.ca/cyclingnetwork.

At a special meeting of Toronto and East York Community Council on June 22nd, my colleagues and I voted unanimously to reduce the speed limit from 40 km/h to 30 km/h on all local roads (residential streets). (View the staff report) I supported this initiative in light of the many Ward 18 residents who contacted me in support of this proposal, coupled with the evidence presented in this 2012 Toronto Public Health report on improving walking and cycling in Toronto.

Creating safer neighbourhoods and protecting our children is something that is extremely important to me. We need to make sure we are doing everything we can to ensure our children and community members can enjoy the outdoors, walk to school and enjoy our neighbourhoods safely. All of the evidence has shown that lower speed limits help to reduce pedestrian injuries and fatalities.

The changes that will take place in our community are represented on the map of Ward 18, posted above:

• Speed limits will be reduced from 40km/h to 30km/h on the roads represented with a dashed black line (e.g. Rusholme Rd, Armstrong Ave and Franklin Ave).
• Roads represented by thick grey lines are arterials (e.g. Dufferin St, Lansdowne Ave, College St and Dupont St) and speed limits on these roads will not change.
• Roads represented by solid black lines already have a 30km/h speed limit (e.g. Lappin Ave, St. Clarens Ave, Beaconsfield Ave) and speed limits on these roads will not change.
• Remaining thin grey lines are either laneways or collectors and speed limits on these roads will not change.

The City of Toronto will need to invest the necessary $1.1 million to implement the changes and this would be paid for through the 2016 Budget process. The changes will begin to occur in September 2015 and I look forward to seeing full implementation over the next two years.

On Monday June 22 at 6pm, there will be a special meeting of the Toronto and East York Community Council where Councillors will consider a motion to reduce the speed limit from 40 km/h to 30 km/h on local roads in Ward 18 and across the rest of the Toronto and East York District. The meeting will be taking place in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

In order to view the full staff report on this please click here. In it you will find a wealth of data, information and statistics related to the matter.

If you would like to submit your comments to Community Council on this you can visit the Agenda Item page in order to request to speak or submit your comments to Community Council. Simply click the respective buttons at the top of the Agenda Item page to generate an e-mail that you can complete to do so. You can also register to speak in the meeting room before the meeting starts.

For more information on submitting comments or requesting to speak on this or any other item under consideration by a committee of Toronto City Council, you can visit this page as there is important information and specific steps that must be followed to do so.

You can also always attend these and any other meetings in person as they are public meetings open for everyone to observe. I encourage you to take part in the decision making process here at City Hall.