I am happy to report that the Argyle Street contra-flow bicycle lanes are now complete from Dovercourt Rd to Gladstone Ave. This lane connects to the Florence street bike lane, as part the City's strategy to better connect Toronto's west end. Parking signage will be updated as parking will no longer seasonally alternate from side to side. The Annette-Dupont-Dundas intersection just to the west of Ward 18 has also been painted to better reflect where the bike lane is for both motorists and cyclists coming into Ward 18. The photo shows the painting in progress. 

The City is proposing a pilot project to install bike lanes on Bloor St W between Shaw St and Avenue Rd. This pilot project is an important step in investing in safer and more accessible cycling infrastructure and it will support cycling as a sustainable commuting option to ease our congested urban areas. I am looking forward to working with Ward 18 residents, BIAs, and other stakeholders on the impacts and benefits of bike lanes on Bloor St W. Please take a moment to have your say on the various possible design options for bike lanes that are being considered. You can take the survey at: http://cityoftoronto.fluidsurveys.com/s/bloorbikelanes-survey1/

Dear Neighbour,

I am pleased to report to you that City staff have submitted a follow up report to City Council regarding Metrolinx's proposed Davenport Community Rail Overpass project. I am looking forward to this report being discussed and voted on at the upcoming City Council meeting, taking place on December 9 and 10, 2015.

To read the report and recommendations made, please visit this link: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-86443.pdf

This report is a result of my efforts throughout this year to involve City Planning staff to ensure that the City and our community receives an expert opinion on this proposed Metrolinx project, giving us the information needed to make a sensible decision for our community.

Please view this link for more information on submitting comments to City Council: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/tmmis/have-your-say.htm. If you are submitting comments via e-mail, I encourage you to copy me at councillor_bailao@toronto.ca so that I receive your comments right away.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me anytime via e-mail at councillor_bailao@toronto.ca or by phone at 416-392-7012. I sincerely hope that you have a wonderful weekend.

Yours in community,

The City of Toronto is gearing up to deal with the impacts of winter – both on city streets and beneath them. The work includes managing snow and ice on city streets, and responding to the effects of cold weather on the City's watermains and water service pipes.

Cold weather and rapid swings between thaw and freezing temperatures can cause an increase in watermain breaks. Toronto Water staff are ready to respond to service calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The City is also offering tips to help residents prevent their pipes from freezing.

“The winter season always means challenges, but we have a comprehensive plan in place to manage whatever winter may bring. Toronto Water crews are ready to respond, and we have a number of contingency contracts in place in case we need extra support," said Councillor Jaye Robinson (Ward 25 Don Valley West), Chair of the City's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee. "In addition, the City has about 600 snow plows, 300 sidewalk plows and 200 salt trucks to help keep the roads and sidewalks safe and passable during the winter season."

The City's first priority during a snowfall is to keep the main roads clear for emergency and TTC vehicles. After that, crews move on to the local roads and usually complete clearing those roads between 14 and 16 hours after the storm ends.

As soon as the snow begins to fall, Transportation Services sends its fleet of salt trucks to the expressways and main roads. Local roads and laneways are salted soon after the main roads. When two centimetres of snow has accumulated, plowing begins on the expressways and, when five centimetres has accumulated, plowing begins on the main roads. Plowing on the expressways and main roads continues until the operation is complete.

After clearing ice and snow from some bike lanes as part of a pilot project for the past three years, the City has identified a priority network of bike lanes and cycle tracks in the downtown core that will receive enhanced winter maintenance this winter, including snow plowing and salting to improve safety for cyclists.

Local road plowing begins when the snow stops and if the snow accumulation reaches at least eight centimetres. During this time, as staff focus on planned snow-clearing routes, snow service requests will not be taken by 311. Residents are also asked not to call 311 during a storm to ask when their street will be plowed. Residents should call 311 only to report urgent winter-related calls in addition to other matters apart from storm response.

Residents can help out this winter by doing a few things to assist with the City's snow-clearing efforts, including not pushing snow back onto the road, avoiding parking on city streets to help the plows do their work and taking public transit.

The City will only open/clear driveway windrows where it is mechanically possible to do so after eight centimetres of snow have fallen. Typically, driveway windrows are opened between one and two hours of the road being plowed. The service is meant to only open up a width of about three metres – not the full width of the driveway. This program does not take place in the central core of the city due to narrow road widths and on-street parking.

The City will clear snow from sidewalks on roads with high pedestrian traffic and on bus routes where it is mechanically possible to do so after two centimetres of snow have fallen, and the remaining roads after eight centimetres have fallen. In the central core of the city, property owners are required to clear their sidewalks of snow within 12 hours after a storm has taken place.

You can learn more about sidewalk snow-clearing in Toronto and view a map of the areas where the service is provided at http://www.toronto.ca/transportation/snow/sidewalks.

More information about the City of Toronto’s snow-clearing operations is available at http://www.toronto.ca/transportation/.

Cold weather is a major cause of watermain breaks but it is not the only one. The City is dealing with aging infrastructure, with the average watermain 59 years of age. In 2015, Toronto Water will spend approximately $146 million to improve the watermain distribution system. Each year, the City replaces approximately 35 to 50 kilometres of watermain pipes and rehabilitates more than 130 km to help extend the life of its watermains. More information is available at http://www.toronto.ca/watermains.

Last winter’s extreme cold temperatures caused residential water service pipes to freeze both inside the home and outside on private property. Residents are reminded to prepare their pipes for winter by wrapping foam pipe insulation around pipes most prone to freezing, especially near outside walls and in crawl spaces, attics and garages. It is also important to seal air leaks around windows and doors, and to disconnect hoses and drain the outdoor water supply. More information is available at http://www.toronto.ca/frozenpipes.

More information about watermain breaks and how residents can prepare their pipes for winter is available at: http://ow.ly/UYBUc

Dear Neighbour,

As you will recall, Metrolinx communicated to the community on Thursday November 12, 2015 their decision to move forward with the Transit Project Assessment Process (TPAP) for the Davenport Community Rail Overpass in January 2016. This was contrary to the information that I received from the City's Chief Planner regarding Metrolinx's agreement to pause the TPAP Notice of Commencement until Spring 2016.

City Planning has prepared an urgent report that was just submitted to today's Planning and Growth Management Committee Meeting and it will be heard by the committee later today. The report recommends that:

"1. Planning and Growth Management Committee direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division, to further engage Metrolinx representatives to seek clarification with respect to the commencement of the Davenport Rail Grade Separation TPAP process in January, 2016, rather than commencement in Spring, 2016, as originally committed by Metrolinx,  and report directly to the December meeting of City Council on the outcome of those discussions and any further action as may be appropriate."

You can read the report submitted here: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2015.PG8.13

It is clear that after reviewing this report and in order to ensure the best possible outcome from this proposed project, more time is needed to complete this review and to work with the local community to achieve a balanced solution.

Additionally and separate from this process, the City of Toronto has undertaken a study with Mississauga, Milton, and Cambridge to "determine the feasibility, costs and business case of constructing a bypass route north of the City for freight rail on the CP line." The Chief Planner has reported that there is a compelling case to, "engage Metrolinx, CN, CP and the concerned municipalities in further discussion of this initiative." Building this "Missing Link" could "dramatically alter train activity at the Davenport Diamond and hence the need for a rail grade separation at this junction". This bypass route would also have the benefit of making our communities safer by potentially eliminating freight train traffic (including oil tank cars) from traversing through our community.

This is a project that will impact our community for the next 100 years and beyond. Recognizing this impact, I have consistently advocated for our community to have the arguments and information needed to make a sensible decision for our area. I hope that Metrolinx will work with the City and the community in achieving a project where everyone benefits. Our community deserves no less.

Sincerely,

The safety of all road users is a priority for the City of Toronto.

That's why the City is reminding pedestrians, motorists and cyclists to take extra care, especially as we enter the fall season when daylight hours are reduced. Statistics show that during autumn, there is an increase in collisions involving pedestrians.

The City has produced lawn signs that encourage all motorists to drive safely as they travel in our neighbourhoods. To get a lawn sign, please visit my community office at 1240 Bloor Street West between the hours of 10am to 6pm, Wednesday to Friday. 

It's critical to be aware of your surroundings at all times when you are travelling.  All road users need to remember that safety is everyone's responsibility.  

Please Slow Down Sign Guidelines

The temporary sign should:

• Be placed on public property (between the curb or edge of roadway and the property line)
• Have the wire frame inserted into the ground (no 2X4 stands or suspended from trees)
• Not obstruct the sidewalk
• Be located at least 0.6m (2') away from the curb and 3m from a fire hydrant
• Not be attached to any structure, post or pole.
• Cause no obstruction to sight lines
• Not obstruct the access to, or operation of, a culvert, bridge or overpass
• Be used as supplied without modification or illumination (just the light from the street and no reflective tape)
• Not be placed in a road median
• Not be on an expressway or expressway ramp
• Only be displayed between April 1^st and November 30^th

Dear Neighbour,

Many of you have taken the time to contact me over the phone, via e-mail, in the community, or at the various public meetings held to share your thoughts and concerns with Metrolinx's proposed Davenport Community Rail Overpass project. From the very start, I have shared your concerns and have worked with local residents' groups, elected representatives, City staff, and Metrolinx to advocate for our community. This included the two motions that I successfully moved at City Council which ensured that City staff got involved in the assessment of this project and to request that Metrolinx delay their timeline in order to provide for expert and community feedback.

I am now pleased to let you know that our City's Chief Planner, Jennifer Keesmaat has just sent me a memorandum with the following information on the Metrolinx Davenport Grade Separation Project:

• One of the biggest challenges since this project was introduced to the City and community in Spring of this year has been the lack of time available to consider the implications of the current proposal, including the internal background work that has led Metrolinx to the Elevated Option now under consideration. The reason time is needed now is because this is the "preliminary planning" stage in which significant concerns are addressed. Once the project advances to the Notice of Commencement for the Transit Project Assessment Process (TPAP), this legislated process provides little opportunity for significant input or to effect change. TPAP is essentially the final review period for the project.

• Based on the information that City staff have been able to review in the preliminary planning stage, City staff are not convinced that the Elevated Option, and its range of proposed mitigation, presents the best solution for the residents and businesses of this community and the City. Significant concerns remain.

• In recent days, discussions between senior City and Metrolinx officials have led to a commitment from Metrolinx to delay issuing Notice of Commencement for the TPAP until the Spring of 2016, in order to provide more time for community and City input to an appropriate solution. This is a significant step forward, and will provide the time necessary to table all of the information needed for informed decision making on the range of viable solutions, in order to advance the RER program on the Barrie corridor in a manner that is most conducive to rail operations and the residents and businesses of the Davenport area.

• As a result, the Chief Planner will not be advancing a report to Planning and Growth Management Committee. Instead, the City will continue the much needed due diligence review of the full range of potential solutions with the community, elected officials, and Metrolinx.

• The success of this project will require community input leading to solutions that address the City-building objectives for this area, as well as applicable Provincial policy. With this in mind, the City will be requesting Metrolinx form a team of Metrolinx/City/TTC staff with a mandate to develop a decision-making framework for this project that can be finalized with community input. The framework will then be applied by this team in a collaborative public process with the community and stakeholders over the winter months, to confirm the appropriate solution for this project.

• The City continues to support the Province of Ontario's overall commitment to transit expansion in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). The Regional Express Rail initiative is a bold plan for regional transit expansion, but it can also present significant City building challenges where major infrastructure incursions, such as the Davenport rail grade separation, impact established communities. Given these tensions and the importance of "getting it right", the City is fully committed to working with the local Councillor and other elected officials, the community and Metrolinx, to define a solution that meets the needs of our community, the City and transit expansion.

As your City Councillor, I would like to thank the many residents who engaged with me on this issue and I would like thank City staff for the work that they have done to date in assessing Metrolinx's proposed Davenport Community Rail Overpass project. As I said back in May, "I want us as a community to have the arguments and information to make a sensible decision for our area…the overpass will have an impact on our community for the next hundred years." I look forward to continue to work with you, local residents' groups, elected representatives, City staff, and Metrolinx to advocate for our community and to ensure that our community receives the best possible outcome from this proposed project. Our community deserves no less.

Sincerely,

Ana Bailão
City Councillor
Ward 18, Davenport

The City of Toronto will be resurfacing Dovercourt Rd from Bloor St to Hallam St starting the week of October 26. Please see below for the full construction notice.

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.