A raft of transit and park initiatives

By Dianne Saxe

Here are the top three things you should know this month in Ward 11:

The TTC received federal and provincial support to buy 55 made-in-Canada subway cars for Line 2 (Bloor subway). This will keep most of the $2.8 billion of public money in Ontario, keep Ontario workers employed, and hopefully speed up delivery of the sleek new trains. 

Toronto Hydro is running much better. This is a change I’m proud to have helped make happen. One year into its new CEO, renewal is spreading with a new board chair, new board members, new senior staff, and a newly open and inclusive culture. Staff turnover is down, engagement is up, and the strategy is shifting to a stronger focus on electrification and resilience, with a close eye on affordability. It is no accident that Toronto Hydro delivered such high reliability through this summer’s climate-breakdown heat waves. 

The Ford government has finally approved most of Toronto’s 2021 official plan amendments about real estate development close to subway stations, with amendments to drive up density. The four-year delay and other Ford actions have cheated the city of thousands of affordable units, and the city is now barred from requiring accessible or visitor parking in some buildings. 

In other news:

4. We’re making good progress on park upgrades in Ward 11. 

The revitalized Ramsden Park tennis courts are receiving rave reviews, and (after my intervention) the Bill Bolton Arena roof repair went smoothly without disrupting summer skating. 

The design competition for Ramsden Park’s Community Recreation Centre has been launched with a request for architect qualifications, and the Ramsden Park skating rink upgrades are on schedule. 

More data is being collected about soil conditions, and survey results are being incorporated into a new design for Pricefield Park. 

The new grass looks great at Vermont and Sibelius squares, and we have a signed contract for the new park at 819 Yonge St. 

Seaton Park looks great now that the Bloor Annex BIA has taken over its maintenance, and the plan for upgrades to the Village of Yorkville Park is almost complete. 

Scheduled for September: the new Honest Ed’s Park will be completed; the Evergreen Brickworks Children’s Garden should reopen; and construction should begin on College Park’s turf repair. 

I am still pushing to get construction started on the Huron-Washington playground and the new park at Sussex and Spadina. 

5. Construction is underway for the Avenue Road Safety Coalition’s long-awaited pedestrian crossing of Avenue Road at Ramsden Park. This crossing will lead directly to the new entrance to Ramsden Park, scheduled to be built next year. 

Putting pedestrian safety first is only possible because last year we returned Avenue Road to four traffic lanes from Dupont to Bloor.

6. Installation of the new RapidTO Bathurst streetcar lane from Lakeshore to Bloor will begin around the end of September. Construction staging details should be available by mid-September.

7. Speeding up the Bathurst bus north of Bloor will be back on the agenda at Toronto and East York community council on Sept. 18, as well as other local traffic issues. 

8. Traffic monitoring confirms that installation of bike lanes on Avenue Road between Davenport and Bloor has improved safety for both cyclists and pedestrians without increasing travel times for motorists, except that illegal speeding has been reduced.

9. If you are having recurrent problems with illegal parking in your neighbourhood, please file your complaint directly with the police and encourage your neighbours to do the same. Complaints trigger enforcement, and I have the parking enforcement group’s attention.

10. Bike lane maintenance and enforcement are improving, with more tickets issued to thoughtless drivers from January to August than in all of 2024. 

And the city is finally making some effort to keep mopeds out of bike lanes. Much more is to be done, though.

11. The controversial wall on public property at 135 Glen Road, in Rosedale, will be considered by the Heritage Preservation Board on Sept. 22 and by planning and housing on Sept. 25, giving concerned neighbours two opportunities to be heard. The application should be posted on the city website on Sept. 17.

12. I’m opening a constituency office at 622 College St. It has taken years to find an office in Ward 11 that we can afford, that is convenient for constituents, and that meets city accessibility and security requirements. Now it just needs Wi-Fi, furniture, phones, lighting, etc. which should all be done in a few weeks. Come by and say hello!

Dianne Saxe is city councillor for Ward 11, University-Rosedale.

READ MORE BY DIANNE SAXE:

• FORUM: Celebrating greenspaces, easing congestion (Aug. 2025)
• FORUM: Council still at work (July 2025)
• FORUM: Easing congestion into summer (May/June 2025)
• FORUM: Exciting spring initiatives (Apr. 2025)
• FORUM: Tariffs and election dominate (Mar. 2025)
• FORUM: Budget is the news of the month (Feb. 2025)
• FORUM: A busy beginning to 2025 (Jan. 2025)
• FORUM: A busy legislative agenda ahead (Oct./Nov. 2024)
• FORUM: Saxe and the City (Summer 2024)
• FORUM: Tackling road congestion, noise, and safety (June 2024)
• FORUM: Undoing vacant home tax debacle (May 2024)
• FORUM: A busy agenda at city council (Apr. 2024)
• FORUM: University-Rosedale update from the councillor’s chair (Mar. 2024)
• FORUM: Eventful new year at city council (Feb. 2024)
• FORUM: A hectic first year in University-Rosedale (Dec. 2023)
• FORUM: Keeping it green and safe in University-Rosedale (Fall 2023)
• FORUM: Fighting on five fronts (Summer 2023)
• FORUM: Addressing a housing shortage (May/June 2023)
• FORUM: Leveraging a green agenda (April 2023)
• FORUM: Budget passes in a consensus vote (Mar. 2023)
• FORUM: Bike lanes made permanent, more warming centres open (Feb. 2023)
• FORUM: Turbulent time to take a seat (Jan. 2023)