Revitalization of St. Clair a hot topic

As the saying goes: "everything is political."
And that certainly applies to the revitalization of St. Clair Ave. W., from Yonge to Keele Streets.

The city and the TTC recently offered residents and businesses a chance to share their vision at two public meetings on Oct. 16 and 21. Hundreds showed up to the two events.

However getting consensus on what changes should take place along this strip is not as simple as it sounds. Anyone who has attended a community meeting or council session on parking, the environment, traffic, the car culture vs. transit and bikes, the walkability of neighbourhoods and helping small businesses thrive, knows that these topics can be explosive.

At issue is the fact that in 2005, this section of St. Clair will undergo changes when the TTC rebuilds aging streetcar tracks. So the city has undertaken a transit improvement environmental assessment to look at what other improvements could be done at the same time.

"The St. Clair street car is an important part of life along St. Clair Ave. and has been since 1913," Mitch Stambler, manager of service and planning for the TTC told about 80 people on Oct. 21.

"Every day, over 30,000 people use the street car," he said, adding that this route has the highest rate of vehicle and street car collisions (60 last year) of any street car route in the city.

"When the Spadina street car opened before the separation (barriers) there were 297 auto coalitions in a year. Since the separation there have been zero streetcar-auto collisions."

Some in the crowd expressed concern that the city and TTC had already decided on a streetcar right-of-way (similar to the Spadina route), those involved insisted repeatedly that at this point nothing has been decided except to repair the tracks.

This is a five-phase process, explained Joanna Musters, project manager with the city. The second round of public meetings will take place in December/January to look at alternative solutions followed by more meetings to develop and analyze the design concepts and phase four will include a report to council and committees, which will be voted on. Already three surveys have been done involving local businesses, residents and visitors to the neighbourhood.

"I am terrified of where this traffic will be redirected to," one woman said.

A second person, a resident in the Oakwood/Bathurst area was worried about the TTC choosing options that narrow the street and force traffic onto the side streets, which he said will be more dangerous for kids.

Two of the points a third resident raised were: "Another thing that has not been shown is that when you reduce car dependency businesses suffer. That deserves a separate study," she said.

"As much as we’d like to be friendly to the environment and all those crunchy granola issues but (impact on business) is a serious problem."

The TTC’s Stambler said, "We have no proposal on the table or decision yet. There are no approvals. Nothing but a commitment to discuss alternatives with the community."

A Ward 21 council candidate George Milne stated. "Where will cars go if they go off St. Clair? If there are less vehicles then more people will stop visiting the area and businesses will suffer, which will mean more crime."

One woman who lives near Humewood and St. Clair W said faster and more efficient service will allow her to get to work faster and get home in time to visit local shops.

A resident of Wychwood said he thought buses would be a better alternative to the street car. However, one young man said busses can’t accommodate as many people as street cars.

Following the meetings and in response to some controversial information delivered to homes by a rival candidate, St. Paul’s West Councillor Joe Mihevc (Ward 21) sent out his own material.

"How do we help both the TTC and local businesses instead of pit one against the other?" Mihvec said in an Oct. 31 interview. He mentioned four categories: "Pedestrians need a streetscape that they feel comfortable walking. The second group is people on bicycles who need rings to lock up their bikes. The third group is TTC patrons. We can help them with timely and efficient service and the fourth group is drivers and they need parking."

He pointed to a new 18-spot surface public parking lot that opened at Arlington and St. Clair Ave. W.
Mihevc said there is a need to beautify the street, make it safer, add more parking and improve transit.

If you missed these meeting, two more full rounds of consultation public meetings are planned. In the meantime, e-mail comments to StClairWest or call James Yacoumidis at 416-392-4331.

To read a summary of the two meetings go to PlanningStudies.

Another website, which states it is not taking sides is: MyStClair. This site has details on the whole process and links to those involved including the St. Clair West revitalization committee.