For Everyone’s Safety and Utility: Construction Entrance/Exit on Avenue Road

312

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The Issue

To: The City of Toronto, Fitzrovia Developments, and the appropriate City of Toronto staff and officials

We, the undersigned residents, property owners and members of the community, respectfully request that the construction entrance/exit for the development at 135 St. Clair Ave. W. be located on Avenue Road, rather than on Foxbar Road, throughout demolition and construction.

We believe Avenue Road is the more appropriate and safer construction access route for the following reasons:

1. Protecting Brown School students and pedestrians

If construction trucks use a Foxbar Road entrance, trucks leaving the site would have to travel along Foxbar Road and turn onto Avenue Road, where there is no traffic signal. This would bring large construction vehicles into the area immediately opposite Brown School and create an unnecessary safety concern for students, parents and pedestrians.

2. Protecting residents of Bradgate Arms

The existing property entrance is immediately beside the main entrance to Bradgate Arms, a retirement residence. Foxbar Road provides many Bradgate Arms residents with their primary opportunity for a quiet outdoor walk.

A construction entrance beside the residence would subject these residents to frequent heavy trucks, noise and construction activity making their walking route unsafe and unpleasant for the duration of demolition and construction.

3. Maintaining emergency access

Large construction vehicles entering and leaving the site on Foxbar Road could obstruct this narrow residential street and interfere with emergency access.

Maintaining clear and reliable access is particularly important given the proximity of Bradgate Arms and its senior residents.

4. Avenue Road is the more appropriate construction route

Avenue Road is an arterial road designed to accommodate substantially greater volumes of traffic than Foxbar Road. Construction trucks can enter and leave the site directly from Avenue Road rather than navigating a narrow, curving residential street.

Foxbar Road already presents challenges for vehicles because of its limited space and residential character. Garbage trucks, maintenance vehicles and delivery vehicles already make the road more difficult to navigate. Adding frequent large construction trucks would increase congestion and conflicts and make the street less safe and functional.

5. Minimizing pedestrian conflicts

Most pedestrian traffic on Avenue Road uses the west side of the street, particularly people travelling to and from Brown School. Construction access can therefore be designed to minimize conflicts between pedestrians and construction vehicles.

Pedestrians also have the option of using the public walking path along the property line between Bradgate Arms and the construction site to avoid the immediate construction entrance area.

6. Construction traffic will use Avenue Road regardless

Locating the construction entrance on Avenue Road does not create additional construction traffic on Avenue Road.

The same construction vehicles will ultimately travel on Avenue Road regardless of where they enter the site. The difference is where they access Avenue Road.

With an Avenue Road entrance, trucks would enter the site directly from Avenue Road. With a Foxbar entrance, trucks would first travel down Foxbar Road and then turn onto Avenue Road approximately half a block south of the site.

The northbound lane immediately adjacent to the construction site is relatively lightly used compared with the other northbound lanes, including the left-turn lane onto St. Clair Avenue. Even if temporary restrictions were required in this lane, the impact on traffic would be considerably less than the disruption caused when one of the two northbound lanes was blocked for the Amica construction site, located only one traffic signal south on the same side of Avenue Road.

7. Avoiding additional winter maintenance problems

Foxbar Road already experiences drainage problems that can result in flooding and winter icing. Adding frequent heavy construction traffic would make snow clearing and winter maintenance more difficult and could further compromise safe pedestrian and vehicle access.

8. Protecting a quiet residential street

Foxbar Road is a quiet residential street that is heavily used by residents for walking. It should not become a construction truck route when a more appropriate access point is available on Avenue Road.

Locating the construction entrance on Avenue Road would keep heavy construction traffic, noise and associated hazards off Foxbar Road and substantially reduce the impact of the development on the surrounding residential neighbourhood.

OUR REQUEST

We respectfully request that the City of Toronto and Fitzrovia Developments require the construction entrance for 135 St. Clair Ave. W. to be located on Avenue Road and prohibit construction vehicle access to the site from Foxbar Road.

This would provide the developer with direct access to an arterial road while protecting residents, pedestrians, Bradgate Arms residents, Brown School students and emergency access on Foxbar Road.

Petition

We support the request that the construction entrance for 135 St. Clair Ave. W. be located on Avenue Road rather than Foxbar Road. 

avatar of the starter
Michael LindsayPetition StarterCommercial Real Estate Broker based in Toronto.

The Decision Makers

Dylan Dewsbury
Dylan Dewsbury
Senior Planner, City of Toronto

Supporter Voices

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