A group of protesters gathered on Dundas Street Sunday morning to rally against the city's plan to narrow Lansdowne Avenue.
About 100 people waved signs protesting the road's reconstruction. The city plans to reduce the street's peak hour capacity from two lanes in either direction to one each way.
The plan calls for the roadway, used by about 17,000 cars a day, to be narrowed and the sidewalks to be widened from College Street to Bloor Street. It also includes relocating parking spaces and restoring the area's grass boulevards with street trees.
The city hopes that the changes will deter people from using Lansdowne as the artery becomes more congested.
The Toronto Lansdowne Residents' Association says that the revamp, slated to begin next week, has the potential to cause traffic headaches across a large portion of the west-end Toronto's downtown core.
Protesters said that no community meetings have been held on the issue, even though the vast majority of about 200 households on the route have said they're opposed to the reconstruction.
One man at the protest argued with Mayor David Miller, who said that it was a fact the area's city councillor, Adam Giambrone, held a public meeting and canvassed door-to-door.
"They have never consulted us...and if they say that they have, they have to prove that," said one woman. Another protester called the city's community consultation on the issue "a mockery of democracy".
Coun. Giambrone, who was also at the rally, insisted that he checked with residents.
"We had a public meeting in June and we've gone door-to-door," he said. "I think that when people feel strongly about a project there's a lot of feeling that there's never enough consultation."
The fire department has also voiced concerns about the proposed plan because it will reduce space for their rescue trucks to maneuver around stopped vehicles and increase their response times.
There's a fire station on Landsdowne, just north of Queen Street, and firefighters use the street as a primary response route.
The Toronto Lansdowne Residents' Association says people are also worried that the project will:
- Increase traffic congestion (and pollution from vehicle emissions) on a busy arterial route that has become even more busy in recent years given the increased through traffic from new housing developments;
- Disadvantage seniors and disabled whose mobility relies on being able to be picked up and dropped off in front of their home (rather than dodging busy traffic) as well as access to street parking;
- Make it harder to provide emergency services to the area (a concern highlighted by the Fire Department in the City's own report);
- Take away about half the street parking space in an area where it is badly needed by extended families and tenants who live here, as well as visitors.
About 900 vehicles an hour drive south on the stretch of road during the morning rush, and about 600 vehicles an hour drive north during the afternoon peak.
With a report from CTV's Galit Solomon
