If you haven't heard there will be a ferry service running between Toronto and Rochester starting May 1st, 2004. The ferry will dock, load and unload its cargo of 750 people, 220 cars and 10 busses at the Toronto Port Authority's port facilities at the corner of Unwin and Cherry Street, just north west of Cherry Beach. This will have an impact on the Portlands and Torontonians who ride the Martin Goodman Trail and use Cherry Beach. To this point residents of Toronto have not had an opportunity to raise their concerns about potential problems that could be created by this increase in traffic to the area.

Now, two weeks before the start of the service, there will be a chance to find out what is planned, ask questions, raise concerns and look for solutions. A public meeting is planned for Monday April 19th, 2004 at 7:00 pm.The details are below:

Fast Ferry Public Meeting
Monday April 19th, 2004
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West,
Committee Room #1

There will be representatives from the Toronto Port Authority, which is providing the docking facillities for the ferry and Canadian American Transportation Systems, LLC (CATS) the company that will be operating the ferry service. The Councillors for the area will also be there ,Paula Fletcher - Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth and Pam McConnell - Ward 28 Toronto Centre-Rosedale. On the Agenda is a presentation by the Toronto Port Authority and CATS and then an opportunity for questions from the floor.

It is not that a ferry between Rochester and Toronto is necessarily a bad thing. I may even be tempted to take my bike on it to Rochester to explore bike routes in upper New York state. The problem is are concerns that have been raised that have not been addressed.

One concern is an increase in traffic that will result around the three times a day that the ferry sails. What measures are being taken to ensure that this does not impact on users of the Martin Goodman Trail. The trail runs along Cherry Street between Lake Shore Blvd. and Unwin Avenue. It crosses Cherry St. it Commissioner Street. Further east users of the Martin Goodman Trail have to share a one lane bridge on Unwin Ave. with cars just east of the old Hearn generating station. Traffic on these streets now is not that busy. Once the ferry starts more vehicles will be using these roads and there will be increased safety concerns for cyclists and other trail users. Some measures to alleviate problems would be new traffic signals at Commissioner and Cherry street and installing a wider bridge at Unwin Ave. or adding a cycling pedestrian bridge over that channel from the old generating station.

Another area of concern is the connection between the Don Trail and the Martin Goodman Trail at Cherry Street and Lake Shore Blvd. It is difficult for cyclists to make that connection even now. They have to cross Lake Shore Blvd. then cross Cherry Street and then cross a lane that runs from the Lake Shore Blvd east bound lane to Cherry Street which has no stop light or stop sign. Pedestrians and cyclists have to wait for a gap in traffic to cross. Currently that is not such an issue but once the ferry starts there is a potential for accidents especially if a driver is racing to catch the ferry.

This meeting, although late, is an opportunity for all who will be affected by the ferry to have a chance to offer solutions to the problems that it has the potential to create.