Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto have completed the Terms of Reference that will guide the Environmental Assessment regarding the reconfiguration of the Gardiner Expressway from just East of the Don River to Jarvis St. This is probably better known as the "Tearing Down the Gardiner" but the study includes much more than that. This will be on the agenda of the City of Toronto's Executive Committee this Tuesday June 2nd. for their approval. You can see the document at the following link Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard Reconfiguration EA Terms of Reference DRAFT

Removing the elevated Gardiner Expressway between Logan and Jarvis could allow this neglected section of the former Martin Goodman Trail north of Lake Shore between Cherry and Parliament to be incorporated into an extended Lake Shore East Boulevard path which could extend right to Jarvis Street.

The Environmental Assessment leading to the development of a plan for the study area from Jarvis Street to Logan Avenue provides an opportunity to look at how to improve the transportation network in the area and improve the linkages to the Lake for the communities to the north and east of the study area. During the consultation process that has led up to the development of the Terms of Reference there was a lot of support for not just looking at the automobile part of the transportation system but also the pedestrian, transit and cycling portions of the system as well. Looking at the terms of reference it is clear that those voices were heard.

Among the five goals of the EA 2 of them pertain directly to cycling infrastructure.
Goal 2: Reconnect the City with the Lake
One of the points listed under this goal recognizes the importance of bicycle routes in making those connections.

• Design the public realm to be attractive, accessible and connected. The qualities of experience offered by streets, plazas, parks, promenades, pathways, bicycle routes, and visual corridors will be major drivers of design decisions. Public

Any new configuration of the Gardiner Expressway will need to maintain an effective local and regional transportation system, including commuters and freight, and minimize negative impacts by balancing alternative travel modes, including transit (local and regional), cycling and walking within the system.
...(more)

The Environmental Study Report on the Queen's Quay revitalization plan goes to the City of Toronto's Executive Committee on June 2nd, 2009 for their approval. Queens Quay Revitilization Environmental Assesment StudyThis is a significant step towards seeing Toronto's central waterfront revitalized and Toronto's signature bicycle path, the Martin Goodman Trail, finally connected through the down town. A continuous Martin Goodman Trail was one of the key goals of the plan. The benefit of this was experienced first hand by Toronto residents when the city unveiled the prototype value was seen in the Quay to the City event in August 2006. A temporary continuous Martin Goodman Trail was created along with a pedestrian promenade and Torontonians flocked to it. A 600% increase in cycling traffic was documented in the area. That initial public support continued as the proposal wound its way through the consultation process conducted by Waterfront Toronto. Thanks to that support the recommended design that is being put forward to the Executive Committee includes the expanded pedestrian areas and a separated Martin Goodman Trail for most of the length of Queen's Quay. This is a significant step foward in seeing a continuous Martin Goodman Trail from the beaches to the Humber and beyond but at the moment it is a step not quite far enough. This week is an opportunity to press the members of the Executive committee to go the distance.

The one concern with the plan being submitted is that it falls 600m short of its goal to have a continuous Martin Goodman Trail through the central waterfront. In the proposed plan the Martin Goodman trail will only be incorporated on Queen's east of Spadina Avenue. For the section between Spadina and Bathurst cyclists will be routed onto the existing bike lanes which are along side the existing traffic lanes. For westbound cyclists that means crossing to the north side of the street at Spadina and Queen's Quay and then crossing Spadina to the bike lane. This also precludes making a separated trail on the section between Bathurst and Stadium Road where the existing bike lanes are continually occupied by parked cars.

This diagram from the recommended design shows the intersection that Westbound cyclists will have to cross to continue their journey. I have indicated the bike lanes and MGT in orange. You can see all pages of the recommended design at the following link Queen's Quay Recommended Design (Click the image to see a larger version.).

The above plan does not show how cyclists will have to make the double crossing to move through the intersection. There will have to be a clumsy workaround to try and ensure they can navigate the traffic lanes and streetcar tracks safely. This will be an obstacle that will inconvenience experienced cyclists but it may be a barrier to less experienced cyclists and families cycling with children. The goal of waterfront revitalization should be to make a waterfront accessible to all. The continuous Martin Goodman Trail is one of the priorities in the waterfront plan that helps to realize that goal. A separated Martin Goodman Trail continued between Spadina and Bathurst and then on to Stadium Road to join up with the existing Martin Goodman Trail should be in the final plan.

If the design for Spadina to Bathurst stays as it is, it will be a part of the waterfront the City will have to draw a curtain around when showcasing Toronto's waterfront to the world. It will have to couch its descriptions of its new waterfront, 'Martin Goodman Trail, Toronto's quasi-continuous waterfront trail'. Toronto's Bold Moves on the waterfront should not become a series of half-hearted half-measures done half-assed. The plan being proposed up to Spadina is a bold move that will be something that Toronto residents will truly be proud of. The Executive Committee should press to take the final step and ensure the final section of this plan is included in that bold move. You can let your opinion be know by making a deputation in person or in writing and by writing to the Mayor and members of the Committee. You can find all of the contact information at the following page Toronto City Council - Executive Committee.

The Martin Goodman Trail through Ontario Place is getting a face lift. The current trail, marked with the signature green and blue centrelines, which snakes along the water's edge through Ontario Place has fallen into disrepair. A new trail is under construction, which will add to the Martin Goodman bypass trail that was completed first in Marilyn Bell Park and then extended along the south side of Lake Shore south of the CNE grounds.

This sign shows the detour around the construction which is the currently marked Martin Goodman Trail along the water's edge. (click the image to see a larger image)

This new trail follows the path most cyclists would take when entering the Ontario Place grounds from the west, along the access road. In fact the access road is no more being replaced by the new trail. Then where the cyclists had to turn south to follow the road along where the HMCS Haida used to be docked the trail will continue straight along the south side of Lake Shore Blvd. on to Inukshuk park curving around the inukshuk there then rejoining the old trail along the water's edge which has been repaved. This will create a more direct route for cyclists unimpeded by pedestrians crossing into the Ontario Place entrance.

Looking east south of Lake Shore Blvd. at the east entrance to the Ontario Place parking lot you can see the parking lot at Ontario Place has been reduced in side to make way for the new Martin Goodman Trail.

However there could be some points where there may be conflicts where pedestrians and automobiles cross the trail where the trail crosses the entrances to the parking lots. In fact at one entrance it looks like a light standard will be in the middle of the trail. Hopefully this won't be an obstacle to cyclists and other trail users.

This is a great opportunity to use new bicycle pavement markings and bicycle signals that have been approved by Transportation Association of Canada to ensure that cyclists, other trail users and pedestrians can cross the intersections safely. You can see an explanation of these on page 16 of the New Lines on the Road: Canada's Guidelines for the Design and Application of Bikeway Pavement Markings This would be a good pilot project to showcase the new markings and start to use this design along the length of the Martin Goodman Trail.

At the locations where cyclists cross the entrances to the parking losts the bike crossings should be marked with the Elephant's feet pavement markings in addition to the traditional crosswalk markings as explained in the TAC Bicycle Pavement Markings guidelines.

This project is slated for completion at the end of June 2009 and will be a great addition to Toronto's signature waterfront trail.

Ever since the bailey bridge was closed on Unwin Avenue just east of Cherry Beach cyclists using the Martin Goodman Trail have had to squeeze along a narrow foodbridge clinging to the south side of the bridge. That bottleneck on the trail is now gone and has been replaced by a new cycling pedestrian bridge.

Here on the Martin Goodman Trail just east of Cherry Beach Cyclists have had to turn north onto Unwin avenue and cross on the bailey bridge. Now a new cycling/pedestrian Bridge is in place so cyclists and other trail users don't have to make this detour any more.

While the new bridge is in place there still is more work to be done. The approaches to the bridge have yet to be paved so there is just gravel to the east and the west of the bridge. Hopefully this will be in place soon now that the weather is warming up.

Looking west over the new bridge. The approach has not yet been paved so use caution crossing.

In addition to the cycling a bridge for automobile traffic on Unwin will be built this spring and there is landscaping work being done on the south west area of the bridge to the shore of the lake creating a small stopping area. While this is a small project it removes a big barrier on the trail and improves one small corner of our waterfront.

On March 25th, 2009 Waterfront Toronto, the entity responsible for revitilizing Toronto's waterfront held a public consultation to finally reveal the preferred option for the redesign of Queen's Quay. To this point a design which would make room for a continuous Martin Goodman Trail along Toronto's central waterfront by removing two traffic lanes among the several options being considered, but in my mind seeing the Toronto Waterfront choose such an option was by no means a certainty. After the meeting it was apparent that we are a big step closer to realizing that goal but we are still not quite there yet.

The formal presentation started with introductions and the outlining of the agenda, then a review of the consultation process to this point, then outlining the five options that had orignially been considered. I sat nervously as the presentation dragged on, waiting for the big announcement. Next the evaluation of the three short listed alternatives on a number of different criteria. Then finally, on slide 62 of the powerpoint, without any fanfare the option which retained the traffic lanes on the south side of the transit right of way was eliminated.

During the next slide the presenter made it official. The preferred technical option was 4, well and 5, "but we are leaning to 4". Actually the technically recommended alternative was "Southside Transit" which is in fact a huge step. This means that the two traffic lanes south of the Transit right of way will be removed and in its place will be "Generous pedestrian boulevards" a 'Continuous off-street Martin Goodman Trail, completing the Lake Ontario Trail." This decision should give cyclists cause for celebration but after looking at the details of the plan it became clear that there is more work to do to.

The difference between the two options is primarily is that how the two remaining traffic lanes will be used. Option 4 has two way traffic and option 5 has one way traffic. However another significant difference between the designs is that in Option 4 the Martin Goodman Trail will not be continuous. Between Bathurst and YoYo Ma lane there will be on street bike lanes leaving a gap in the Martin Goodman Trail. Option 5 has the continuous Martin Goodman Trail right from Parliament to Bathurst.

These photos of the section of the Queens Quay redesign options show the difference for cyclists between the options. The Martin Goodman Trail is indicated as the thick red line. (Click on the image to see a larger version)

Aside from the fact that the option 4 does not achieve one of the primary design goals of creating a continuous Martin Goodman Trail it creates a bottleneck for westbound cyclists who have to cross the street to the north side bike lane at YoYo Ma Lane. In the designs this is shown as a pedestrian activated signal with cyclists crossing with pedestrians in a crosswalk. Given the huge volume of cyclists that will be using the trail this will create many dangerous situations for cyclists and pedestrians.

Option 4 creates a hazardous situation for cyclists by directing Martin Goodman Trail users to the west bound bike lanes on the north side of the street. The trail is indicated by the thick red line.

Option 4 should be eliminated from consideration on this part of the design. For criteria A.3.3 East West Connection (MG Trail) of page 55 of the evening's presentation: Queens Quay EA and East Bayfront EA Public Forum #3 - March 25 2009 (pdf) both option 4 and option 5 are evaluated as being equal in this regard. In fact Option 4 should be rated poor which I think should tip the overall balance in the evaluation towards Option 5.

So, the final decision has not been made there is still time to have your input into the designs to ensure that the design approved by City Council this July truly keeps with the original goals of the project. The public can comment until Friday April 17th, 2009. You can see the presentation which includes information on the designs at the following link PRESENTATION: Queens Quay EA and East Bayfront EA Public Forum #3 - March 25 2009 (pdf). The comment form which includes the contact information is at the following link: WORKBOOK: Queens Quay EA and East Bayfront EA Public Forum #3 - March 25, 2009 (pdf). You can also e-mail your comments to central@waterfrontoronto.ca.

While ensuring that the trail is a continuous off-street trail is a major concern there are other parts of the design that deserve comment. One is about the design of intersections and connections to other Bikeway Network routes. There are 4 streets with bike lanes shown in the designs that will intersect with the redesigned Queens Quay and the Martin Goodman Trail: Lower Simcoe, Yonge street, Lower Sherbourne Street and Bay street. There needs to be be a look at how these intersections will be designed to handle the flow of cyclists turning from the Martin Goodman Trail north onto the bike lanes and the flow of cyclists turning east and west onto the trail from the south bound bike lanes. The intersections should incorporate bike boxes for cyclists in the southbound bike lanes who are waiting to turn cross over to the trail and a similar queuing area for cyclists turning north from the east and west bound lanes of the trail. Bike Boxes are now a part of the TAC Bicycle Pavement Markings guidelines and should be incorporated in the design of this project. You can see an explanation of bike boxes on page 31 of a presentation from TAC at the 2008 ProWalk-ProBike Conference. New Lines on the Road: Canada’s Guidelines for the Design and Application of Bikeway Pavement Markings.

Intersections need to be designed to ensure cyclists can safely and easily move from the north south Bikeway Network connecting routes to the east west Martin Goodman trail.

Another pavement marking that should be incorporated from the above guidelines is the 'Elephant's feet' crossings which designate where cyclists on an off-street trail should cross a roadway. You can see an explanation of these on page 16 of the New Lines on the Road: Canada’s Guidelines for the Design and Application of Bikeway Pavement Markings

At the locations where cyclists cross streets that run south of Queen's Quay there should be separate bike crossings marked with the Elephant's feet pavement markings.

A final concern is the loosing of the connection between the Martin Goodman Trail and the intersection of Queens Quay and Parliament Street. Currently you can ride from the Queens Quay bike lane or the Martin Goodman Trail to the short section of trail that runs on the north side of Lake Shore Blvd. between Parliament and Cherry Street. This provides a direct connection to the Lake Shore East bicycle path via the bicycle pedestrian bridge over the Don River. It is also a direct connection to the popular Distillery District. In both designs the streetcar turn loop is a barrier preventing the connection. A connector path should be made east of the loop from the Martin Goodman Trail to the south east corner of Queen's Quay with a bike crossing with 'elephant's feet' markings across Lake Shore Blvd to the path.

The removal of the bicycle lanes on the eastern portion of Queen's Quay and the planned re-alignment of Queens Quay will remove a direct connection for cyclists to the Lakeshore East path. The designs should include a connector path to keep that connection.

Hopefully with enough public comment the balance will tip to Option 5 or Option 4 will be reworked to have the Martin Goodman Trail run between YoYo Ma Lane and Bathurst Street. Ideally the next step would be to have the section between Bathurst St. and Stadium road changed from the current on-street bike lanes to a separated two way path on the south side of the road to make the Martin Goodman Trail a truly continuous off-street trail from Humber Bay Park in the west to the Beaches in the East. As a City we get one chance to do this right. Half measures shouldn't make the cut. So send in your comments to make sure that the plan that Waterfront Toronto recommends to the City of Toronto's Executive Committee on June 2nd, 2009 makes cycling the waterfront a wonderful experience for Toronto residents and visitors.

There are still several steps of this ongoing environmental assessment process that have to be completed before the plans get the final seal of approval and work can start. The Mayor and the Executive Committee of Council will have the report on the agenda of their June 2nd, 2009 meeting. There will be an opportunity for deputations at this meeting so this is your chance to comment on the final recommendations for the revitalization of Queens Quay. From there it will go to Council on July 6th for approval. After that the Environmental Study Report will be filed in August and there will be a 30 day comment period in September of 2009.

So as this project inches to wards approval and ultimate completion it is more important than ever for cyclists and other trail users to keep involved in the process to show support for the options and the designs that will make this a waterfront that you can get to and through by bike.

On March 25th, 2009 Waterfront Toronto www.waterfrontoronto.ca will be presenting the recommended road alternative for Queen's Quay. This is part of the Queen's Quay Revitalization Project that would see the traffic lanes realigned that would see among other things a continuous Martin Goodman Trail through Toronto's downtown waterfront which would link up to the western and eastern sections of this trail. Torontonians got a taste of this during the Quay to the City event in August 2006.

At the last public meeting on the subject on December 10 2008, three preferred options were presented for comment. Two of those had a continuous Martin Goodman Trail on the south side of the streetcar tracks as was demonstrated in the Quay to the City event. See previous Article. This week we will see which design has been chosen and whether Toronto residents will finally see this important link in the Bikeway Network take one more step closer to realization.

The public meeting will be held on Wednesday March 25, 2009 at the Westin Harbour Castle hotel. There will be an Open House at 6:30 pm and a Public Presentation from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. There will also be a Drop-In Centre on Saturday March 29, 2009 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Harbourfront Centre. You can see more details on the meeting locations in the announcement from WATERFRONToronto at the following link. PUBLIC MEETING & DROP-IN CENTRE Queens Quay Revitalization Environmental Assessment & East Bayfront Transit Environmental Assessment.

Waterfront Toronto's consultation meetings last week revealed how the plans for the Martin Goodman Trail along Toronto's downtown waterfront are taking shape. It is exciting to see we are moving closer to see some major improvements in the cycling infrastructure in this area of the city. Final designs have not been chosen yet and among the options some are definately better than others. Now is your chance to have input and help to ensure that the best options are chosen and that any design issues with those options are pointed out before the plans are finalized.

For those of you who were not able to attend the Public Meetings on the Queen's QuayRevitilization EA and the Lower Donlands EA the presentations and display panels are now online. Also on line are comment forms that you can send in by December 19th, 2008. The Queen's Quay Revitalization EA and the Lower Donlands EA web pages have pdf versions of the the presentations, display panels and a workbook form for you to submit your comments. You have until December 19th to submit your comments. You can e-mail in your comments. Send your comments on the Queen's Quay plans to central@waterfrontoronto.ca and send your comments for the Lower Donlands plans to lowerdon@waterfrontoronto.ca.

Page 78 of the Queen's Quay presentation shows the South Side Transit: Martin Goodman Trail 1 way option you can see the entire document at the following link Queen's Quay Revitiliation Presentation Dec. 8, 2008

I attended the Queens Quay consultation where three preferred options were presented in addition to a 'do-nothing' option for comparison. Two of the preferred alternatives had the east bound lanes of traffic removed south of the street car tracks removed and replaced with a continuous off-street Martin Goodman Trail. This was what was previewed in the Quay to the City Event in August of 2006. These were referred to as the 'Southside Transit: Martin Goodman Trail' options. The difference between the two Southside Transit: Martin Goodman Trail' options was what would happen to the car traffic lanes north of the Streetcar Tracks. The options were to have two way or one way traffic. The third option was called 'Center Transit: On Street Bike lanes'. This maintained the current automobile lanes on both sides of the tracks reduced them to one lane each way and added on street bike lanes.

I was surprised to see the option with the On Street Bike lanes presented at this point. It didn't support one of the primary goals of this project which was to have a continuous Martin Goodman Trail through the central waterfront which would link up to the existing trail in the east and west. I was worried that there was opposition forming to removing the road south of the street car tracks. After the presentations was the opportunity for the participants to discuss and comment on the options. I was heartened by the fact that participants, the majority of whom lived in the area, overwhelmingly supported the 'Southside Transit:Martin Goodman Trail' options, there was some debate on whether the road north of the tracks should be 1 way or two way. You still have a chance to weigh in on this before December 19th.

The difficulty with the centre Transit on-street bike lanes option was that where the bike lanes would run along the curb of Queens Quay, especially on the south side of the street, the bike lanes would soon be filled with illegally parked buses and cars pushing cyclists back into the traffic. In other areas where the bike lanes would be along parked cars the dooring hazard would face cyclists. This is one route in the city that an off-street trail should be constructed so cyclists of all skill levels and ages can travel to and through the central waterfront area. This option falls well short of the vision of creating a aesthetically pleasing boulevard along the waterfront that was foreshadowed with the Quay To the City event when the asphalt was covered with grass and flowers.

This is an image of the lower Donlands Trail Plan which is on page 25 of the presentation. You can download the full presentation at the following link. Lower Donlands Presentation Dec. 10, 2008

I wasn't able to go to the Lower Donlands meeting but I have looked over the presentation and it looks like some exciting improvements to the cycling infrastructure could be realized as part of this project. The area for this study takes in the Martin Goodman Trail on the east end of Queen's Quay, the Martin Goodman Trail along Cherry Street south of Lake Shore Blvd. the southern Terminus of the Don Trail, the western end of the Lake Shore East boulevard path as well as the short bit of the old Martin Goodman Trail north of Lakeshore between Cherry Street and Parliament. If you have ridden through this area you know it can be difficult to navigate the intersections and connect between the trails that converge here. This project will realign streets and redesign the intersections and this provides the opportunity to really improve the trail connections and again improve the off-street paths in the area.

The trails plan is just one part of this overall project, and how the trails are configured will depend on the options chosen for the major initiatives envisioned with this plan, creating a new mouth for the Don River and then realigning existing roads such as the Eastern end of Queen's Quay and Lakeshore Blvd. as well as planning a new road network for the portlands. You can see the options being considered in the Presentation document Lower Donlands presentation December 10th, 2008. The trails plan is on page 25 of this document. In addition to dealing with existing main trails it is considering adding connecting trails and scenic trails along the new mouth of the Don.

I haven't had an opportunity to discuss this project with the planners but one thing I see that could impact cyclists is that it appears existing bike lanes on the eastern end of Queen's Quay will be removed from the street and all cyclists will use the Martin Goodman Trail along Queen's Quay. In addition the path that extended westward from the intersection of the Don Trail and the Lake Shore East Trail to Cherry Street south of the rail tracks and then extended between Cherry street and Parliament on the old Martin Goodman Trail section north of Lake Shore Blvd is not included. This means that the cyclists who currently use these two routes would be on the Martin Goodman Trail increasing the volume of users in this area. Page 25 of this document shows three panels with the Secondary Plan vision for the area. One of these is the vision for Trails. It shows that the Lakeshore Blvd. East trail would be extended further downtown beyond Parliament creating a direct commuter route. I think that should be added back into this new plan to give cyclists more options. Again you can have your say on this project by reviewing the plans and e-mailing your comments.

There are some general issues to be looked at as the trails are designed. One is trail width. When the Quay to the City Event was held the volume of cyclists increased 600% at times. Improving the connections thru the waterfront will increase trail traffic so the width of the trail should be more than the 4 m being proposed. These new trails should be at least 5 m. They should be more along the lines of the new waters edge trail that was built in Marilyn Bell park. Other issues to be looked at should be road crossings. The latest innovations should be included such as elephant feet crossings in intersections, bike signals and bike boxes for left hand turns to and from north south connecting streets. These were all things being considered by the planners but sending in your comments to show support for these things will help to ensure they make their way into the final plans and onto the ground.

This week Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto will be holding three meetings to look at plans for the waterfront. On Monday December 8th the Queens Quay Revitalization Environmental Assessment Public Meeting #2 will be held and on December 10th, the Lower Donlands EA public forum #2 will be held. Collectively these two meetings will look at planning the transportation infrastructure along Toronto's waterfront from Lower Spadina Avenue to Lower Jarvis (the Queen's Quay EA) and from Parliament Street to Don Roadway (the Donlands EA). These projects have the potential to connect the Eastern and Western portions of the Martin Goodman Trail and make riding through Toronto's central waterfront much safer and more enjoyable for cyclists. In addition on Tuesday December 9th, the City of Toronto will be holding a consultation of the looking at the creation of a Western Waterfront Master Plan which will cover the area from the Humber River in the West to Marilyn Bell Park in the East. You can see the details here: Western Waterfront Master Plan Public Meeting.

I have always encouraged Toronto residents who want to see improved cycling infrastructure get involved in commenting on the designs for these types of projects. I also think we should start getting involved at the political level and start asking the senior levels of government to accelerate the funding for these projects.

The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation (TWRC) has announced that it will be temporarily closing the Martin Goodman Trail at Cherry Beach. East and westbound cyclists will be directed to a detour which uses the path that runs along Lake Shore Blvd. from Don Roadway to Leslie Street.

TWRC has sent out a map indicating the trail closure and showing a detour route. (Click on the map for a larger image.)

The closure is being done so that soil remediation can be done as explained in the TWRC announcement quoted below.

This is not the only work being done that affects the trail in this area. The Unwin Street Bridge has been closed leaving only a narrow walkway for cyclists to cross, work on Cherry Street bridge has blocked access from downtown forcing cyclists to detour over to the Don Roadway. Also work on a TWRC project, the 'Transition Sports Fields', east of Cherry Beach has resulted in construction fence taking up part of the path.

Construction fence around the TWRC's Transition Sports fields project adds one more obstacle to cyclists trying to navigate the Martin Goodman Trail.

Here is the announcement from the TWRC:

CHERRY BEACH REMEDIATION UPDATE

PORT LANDS ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION UPDATE

Temporary closure of Portions of the Martin Goodman Trail and the East Parking Lot at Cherry Beach

The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation (TWRC) and the Toronto Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO) are now undertaking environmental restoration work in the area of Cherry Beach as part of an overall environmental management strategy for the Port Lands.

From April - May, 2007, portions of the Martin Goodman Trail, as well as the entire east parking lot at Cherry Beach, will be closed so the environmental restoration work can take place.

A temporary fence will be set up in the eastern portion of Cherry Beach, securing the area south-west of the former Safety Kleen facility at 115 Unwin Avenue to Lake Ontario.

The work is necessary to remove contaminants that are floating on the groundwater. Proven technologies are being used to address the contamination. This involves digging trenches and installing a pumping system to pump the contaminated groundwater to a treatment station on the former Safety Kleen site where the contaminants will be screened, filtered, and treated appropriately. The contaminated material will then be securely shipped to a licensed treatment facility on a regular basis.

A remedial action plan outlining this work has been submitted to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) for review.

During this work period, there will be no access to the beach parking lot east of Cherry Street and there will be limited access to the waterfront and a portion of the Martin Goodman Trail (south of Unwin Avenue between Cherry Street and Regatta Road). Visitors to the Port Lands during this time can refer to the alternate trail routes outlined in the attached map and provided on the TWRC website (www.towaterfront.ca)

Safety Kleen site clean-up

Once the Martin Goodman Trail and east parking lot area is re-opened in May, TEDCO will immediately start addressing the issues directly on the Safety Kleen site, using similar technologies. The entire process is likely to take from five to 10 years to complete.

For more information, please contact Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation at 416-214-1344 or info@towaterfront.ca

Hopefully all the work will get done on time and the trail will be open again before summer.

A group of cyclists is meeting to discuss the plans for the planned Lake Ontario Park which will run from Cherry Beach to the R.C. Harris Filtration Plant. (see previous article). This is a project the Toronto Waterfront Revitilization Corporation (TWRC)and this group wants to ensure that the TWRC has input from cyclists on the designs. Details of the meeting are in the e-mail that was sent out which is quoted below.

Hi Everyone, Building on the momentum from our first meeting in February, I would like to invite you to the next round of discussion and planning about Lake Ontario Park and what this means to the cycling community. I encourage you all to get active and be heard, since the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. (the ‘builder' of the Park) is quite open to our suggestions at this time.

WHEN: Next Thursday, April 5, 7-9 PM
WHERE: Pandarvis Room, International Student Centre @ 33 St. George St., just north of College

The idea is to discuss how we, as cyclists, envision the waterfront as a recreation destination. Aside from the obvious issue of cycling access andconnectivity to the (eastern) waterfront, which is also up for discussion, here's a recap of some suggestions from our first meeting:
(1) Trail construction that naturally encourages users moving at different speeds to separate themselves (e.g. using different colour/material for different bands of each lane)
(2) Trail wide enough to *comfortably* accommodate multiple types of users in both directions (i.e. wider than many existing trails)
(3) Ensuring distance between dog off-leash areas and the trail to minimize collisions (ie. don't have trail running through the middle of a field)
(4) A trail layout that has unobstructed sight lines
(5) Appropriate road width and smooth road surfaces to accommodate road cyclists (typically doing time trial training), even for relocated roads that may not, technically, be inside the new park perimeter
For more info about Lake Ontario Park, these documents should do the trick:
http://www.towaterfront.ca/dbdocs//45b1277ce7719.pdf
http://www.towaterfront.ca/dbdocs//45b7b7d904644.pdf
See you next week,
Tovi

You can get more information on the Lake Ontario Park at the following link TWRC Projects: Lake Ontario Park.

This slide was shown as part of WEST 8 + DTAH's presentation. Here the east bound lanes of Queen's Quay would be replaced by a 4 m Martin Goodman Trail and and a sidewalk which is widened to 6.6 m. (Click the image to download the full presentation. The above image is on page 33.)

You can see the slides from the presentations on the plans at the following links.
Presentation: Central Waterfront Public Meeting (pdf)
Presentation from WEST 8 + DTAH (pdf)
These include reports on the statistics and reactions to the Quay to the City Event this past summer where a temporary Martin Goodman Trail was created in the eastbound lanes of Queens Quay. It also shows a cross section of what the new Queen's Quay would look like as pictured above. One of the interesting stats reported in Tammy's articles was the phenomenal increase in the number of cyclists. One statistic that the number of "Westbound bicycles increased from 10 to 661 in the PM peak." More data can be found in the report on the Quay to the City event. Quay to the City Summary Report - October 2006. That increase in cyclists makes one wonder if a 4.0 metre wide trail will be able to accommodate the numbers of users once the design is permanent. A 5.5 m width is being used in the Marilyn Bell Park section of the Martin Goodman trail ...(more)

The Toronto Waterfront Revitilization Corporation will be hosting a public meeting on its plans for Toronto's Central Waterfront on Tuesday, January 23rd. from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm. This will include information on the plans to redesign Queen's Quay from Bathurst to Parliament. Torontonians got a taste of those plans this past summer when the east bound lanes of Queen's Quay were closed off between Spadina and York Street to make way for the extension of the Martin Goodman Trail. As well a two way separated trail was created from York to Richardson in one lane of the east bound Queen's Quay. You can read more about this in a previous article Queen's Quay Martin Goodman Trail open to cyclists. The meeting will also have information on an environmental assessment on extending streetcar lines east on Queen's Quay to Parliament Street. You can see more about this project here Toronto Waterfront East Bayfront Transit Environmental Assessment.

The meeting details are quoted below from the TWRC announcement: ...(more)