Traffic won’t flow so water will
Pipe work on Yonge will close southbound lanes from Finch to Sheppard
Traffic-clogged north Yonge St. is about to become even more congested, during months of storm sewer and watermain work scheduled to start around Aug. 1.
The project will require closing two southbound lanes of Yonge St. from Finch Ave. to Sheppard Ave., making the morning commute even more stressful.
The intersection of Yonge and Sheppard is already one of the 10 worst in the city for traffic.
Local city councillor John Filion fears the worst. “Hundreds of thousands of people are going to be affected by this negatively for a long period of time. I can see businesses on Yonge St. going out of business because of this.”
Toronto Water said there have been more than 20 watermain breaks in the past decade, and it’s time to replace the 250-millimetre-diameter pipe with a 300-millimetre one. A section of storm sewer between Church and McKee Aves. will also be replaced.
“It’s unavoidable,” said Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the public works committee. “You have to fix it. I understand the local councillor is meeting with the community to see if there are ways to mitigate the impact, and if they have some suggestions, we’ll listen to them.
“You can’t not close lanes, and it’s not an overnight job. You just hope they go in and get it done fast, there are no unnecessary delays and they don’t find any surprises.”
Filion has called a community meeting for 7 to 8:15 p.m., Tuesday in the North York Civic Centre’s council chambers to talk about phasing the work and the impact on traffic.
He favours posting warning signs north of Steeles telling commuters from outside Toronto to try Bayview or Bathurst, although those routes are also heavily travelled. City staff had wanted to do the work over 11 months. Working flat out 24/7 would shorten the project to 4.5 months, but that was rejected as being too noisy overnight for condo residents along Yonge. Other options include working seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., which would take up to eight months, or from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Staff is being asked to report on how much the extra three hours of work per day would speed things up.
Filion also wants to take a hard look at breaking the project up into two phases: starting the northern leg from Finch to Park Home Ave. on Aug1 and finishing in December, and starting the southern leg Oct. 1 and finishing in February 2014.
That would enable Mel Lastman Square and restaurant patios south to Sheppard to operate without disruption until Oct. 1.
Filion said he only learned about the project while investigating sidewalk upgrades on Yonge St. and was told he should wait until after the watermain replacement. “I said, ‘What watermain replacement?’ ”
The veteran councillor said he plans to ask council to mandate better consultation with the public on major construction.
“When they start planning the work, they need to talk to people about what’s the impact on residents and businesses.”