NNNow News Blog

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Front Street Extension Dead

Adam Vaughan has informed his constituents that the Front Street Extension is officially dead.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Toronto Sign By-law Project Public Consultation

The City of Toronto holds public consultation as one way to engage residents in the life of their city. Toronto thrives on your great ideas and actions. We invite you to get involved.

Public Consultation Meetings Notice
Toronto Sign By-law Project

The City of Toronto is preparing a new sign by-law. It will replace the individual sign by-laws of the former municipalities. The new sign by-law will update the standards for signs on private property, address current sign issues, and reflect the diverse character found in Toronto communities. The Sign By-law project will also explore ways where signage will support the City’s efforts in energy conservation and revenue generation.

The first round of consultation has concluded and an interim report and presentation containing issues and options for the new sign by-law has been heard at a special meeting of Planning and Growth Management on December 8, 2008. At the meeting, public and stakeholder submissions were made and Councillors provided direction to help steer the project into the second round of consultation. At this second stage, a series of public consultation meetings are being held to give residents and businesses an opportunity to provide their comments and ideas on the issues and options presented in the first report. This information will be used to develop appropriate measures in the new sign by-law to effectively regulate signs in Toronto.

Following this second round of consultation, a draft sign by-law will be presented to Council.

The current series of consultation meetings will be held as follows:


Tuesday, January 20, 2009 - 7:00 p.m.
Etobicoke Civic Centre
399 The West Mall
Ground Floor, Main Boardroom

Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 7:00 p.m.
North York Civic Centre
5100 Yonge St, 1st Floor
Council Chambers

Thursday January 22, 2009 - 7:00 p.m.
Scarborough Civic Centre
150 Borough Drive
Council Chambers

Thursday, January 29, 2009 - 7:00 p.m.
Toronto City Hall
100 Queen Street West
2nd Floor, Committee Room #2

As all sessions share the same content, you need only attend one.

Translation Services, including American Sign Language, are available upon request.Translator requests must be placed at least two weeks prior to the selected meeting date.

If you would like additional information, please contact the Sign By-law Team:

Tel: 416-392-8000 Email: signbylawproject@toronto.ca
Fax: 416-392-7536 Web site: www.toronto.ca/signbylawproject/

Information will be collected in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. With the exception of personal information, all comments will become part of the public record.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Update from Councillor's Office re: Strachan Grade Separation

A note from the Councillor's office regarding the Strachan Grade Separation:


Re: Future of Railway Crossing on Strachan Avenue

As your City of Toronto Councillor, I am pleased to inform you that Toronto City Council this week APPROVED the following motions on this matter:

"1. City Council strongly supports the Grade Separation Option which lowers the Georgetown/Milton rail corridor, allowing Strachan Avenue to pass over the rail lines, and

2. City Council direct staff to forward this report to the GO Transit Board requesting that the City Council preferred Strachan Avenue Grade Separation Option be included as part of the Individual Environmental Assessment Study of the Georgetown South Corridor Service Expansion and Airport Transportation Link."

As you may know, Strachan Avenue is presently used by 14,000 vehicular trips daily (more than Dufferin Street but less than Bathurst Street). This traffic is bound to increase as Liberty Village and other nearby areas are further developed.

As you may also know, the number of trains (GO Transit, VIA and cargo) will greatly increase as the Union Station to Pearson Airport Rail Link is built and GO Transit adds more lines. Therefore, the present rail crossing on Strachan Avenue has to be changed so that the rail traffic and the road traffic are separated. A number of technical solutions are possible, (you can see the report through the internet at www.toronto.ca/planning/strachanstudy.htm) but, only our proposal will be urban friendly (the proposal recommended by City Council). This proposal was seen by about 150 people in our community at the Public Meeting on November 5, 2008 at the Trinity Bellwoods Recreation Centre, where it received unanimous approval.

The final decision on this matter that will greatly affect our neighbourhoods, and the City of Toronto, will be made by GO Transit and through the environmental process. We have, as a community, taken the first positive step. We will, however, need to be vigilant to make sure that the final decision to allow the needed transit expansion to take place does so in a way that solves problems for us rather than creates new ones.

In conclusion, I hope you find the news in this update useful. I will, as usual, continue to keep you informed once the next steps become clearer.