Long Branch Mainstreets Pilot Project

Reconstruction of the South Side of Lake Shore Boulevard West

Twenty Second Street to Thirty First Street

(Lakeshore-Queensway)

The Etobicoke Community Council recommends the adoption of the following report (September 14, 1999) from the Director, Transportation Services Division, District 2:

Purpose:

To reconstruct the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Twenty Second Street and Thirty First Street, using an alternative Right-of-Way cross-section. The proposed cross-section retains the on-street angled parking stalls that exist on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Twenty Fifth Street and Thirty First Street.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

Funding for the reconstruction of this section of Lake Shore Boulevard West is contained in the Transportation Services Division's 1999 Capital Budget.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the Etobicoke Community Council approve staff's alternative cross-section for the reconstruction of Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Twenty Second Street and Thirty First Street, that retains the existing on-street angled parking stalls situated along the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Twenty Fifth Street and Thirty First Street.

Council Reference/Background/History:

At its meeting of April 1, 1997, the Council for the City of Etobicoke endorsed "Option B7" as the preferred road allowance cross-section to be used in the future reconstruction of Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Twenty Second  Street and Thirty First Street (Attachment No. 1). The result of a comprehensive 1996 transportation assessment completed as part of the "Long Branch Mainstreets Pilot Project," Option B7 substantially increases boulevard landscaping and sidewalk areas on both sides of Lake Shore Boulevard West (Attachment No. 2). This is achieved by narrowing the travelled portion of this segment of Lake Shore Boulevard West to two lanes in each direction, and by replacing the on-street angle parking stalls on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Twenty Fifth Street and Thirty First Street, with parallel parking stalls.

Approval of Option B7 was conditional upon a "Memorandum of Understanding" that was to be signed by the Long Branch Business Improvement Association (LBBIA), the City of Etobicoke and the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (Attachment No. 1). This "Memorandum of Understanding" specified that:

(1)improvements first be made to the north side of Lake Shore Boulevard West;

(2)the City of Etobicoke and Metropolitan Toronto consider improvements on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West, consistent with Option B7, during the preparation of their 1998 budgets; municipal participation was predicated on a tripartite cost-sharing arrangement with the LBBIA;

(3)the LBBIA would use its 'best efforts' to secure the financing necessary to contribute to the south side road improvements;

(4)further to area parking studies conducted by BA Consulting Group in December 1995 and January 1996, City staff were requested to conduct additional parking surveys in the study area before reconstructing the south side;

(5)to ensure that on-street parking was kept available for patrons, the LBBIA was to encourage its membership to lease parking in the relocated Skeen's Lane municipal parking lot that was to be constructed as part of the redevelopment of Skeen's Lane;

(6)subject to the results of the additional parking studies, the City of Etobicoke would endeavour to lease and/or purchase property between Twenty Second Street and Thirty First Street for public parking purposes;

(7)the City of Etobicoke shall develop and implement a Parking Management and Enforcement Plan for the Long Branch Business Improvement Area; and

(8)the LBBIA would continue to "aggressively" implement the recommendations identified in the Final Report of the Long Branch Mainstreet Pilot Project.

While the former City of Etobicoke Council and Metropolitan Toronto Council endorsed Option B7, the LBBIA did not, and the "Memorandum of Understanding" was not signed.

As indicated previously, reconstruction of the north side of Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Twenty Second Street and Thirty First Street, was completed in 1998. Budget approval to reconstruct the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West was granted by the City of Toronto Council in 1999. Council's authorization to proceed with the reconstruction of the south side requires that a decision be made regarding the configuration of the on-street metered parking stalls situated on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West.

Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:

A total of 134 on-street parking stalls exist on both sides of Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Twenty Second Street and Thirty First Street. There are 88 on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West and 46 on the north. A municipal lot containing 22 additional parking stalls is located on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West, at Twenty Third Street.

As described in Section 187-2 of the Etobicoke Municipal Code, these parking stalls are metered with a maximum permitted stay of 120 minutes between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday to Saturday. The present cost of parking at a metered parking stall in this area is $0.25 per hour; however, the Toronto Parking Authority has recently changed the time period and parking rate. The fee for parking at a metered stall will increase to $1.00 per hour between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., Monday to Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Parking occupancy studies conducted in December 1995 by BA Consulting Group as part of the "Long Branch Mainstreet Pilot Project Transportation Assessment" found that the metered parking stalls on this section of Lake Shore Boulevard West showed an average weekday peak period occupancy of 88 percent. This high level of parking occupancy was not unexpected, since December is the peak month for retail parking demand, and is not normally used for design purposes.

In addition to the studies done by BA Consulting Group and as requested by the LBBIA, City of Etobicoke Transportation staff conducted additional parking occupancy studies in January and April 1997. These studies found that between 50 to 60 percent of the on-street parking stalls in the area are occupied during weekday and weekend peak demand periods. This low level of parking occupancy appears to have resulted from the low utilization of the parallel parking stalls located on the north side of Lake Shore Boulevard West, where less than one-third of the available on-street parking stalls are in use during peak periods. When only the south side, between Twenty Second Street and Thirty First Street is analyzed, peak period parking occupancy ranges between 60 and 70 percent. The angled parking stalls situated on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Twenty Eighth Street and Thirty First Street, are 100 percent occupied during peak midday periods.

As approved, Option B7 replaces the existing angled parking stalls on Lake Shore Boulevard West with parallel parking stalls, decreasing the total available supply of on-street parking stalls by approximately 22 percent. This reduction in on-street metered parking stalls results in an overall parking vacancy rate of 15 percent during peak demand periods for those stalls on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West. Our analysis also showed that based on current demand, converting the existing angled stalls to parallel on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Twenty Seventh Street and Thirty First Street, results in a parking supply that cannot accommodate the existing demand.

One of the goals of the Long Branch Mainstreets Pilot Project is to revitalize the business community through initiatives such as increased development densities and, where appropriate reduced commercial and residential parking standards. Unlike other successful 'mainstreet' areas such as The Kingsway and Bloor West Village, the study area does not have access to a large number of off-street public parking stalls that can easily be used to support this level of redevelopment. Reducing the existing on-street parking supply by converting the existing angled stalls to parallel may actually discourage future commercial investment in the area.

To secure the development potential of the Long Branch Mainstreets Pilot Project requires that we protect the existing supply of on-street parking stalls. With this in mind, we examined a number of alternative cross-sections that, rather than the parallel parking stall layout illustrated in Option B7, used parking stall angles of 45 degrees and 60 degrees. The 60 degree angle design was found to be the most efficient from a parking supply perspective, and 'buffer' dimensions between the rear of the stall and the travelled portions of the road were maximized to increase the sight distance available to motorists when they back out of the stalls. The result of this redesign is the road allowance cross-section that is illustrated in Attachments Nos. 3 and 4. Using this cross-section provides an on-street angled parking layout that is as safe as the current arrangement, less wasteful of boulevard and pedestrian area, and maintains the existing number of angled parking stalls.

Conclusions:

The road allowance cross-section that we propose for the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Twenty Second Street and Thirty First Street will narrow Lake Shore Boulevard West to two through lanes in each direction. It provides dedicated bicycle lanes on both sides of the street, and retains the angled parking stalls that exist on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Twenty Fifth Street and Thirty First Street. This redesign increases the minimum hard surfaced boulevard and sidewalk width from the approximately 2.1 m that currently exists, to between 4.0 m and 4.5 m.

Contact Name:

Allan Smithies, Manager, Traffic Planning/R-O-W Management, District 2

Tel.: (416) 394-8412; Fax: (416) 394-8942

(A copy of each of Attachments Nos. 1 to 4, referred to in the foregoing report, was forwarded to all Members of Council with the agenda for the Etobicoke Community Council meeting of September 14 and 15, 1999, and a copy of each is on file in the office of the City Clerk.)