Terms of Reference, Redway Road and

Brentcliffe Road Extension Feasibility Study

(Ward 1, East York)

The Works Committee recommends the adoption of the following report (September 16, 1999) from the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services:

Purpose:

To report on the terms of reference for a study to be conducted this fall with respect to the feasibility and necessity of extending Redway Road from its current terminus to Bayview Avenue, and of extending Brentcliffe Road to Millwood Road.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

The estimated cost to complete the study is $75,000.00. Of this amount, $25,000.00 was set aside in the 1999 Transportation Capital Works budget for the Redway Road extension study. Funds to undertake the Brentcliffe Road portion of the study ($50,000.00) were included in a letter of credit from the developer of 147 Laird Drive, the former Alcatel Wire lands, as part of the development agreement.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1)the City carry out a technical study to determine the need and feasibility of extending Redway Road westerly from its current terminus to Bayview Avenue and extending Brentcliffe Road southerly from Wicksteed Avenue to Millwood Road in accordance with the Terms of Reference attached to this report, and the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services be authorized to obtain proposals from qualified Consulting Engineering firms to undertake this study; and

(2)the appropriate City officials be authorized to take whatever action is necessary to implement the foregoing.

Comments:

This report provides the terms of reference for a study to determine the feasibility and necessity of extending Redway Road to Bayview Avenue and extending Brentcliffe Road to Millwood Road. The Redway Road study was proposed by the former Borough of East York Council in 1996 as a means of reducing transient traffic through the South Leaside area. A study to determine the need and feasibility of extending Brentcliffe Road was included as part of the development agreement between the City and the developer of the former Alcatel Wire site.

The extension of Brentcliffe Road to Millwood Road is generally contingent upon the feasibility of extending Redway Road to Bayview Avenue. Although initially proposed separately, given the interconnectivity between the two roadways, it is prudent to combine the study of both roadway extensions into one. The results of the study will be presented at a future Works Committee meeting.

It should be noted that this study will review the feasibility and necessity of extending Redway Road and Brentcliffe Road from a technical traffic planning perspective only. If the study concludes that either or both extensions are feasible and necessary from a transportation perspective, a comprehensive environmental assessment including extensive public consultation will be required.

The terms of reference are attached to this report. It provides background information for both Redway Road and Brentcliffe Road as well as the purpose of the study, scope of work and a timetable for completion.

Contact Name:

Peter Bartos

Manager, Traffic Operations, District 1

397-4486

Terms of Reference

Redway Road and Brentcliffe Road Extensions

Feasibility Study

1.0Background:

The purpose of this study is to determine the need and feasibility of extending Redway Road westerly from its current terminus to Bayview Avenue and the extension of Brentcliffe Road southerly from Wicksteed Avenue to Millwood Road on the south side of the CPR Mid-Toronto Subdivision. These two roads have previously been considered as separate projects, however, given the potential connection of these two links and the impact on the surrounding neighbourhoods, they are being considered collectively for the purposes of this study. The background of these two road extensions is given below.

Redway Road Extension:

Former Borough of East York Council, at its meeting on September 16, 1996, recommended that a study be conducted to investigate completing the connection of Redway Road with Bayview Avenue. This extension was proposed as a potential means of reducing traffic volume through the South Leaside area in the East York District. The lack of an arterial connection between Bayview Avenue and Laird Drive, south of Eglinton Avenue, has resulted in non-local motorists using South Leaside streets such as Southvale Drive as an alternate. Southvale Drive currently carries approximately 15,000 vehicles on a daily basis with the majority of these motorists originating outside of the Leaside area. Although defined as a collector road in the East York Official Plan, the current traffic volumes are more characteristic of an arterial road. The existing traffic volumes, in conjunction with potential future increases resulting from numerous large scale developments being planned in the area, have resulted in requests to review extending Redway Road to Bayview Avenue to act as a bypass to South Leaside streets.

Redway Road currently serves as an access to a Loblaws Store and to the North Toronto Sewage Treatment Plant.

Brentcliffe Road Extension:

The South Leaside industrial area, located in the southeast quadrant of Eglinton Avenue East and Laird Avenue, has been the subject of numerous redevelopment proposals in recent years. Two of the larger proposals are the Kosmor site (Eglinton Avenue/Brentcliffe Road/Research Road/Leslie Street) and the Noble Cherry Development (Wicksteed Avenue/Laird Drive/Commercial Road/to east of Brentcliffe Road).

As part of the development agreements for these sites, transportation related improvements have been identified and will be phased in as the developments proceed to full build out.

Recognizing the increased demand on the existing road network posed by planned and future redevelopment and the extent of traffic infiltration into the existing residential area west of Laird Avenue, opportunities to improve traffic flow between the Eglinton Avenue/Leslie Street area and Bayview Avenue/Bloor Street area need to be examined in greater detail. Given the foregoing, the Development Agreement between the former Borough of East York and Noble Cherry Development Limited required that a transportation study, including assessment of the Brentcliffe Road extension, be completed following final approval of this development.

2.0Study Purpose:

The purpose of this study is to establish the need and feasibility from a transportation perspective for extending Redway Road to Bayview Avenue and Brentcliffe Drive from Wicksteed Avenue to Millwood Road, on the south side of the CPR Mid-Toronto subdivision. The need is to be determined based on the current and future traffic patterns in the study area and quantifies the impact on the extensions on the South Leaside community.

If the need and feasibility are established, this study could form the basis of the Environmental Assessment Study, which would be required for approval of these facilities.

3.0Study Area:

The geographic limits for this study are Bayview Avenue, Eglinton Avenue East, Leslie Street and the Don Valley Parkway. The study area is shown on the attached map.

Key intersections within the study area are:

Eglinton Avenue East/Brentcliffe RoadLaird Drive/Millwood Road

Eglinton Avenue East/Laird DriveBayview Avenue/McRae Drive

Eglinton Avenue East/Bayview AvenueBayview Avenue/Southvale Drive

Laird Drive/McRae Drive/Wicksteed AvenueLeslie Street/Eglinton Avenue East

4.0Scope Of Work:

4.1Work Program and Schedule:

The proposal for consulting services that will be submitted in response to these terms of reference will be refined to reflect in detail the scope and work schedule of the study and will form the basis for the agreement between the City of Toronto and the Consultant.

4.2Data Collection:

The Consultant will be responsible for the collection, organization, documentation and interpretation of appropriate data, including, but not limited to the following:

(i)review of all relevant background materials and studies;

(ii)summarize the existing transportation operations in the study area:

-weekday AM peak period (7:00 am to 9:30 am), weekday PM peak period (4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.) turning movement counts at all major intersections within the study area;

-weekday AM and PM peak period origin-destination information for motorists using Bayview Avenue, Laird Drive/Millwood Road, South Leaside Streets (Southvale Drive, McRae Drive etc.) in sufficient detail to predict the potential volume and probable routes of traffic diverting from these roadways (interviews/questionnaire);

-weekday peak period travel time data on all arterial/collector routes in the study area;

-data on weekly peak period traffic that will be generated by new developments within or near the study area; and

-intersection capacity analyses for key intersections identified in Section 3.0 above.

(ii)summarize the impact of approved and planned future development in the Leaside industrial area taking into account transportation related improvements required as a condition of development approvals.

The City of Toronto will provide intersection turning movement counts no older than two years where available, however, these counts must be viewed in relation to potential changes in traffic patterns due either to new developments or recent road network modifications. The City will also provide all current traffic signal timings, parking and traffic regulations in the study area.

4.3Data Analysis:

The Consultant will be responsible for determining:

Redway Road Extension:

The feasibility and necessity of extending Redway Road to Bayview Avenue, identifying constraints, and developing potential measures to promote the use of Redway Road as opposed to streets in South Leaside. The anticipated distribution of trips will need to be quantified as well as the amount of traffic that will divert from South Leaside to Redway Road. The impacts of the proposed extension on pedestrian and cyclists' movements should also be quantified.

The analysis should also indicate the effect that various traffic management initiatives introduced in South Leaside would have on traffic volumes on Redway Road. Historically, traffic management measures (turn restrictions, speed humps, chicanes etc.) proposed for collector streets in South Leaside have not received support from the community. Residents feared that motorists would find alternate streets in the area thus redirecting collector road volumes on these streets. The extension of Redway Road provides an alternate for motorists, which could allow for the introduction of traffic mitigation measures on collector streets in South Leaside.

Brentcliffe Road Extension:

-identify opportunities for additional screenline crossings, including extending Brentcliffe Road southerly to the south side of the CPR Mid-Toronto rail line;

-re-assign traffic based on prevailing travel patterns and existing operational constraints;

-assess the benefits to the north/south corridors vs. the impacts in the new CPR rail line crossing environs; and

-summarize the assessment of alternatives and identify preferred alternative(s).

4.4Public Consultation:

Public consultation will be required during this study. City Transportation staff will co-ordinate this public consultation. The Consultant shall provide City staff with technical support at all public meetings, this support is to include:

-preparation of display boards and drawings;

-preparation of overhead and/or slide presentations; and

-attendance by technical experts at all meetings to present technical issues and/or answer technical questions.

For the purposes of budgeting it is assumed that the following meetings will be part of the consultation program:

2 public information centres;

1 Works Committee meeting;

1 East York Community Council meeting;

1 Toronto Community Council meeting; and

1 City Council meeting (no presentation).

These meetings are in addition to meetings that will be required with City staff.

5.0Final Product:

The final product of this study will consist of the following elements:

-10 copies of a report documenting the study process, findings and recommendations, including technical appendices which contain all of the background data collected and used in the analysis;

-functional plans for the extension of both Brentcliffe Drive and Redway Road, if deemed feasible, in both print and Intergraph Design File Format (DGN); and

-preliminary cost estimates of the recommended road extensions.

The final report may be included as part of a formal Environmental Assessment and therefore should be easily adaptable as a subsection of the EA report.

6.0.Timeframe:

The study is to be initiated by October 4, 1999, and be completed in approximately 2.5 months, January 1, 2000, or as soon thereafter as considered reasonable following discussions with City staff.