As we posted yesterday, the St. Clair ROW has been given the legal authority to proceed with construction. Save Our St. Clair (SOS) has 15 days to appeal the decision, though it is rare that the courts overturn these types of rulings (in the range of 5%, I’m told).
I spoke with TTC vice-chair Joe Mihevc last night, and he was obviously excited. “Everyone should be happy about this,” he said. “We need to put this behind us and move forward to make this part of town exciting and vibrant, and the ROW is the first step.” When I asked him about how the City is going to deal with bitter remnants in the community, he indicated that SOS should try and put this behind them and help the neighbourhoods push for strong, smart and sustainable urban design that will accompany the construction. (If you were listening to CBC Radio this morning Mihevc and Margaret Smith of the SOS were on and had it out with each other on-air.)
This is good news for residents along St. Clair West, and also good for the city as a whole. Here are my reasons why:
1. The TTC learned a lesson is this (we hope). They have to make sure they have all aspects of their projects air-tight to avoid unnecessary NIMBYism from businesses and residents. I’m not suggesting the TTC bully its way through neighbourhoods, but make sure they have covered their collective ass so taxpayers are not on the hook for delays, legal costs and inflation (almost $2.7 million extra was spent on court-related activities and incurred costs due to the delay). There are at least 10 other areas of Toronto where the TTC wants to install ROWs (mostly near new developments) so this trial run should help them understand the intricacies of implementing these large-scale plans under the new Official Plan.
2. Its good for the environment. This notion seems to be missing from a lot of the reports and arguments about the ROW. Efficient transit means less people have to use their cars. By separating different modes of traffic, people that do drive will not get stuck behind streetcars, thus reducing the amount of on-street idling.
3. While Save Our St. Clair believes the ROW will ruin the community, I believe the exact opposite. With good access to transit, people will be encouraged to move close to the route or visit more often. This leads to a greater demand for housing and amenities in the neighbourhood, and as we’ve seen along Spadina, a ROW can turn around a neighbourhood in slow decline.
4. As Councillor Mihevc noted, urban design will play a central key to the success of the ROW. There will be new streetscaping to be done, public art will be used in the bus shelters, and an effort to reduce the amount of wires overhead is being considered. You can have a great ROW, but if the pedestrian experience is not fully realized, the effort to attract more people to the area will be a waste.
5. You can stop boycotting St. Clair.
If you want detailed reasons on how the City and the TTC screwed up on this project, check out Steve Munro’s post today. Munro is the recent recipient of the Jane Jacobs Prize, so he is not just some dude with a bone to pick. He is THE dude with all the right bones to pick — and Spacing loves him.
For more on the court decisions you can read the Globe and Mail’s article, or the Toronto Star’s.
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Also, we apologize for our post yesterday about the “new” bike lane on Bloor. We were duped by some cycling enthusiasts who we trust to provide us with good info.
photo by PhotoJack on Flickr
