5 km of public roads shut down by private construction called 'alarming' by Toronto councillor

Private developers have temporarily shut down 5.1 kilometres' worth of roads, sidewalks and bike lanes in Toronto, infuriating some residents who are finding it harder to get around. 

"Wow. Those numbers are quite alarming," said Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam, who represents a downtown ward. "You can imagine removing five kilometres of sidewalks away from downtown, midtown Toronto. You're almost shutting the city down."

CBC Toronto requested that the city compile a list of where the closures exist, which developers are responsible for them and the length of each temporary closure.

72 shutdowns in the city 

• The only full street shutdown is on Helendale Avenue for an expected 13-month closure to build a condo at 2388 Yonge St., in north Toronto.
• The longest shutdown is 4½ years, for a condo being built at Bloor and Yonge, a major downtown intersection. The sidewalk and one lane of traffic will be closed on Hayden Street on the south side of the construction site.

'I say that they've been lazy,' councillor says 

Wong-Tam's riding, Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale, is the epicentre of the occupations. Of the 72 projects in play right now, 27 of them are in the ward, many of which dot the busy Yonge Street corridor.

Wong-Tam said she receives almost daily complaints about the road closures. What people don't know, she said, is that before any road occupancy permit is approved it goes through a very "rigorous" technical review and negotiation between the city and the developer. 

The councillor said she believes some developers have been "lazy" and have a sense of entitlement, but it has gotten better.

"Over the six years that I've been at city hall, I have seen planning staff and others get a little bit tougher on this matter," she said. "[The developers] haven't necessarily responded to the pressures on their own — they've been forced to respond to the pressures. So that's why I say that they've been lazy [and] not as innovative as they can be."

Closing a main road is 'last resort' 

Kyp Perikleous, director of Toronto Transportation Services, said the city works to avoid shutdowns of arterial roads.

Transportation Services estimates that main roads see 2,500 vehicles per hour during rush-hour traffic.

Perikleous acknowledges that even a one-lane shutdown can significantly worsen congestion.

"It's got to be a means of last resort. We need to make sure that if it's for a main arterial roadway that we have looked at the site to confirm it can't be done on a local road where there is less of an impact," Perikleous said.

A 'smack in the face' for residents

Nathan Grundy, 38, has filed more than a dozen complaints with the city over private developers shutting down public bike lanes and streets, but he said the five-kilometre figure astonished him.

"That's a lot of space. That's a long way of laneway, and I can't even picture five kilometres in my head," he said. "I think that is absolutely ridiculous and kind of a smack in the face to residents of the city." 

Grundy, who has lived in Toronto his entire adult life, said the shutdowns don't just affect drivers but pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders, too.

"I don't blame the developers, they are playing within the rules," Grundy said. "I think that city councillors should really take a look at the rules and adjust them to reflect today's facts on the ground. We are at an age where we have the skills and resources to build great buildings without having to have a significant impact on commute times." 

Last month, Mayor John Tory vowed to get tough on applications from developers seeking to close public space.

Tory's office highlighted three projects where the city has worked to reduce the inconvenience caused by construction — two on Richmond Street and one on Bathurst Street.

The mayor's office pointed to the condo being built at 604-618 Richmond St. W., which is currently shutting down one lane of traffic on a main arterial road. It's been adjusted to reduce the width of the shutdown, maintain the Richmond Street bicycle lane and reduce the construction time from 24 to 18 months.

Other major cities like Dublin, Philadelphia and Montreal make developers pay more to occupy priority streets than side streets. Chicago also takes into account the duration of the shutdown and initial fees can go up by as much as eight times by the 18-month mark, according to a City of Toronto report.

Permit fee hike in Toronto raises $4.84M in 2016

In Toronto, builders need to acquire a permit to build on public spaces, but prior to 2015, a sidewalk off the beaten path and a lane of traffic on a main road cost the exact same amount to close for construction. 

In October 2015, council voted to introduce a new fee structure depending on the importance of the road. The new rules increased fees from $5.77 a month for each square metre of space occupied, to as much as $107.94 a month per square metre for priority roads.

In 2014, street occupation permit fees generated approximately $2.5 million for general revenue, and in 2016, the first full year after the fee increase, revenue from the fees rose to $4.84 million.

Steve Deveaux, chairman of the Building Industry and Land Development Association, said the fee increase led to more than just more money for the city. 

"It did force builders and developers to think a bit more creatively about the life cycle of the construction process," said Deveaux, adding that many builders have become more careful about occupying space as needed.

"But you could double, triple, quadruple the price and it still would not negate the need for that staging in the right of way, as we're trying to build the kinds of buildings the city is asking us to build right up to the street line."