Old North opposition forces changes to proposed routing on No. 1 bus

In the face of opposition from Old North residents, the London Transit Commission (LTC) has altered a planned route change of its No. 1 bus. 

The No. 1 operates north-south across the city, starting from Kipps Lane at Adelaide Street and running south to Pond Mills at Commissioners Road. 

The routing in Old North currently looks like this:

The current route runs along Huron Street, a few blocks along Regent Street, and over to Richmond Street, where it turns south. Once it hits Oxford Street, the route then jogs east to Colborne before heading south again. 

In a bid to straighten out this contorted route, the LTC had proposed running the No. 1 bus down along Regent Street for four blocks from William Street and from there straight down Colborne Street all the way down to Dufferin Street. 

It would look like this: 

It was one of a handful of proposed LTC route changes for 2019 and due to come before the LTC's board for approval at Wednesday's meeting. 

Many residents opposed the proposed routing, citing concerns about increased traffic on Colborne and Regent streets. 

In a report, the LTC says it received 778 responses to the proposed change, with 28 per cent supporting the changes and 72 per cent opposed.

Danielle Douek was among those against the proposed routing and circulated a petition in the community.

"Most of the concerns expressed were about traffic," she said. "There was an emphasis by the residents on using buses on arterial roads as opposed to residential roads."

She said there were also worries about property values, safety and noise. 

Routing change

Last week, the LTC came up with a compromise. They're now proposing the No. 1 bus run south along Adelaide Street to Cheapside Street. From there it would jog west to Colborne then head south from there. 

Katie Burns, director of planning with LTC, said the change addresses concerns of Old North residents while allowing the route to serve a higher number of customers. 

"It was determined that the highest ridership on Colborne would be realized south of Cheapside," she said. She also said running a section of the route along busy Adelaide Street will help boost ridership. 

The latest proposed route looks like this:

An LTC report confirms that most of the opposition came from residents of Regent Street and Colborne Street residents north of Cheapside.

"We were very pleased to see that the LTC listened to the feedback that was provided through the consultation process," said Douek.

Not everyone is happy with the changes. 

By moving the route off Huron and Regent Streets, the No. 1 bus will no longer serve the Merrymount Family Support Centre or King's College. 

Joe Henry is the dean of students at King's. 

"We're losing a stop and that's the biggest issue," he said. "And we want to understand where those students are going to go. And how they can get to us in a way that's easy for them."

Henry said about half of King's 3,500 students and 400 staff rely on bus service to get to campus. 

The LTC is proposing to use Huron Street to link two existing bus routes that currently operate on separate sides of Adelaide Street:

• The No. 29 route, which runs to Western from Oxford Street and Wonderland Road
• The No. 28 route, which links Fanshawe College with Kipps Lane.

So here's what these two routes look right now:

And here's how they will look after they two routes are combined along Huron Street. 

Changes to the No. 1 route and other proposed changes must be approved at Wednesday's LTC board meeting.