Schools, roads, transit: As Sunningdale Road grows, so does the infrastructure needs

As growth continues to surge along Sunningdale Road near London's northern boundary, the local city councillor says it's putting pressure on the long overdue need to widen the busy road and add transit to the area.

"A lot of those subdivisions have been built out for now almost a decade, and there is no transit, and this is a real concern," said Ward 7 Coun. Corrine Rahman. "It's busy along that stretch no matter what time of day it is." 

The pressure new subdivisions are putting on Sunningdale is highlighted by a development application coming to council's planning committee on Monday. 

The proposal by Corlon Properties calls for 1,360 new living units to be built in what is now green space in a 51-hectare land parcel bordered by Sunningdale to the south, Wonderland Road to the west and the Sunningdale Golf Course to the east. 

Plans for the proposed subdivision show 156 single-family dwelling lots along with seven blocks set aside for multi-family units along with space for a park and future school. Four- and six-storey buildings are part of the plan, including some apartments fronting Sunningdale and Wonderland that include a mix of residential and commercial spaces. 

The development will come in a series of phases that will eventually claim 18 of the Sunningdale golf course's 36 holes, though only six holes will be removed in the project's first phase.

Work to widen Sunningdale Road to four lanes and add sidewalks between Wonderland and Richmond has been in the city's plans for more than a decade but an issue with an Imperial Oil underground pipeline near the Richmond Street intersection has delayed the work, which was slated to start last year.

Rahman and Mayor Josh Morgan have met with Imperial to resolve the issue as the traffic volume along that stretch of Sunningdale has steadily increased. 

"This is the sticking point for this particular expansion," said Rahman, who pointed to other development applications in the area that are adding to the traffic pressure.

No bus service

As for transit, London Transit Commission (LTC) currently offers no service for Sunningdale between Richmond and Hyde Park Road, with the exception of a small section between Richmond and Meadowlands Way. 

Adding bus service to the section of Sunningdale isn't part of planned service enhancements laid out in the LTC's most recent five-year service plan, which was approved in June. The LTC was given money to expand service by 18,000 service hours across the city in the last budget.

LTC Chair Kelly Paleczny said the service plan is revisited once a year and can be amended in cases where an area has grown enough to justify new service.

Some of the money to create new routes could come out of assessment growth funds, which is money the city earns through taxes on new housing. Paleczny said the LTC would have to put forward a business case for the new service and have it approved by council.

"[Sunningdale] is a classic example of where assessment growth could apply because it's a new area being developed," said Paleczny. 

"The sooner you get the transit in to a subdivision the better," she said. 

The Planning committee will hold a public meeting about the proposed subdivision on Monday at 1 p.m. at city hall.