Planned Ontario Place redevelopment will add to traffic woes: city report

Premier Doug Ford has said easing Toronto congestion is a top priority for his government, but a city report finds his plan to redevelop Ontario Place may add to the problem.

The report, which looks at the potential traffic impacts of the planned Ontario Place redevelopment, projects congestion on parts of Lake Shore Boulevard could increase by as much as 67 per cent by 2032.

The Ford government's $2.2-billion plan to turn Ontario Place into a year-round attraction includes a private spa, large parking lot, expanded concert venue and new Ontario Science Centre pavilion.

On average, the project would add one to two minutes to driving times on Lake Shore Boulevard between Strachan Avenue and British Columbia Drive during peak hours, according to the report. Congestion is projected to increase up to 38 per cent during weekday peak hours. 

About five to six and a half minutes would be added to that same drive during special events like Toronto F.C. matches and the Canadian National Exhibition. During the CNE, congestion is forecast to go up 67 per cent.

That has locals like Brad Schinkel and his wife worried for the future of the surrounding community.

"When we first started reading about that, it kind of just made us think, 'Do we want to live here anymore?'" said Schinkel, who runs a hot sauce business from his home on Jameson Street. 

"Do you want to live in a place where you can't move around ever, where you're constantly just stuck in this tiny little area?" he said. "It's become an unbelievable headache just to be around here."

Traffic not likely to rise much during some peak hours

One researcher says it's important to consider the study's results are varied. 

The highest projected increase in congestion comes during CNE, which is isolated to about two weeks during the summer, says Matti Siemiatycki, the director of the infrastructure institute at the University of Toronto. During some weekday peak hours, congestion is only forecast to go up two per cent, he notes.

But he says he's not surprised by the report's findings.

The area surrounding Ontario Place is already heavily congested, Siemiatycki says, and traffic would be likely to go up anywhere a major attraction or destination is built in the city. But he says the large parking lot planned for Ontario Place, along with the lack of door-to-door transit, doesn't help.

"If you're building [anything] that's this big, that's auto-oriented with hundreds if not thousands of parking spots associated with it, it's going to cause congestion," he said. "And this location is going to be no different."

The Ford government is required to build at least 1,800 parking spaces as part of the Therme spa planned for the site.

Siemiatycki says the site needs to be directly accessible by transit, adding that current options don't go directly to Ontario Place.

The city projections take into account the impact of planned transit improvements, including Lakeshore West GO improvements, SmartTrack, Waterfront East and West LRT and the Ontario Line.

At a community council meeting on Jan. 14 where the report was debated, Coun. Josh Matlow worried congestion could be even worse if those transit projects are delayed. 

Province says it expects most visitors to use transit

Ford's government has repeated its priority to reduce gridlock in the city several times over the last year.

The government floated building a tunnel under part of Highway 401, announced millions in spending to speed up construction on the Gardiner Expressway and passed legislation that will allow the province to remove bike lanes, which Ford has claimed slow the flow of traffic.

Ash Milton, a spokesperson for Ontario Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma, said in an email that transit is expected to be the preferred option for Ontario Place visitors, and the province is "ensuring that residents and businesses in Toronto have all the transport options they need as the population continues to grow."

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Ontario Place for All co-chair Norm Di Pasquale, who opposes the redevelopment and is an NDP candidate in the upcoming provincial election, says he trusts the city report more than the province.

"Doug Ford says he's so serious about eliminating traffic," Di Pasquale said. "He's actually causing traffic far worse than anything we've experienced today."

The Toronto and East York community council has directed staff to report back later this year on ways to keep congestion down around the redevelopment and improve safety in the area for cyclists and pedestrians.

Coun. Ausma Malik, who introduced the successful motion this month, told CBC Toronto that the report is another indicator that "this development, its size, its scope, its scale does not belong on our waterfront."

The report, based on data submitted by LEA Transportation Consulting Ltd., was released in November but city staff say it was updated this month after the discovery of a mathematical error. The previous version projected congestion around the redevelopment could go up as high as 40 per cent during peak hours.