The Disabilities Issues Committee and Toronto City Council have forwarded a request to the TTC to improve accessible transit access to the medical and disabilities-specific institutions along Kilgour Road. The LPOA has written to the TTC in support of this request, with a proposal for accomplishing this aim.
4 April 2014
Andy Byford,
General Manager,
Toronto Transit Commission
1900 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario M4S 1Z2
Dear Mr. Byford:
The Leaside Property Owners’ Association, Inc. (LPOA) is aware that the Disabilities Issues Committee and City Council have forwarded a request to the TTC to improve accessible transit access to the medical and disabilities-specific institutions along Kilgour Road. Kilgour Road is the street running east of Bayview Avenue, immediately north of, and parallel to, Glenvale Boulevard, the residential street at the northern end of Leaside.
The LPOA supports better TTC access to these health facilities.
We believe that this can be achieved most conveniently and cost-effectively by amending the current Davisville/Sunnybrook Route 11, rather than by adding a new bus route through North Leaside’s residential area. Please note that we are not referring to the ‘other’ Route 11 Bayview, which travels along Bayview from Davisville all the way to Steeles Avenue.
The Davisville/Sunnybrook Route 11 proceeds along Bayview Avenue and loops through the Sunnybrook Hospital campus, returning to Davisville Station. This route could be amended to allow for a similar loop into the institutional area on Kilgour.
This would provide excellent accessibility to the institutions, with only minor roadwork alterations at the east end, to allow for sufficient bus-turning space. It would not add significant time to the length of the route.
There is already a traffic light at the Kilgour and Bayview intersection, which facilitates turns into and out of Kilgour.
The LPOA does not support adding a new bus route through North Leaside’s residential streets, many of which are narrow and with congested sections. The coming construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT through the Leaside area will increase traffic delays and reduce traffic flow along Eglinton, and increase flow-through traffic diversions into North Leaside. To introduce a new bus route into this situation would be neither helpful nor effective.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Carol Burtin Fripp
Co-President (with Geoff Kettel), LPOA
Response from TTC CEO, Andy Byford via email:
Date: April 14, 2014 4:32:29 PM EDTSubject: RE: Provision of Accessible Transit to the medical/disability-specific institutions on Kilgour Road
Dear Ms Fripp
Thanks for your input to this issue. I have passed your comments on to our service planners so that your views are taken into account.
Regards,
Andy Byford
Chief Executive Officer
Toronto Transit Commission