Roncesvalles Dug Up
The new-look Roncesvalles Avenue is finally on its way, but from now until January the new look involves only one northbound lane of traffic, jack hammering construction, and general navigation challenges.
The view of Roncesvalles and High Park is already mighty different than it was two months ago, and although the show must go on, it's not clear to me how the Polish Festival is going to work this year.
But the issue right now is getting around the neighbourhood. Most intersections are still open and there are a few sections with parking and two-way traffic still available, but much of Roncesvalles from Dundas to Queen is one lane only and the busy Roncesvalles/High Park/Fermanagh intersection at the midpoint amounts to a big trench at the moment.
The stated restrictions indicated there would be no parking and only one lane of northbound traffic the whole length of Roncesvalles so the city is either being compassionate to the worried shop owners along the bustling commercial strip, or the strong BIA has pulled some weight to keep as much of the street open as possible as the work crews move northward from their southern and middle starting points.
One inconvenience that has been implemented is no streetcars on Roncesvalles, and they won't be back until late 2010 when the work to replace the tracks is completed. Buses run northbound along Roncesvalles from Queen (The 504 King still operates as a streetcar for the whole route except Roncesvalles), and southbound service is via Dundas, Lansdowne, and Queen Streets.
Although the street will reopen to vehicles this winter, it will only be temporary pavement that fills in the trenches after the new utility lines are laid down. That pavement will be ripped up a second time - and similar route disruptions seem inevitable - next summer when the streetcar tracks are replaced, the street is repaved, fancy transit platforms are installed, and the sidewalks take on a whole new look (with an integrated tree canopy if Roncesvalles Renewed gets their way).
When everything is done about a year from now, the street should look pretty sharp, and with accessible platforms built into the design it's expected that Roncesvalles will become a model street city- (and maybe even world-) wide. But until then, it's early morning construction noises, difficult neighbourhood navigation, and a whole lot of crossed fingers that the construction stays on schedule and a full year of major road work doesn't have a negative impact on businesses and residents of this, one of the city's most charming neighbourhoods.
Comments (14)
I'm excited about this. I love living in the area and I hope it all works out well. The construction doesn't really bother me as I'm from Vancouver and dealt with the Cambie Street construction. This project isn't as intense as that so I think the stores will do ok. they get lots of foot traffic and I don't think the contsruction is gonna keep the locals away from the strip.
I'm not a local, and I like to rent movies and grab ice cream at Film Buff. I had to park "very creatively" (i.e. illegally) the other day to run in and select a movie, the whole while wondering if I was being ticketed or towed. I know I could have looked for parking in a (much) further spot, but I was being lazy.
I do think it'll have an effect on visitors to the neighbourhood. But as long as the buses are running efficiently, it shouldn't be too much of a transit nightmare for those living in the area.
As one who lives in the Roncesvalles neighbourhood I'm glad to see the upgrades... I'm willing to weather the construction storm given the outcome will be much nicer than what is already there.
I sent a quick email to info@polishfestival.ca asking about the status of this year's festival and received a note from Keith Denning, Coordinator of the Roncey Village BIA, to say that "Yes, there will be a festival this year on Roncesvalles. The contractors will fix up the road for that weekend, and then get back to work."
Somewhat optimistic given the scale of the construction and the sheer amount of equipment and machinery involved but I will cross my fingers for the Festival's organizers that they can pull this off.
How is it this is scheduled to take over a year and a half? Never mind we should expect it to take closer to three, if St. Clair's disaster is any precedent. Wait and see as many businesses go under on Roncesvalles. They should sue the city. A business can be expected to suck it up for a half year, but what happened on St. C is absurd.
Every time I have returned to Tokyo they have built a new SUBWAY LINE in each year and got it open without major kinks or disruptions! Adjusting for the sizes of the cities, I can't see why we can't get a new line every decade (Shep. counts as 1/4 line in forty years).
Toronto: aim low and miss.
Maybe the construction crews will inject some $$ into the area. I'm sure Queen of Tarts, Fat Cat Wine Bar and "My Dog's Daycare" can't wait for the crowds.
The buses are doing fine, but the big annoyance for me is getting out at the Dundas West station and wanting to go south... now I have to make a big loop down Lansdowne or walk a lot further. I don't mind the walk sometimes, but other times it's a pain. Overall, though, a small price to pay for the upgrades. The street and sidewalk are not in good shape, and the wider sidewalks in the redesign well suit a neighbourhood with so much foot traffic.
What happened on St. Clair happened more or less because residents and businesses just wanted a fight... so that's what they got. Residents and businesses in Roncesvalles have been collaborating with the city for something like 5 years. The significant delays to this work came before the work even began. There may still be delays, but at this point it's a matter of doing work. And I suspect the stretch of Roncy being redone is much smaller than the stretch of St. Clair, which would shrink the timetable.
That said, there was supposed to be a design details meeting hosted by Gord Perks' office, but it was cancelled due to the strike. That needs to happen sooner than later so the design is in place for next year's work.
St. Clair might look like a terrible design and taking far too long, but don't let that fool you - the design IS terrible and taking far too long!
Everyone don't worry about jamesmallon's comments, he's right here and he's had a rough day. He got a speeding ticket on the way in, a parking ticket at lunch and spilled a McFlurry on his slacks.
His comments are aimed low and he's grumpy. Give'm a break.
'Frank', what are you on about? I don't drive at all, and I don't eat like a 905er. I just happen to remember 30y ago when this city led in N.America; now it blows. Maybe if Torontonians got their head out of their @$$es and compared our tawdry cityscape to cities leaving us far behind... ah, nevermind.
And 'Joshua', I know the BIA and others on St. Clair were against the streetcar for all of the wrong reasons, but it turned out to be a disaster in construction, quite unique from their fear-mongering.
'Morgan', I believe I did refer to another city in my post... And, I think you should look at what I said to 'Frank'.
Someone make a more cogent case for multi-year contruction projects on city streets with such middling improvements as we might get on St. Clair and Roncesvalles.
Replacing aging watermains and transit infrastructure and giving pedestrians more space in a largely pedestrian neighbourhood is a pretty darn good case for the Roncesvalles construction, don't you think?
St. Clair is a whole other animal and covers a far bigger stretch of road than Roncesvalles. Roncesvalles isn't getting a dedicated streetcar lane and few people are raising a fuss about the much-needed work. It's not at all comparable to St. Clair and I don't think there's any reason to assume it'll take more than two years to be completely finished.
Hi folks:
Just wanted to follow up on Hamish's comment. It's true, we are having our Festival this year, on September 19 and 20. The street will be cleaned up, open trenches will be infilled and either asphalt patched or covered with steel plate, and we'll be partying in September.
I want to see everyone at the Festival, but more than that, I want to see everyone continuing to come to Roncesvalles during the construction, and supporting our businesses. We are open for business, and even though the parking situation is a bit messy in places, you can generally find a parking spot within a block or two of where you're going. (Going to the Film Buff, Jerrold? Park south of Harvard or north of Pearson and you're only a block and a bit away from the Buff.)
Also, please remember that there is free parking on side streets. Not ideal, I know, but still...
Thanks everyone!
Keith Denning, Coordinator
Roncesvalles Village BIA
jamesmallon... out of curiosity, how much are property and businness taxes in Tokio? Are transport and serices fares comparable?
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