10,000 Residents on Queens Quay West of Bay Street. to Rogers Centre

Chair: Ulla Colgrass Vice-Chair: David Trebilcock Secretary: Marcia Boyd Treasurer: Claire Sparks

1 February 2006

Summary of YQNA Presentation

(Detailed Power Point presentation available upon request)

CONNECTING PEOPLE

A NORTH-SOUTH COVERED WALKWAY UNDER LAKESHORE BLVD. FROM

UNION STATION TO THE WATERFRONT

• Union Station Redevelopment is proposing a southern pedestrian entry/exit into Bremner Blvd, which intersects with York Street south of Union Station.

• Four empty building sites on either side of the York Street/ Bremner Blvd. intersection are at the planning stages, starting with Maple Leaf Square by Lantera Development for a mixed-use (commercial and condominiums) complex about 54 stories high.

• The Air Canada Centre is also expanding on its present capacity with office space and public areas.

• YQNA’s proposed walkway along the east side of York Street from Union Station to Queens Quay would be the first covered, direct pedestrian connection between Toronto’s downtown and the Waterfront. A similar path was in the City plans in the 1980s, called the Blue Path, but it got lost in development. YQNA alone is proposing this very logical walkway.

• A wide, safe, short, and direct north-south walkway between the Waterfront and Union Station offers a 3.5 minute walk. At one end, it would have all forms of public transportation, hotels, shops and the PATH system. At the other end are thousands of condo homes and the city’s main recreational attractions that draw millions of visitors.

• Timing is crucial. The Union Station south exit is being planned, the four York Street sites are to be developed, and the City owns the exit space that we propose for the walkway. It’s a large and underutilized green space under the down-ramp of the Gardiner Expressway at York Street. It would make an ideal access point to Queens Quay attractions and condo homes.

• Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation has seen YQNA’s walkway proposal. We expect it to become an essential part of the TWRC plans that span the Waterfront, including part of the funding. The proposed buildings along York Street, which will benefit from the walkway, will be asked by YQNA to incorporate it in their plans and to contribute financially towards it through Section 37.

Waterfront Facts

• New Condos are springing up all around the area between Front Street and Queens Quay. A 40% increase in population is expected. Most residents do not use cars – this is a largely pedestrian precinct.

• Yet traffic is already abundant, with the exit ramps from the Gardiner and Lakeshore making turns for people entering the city core. The area will become more congested and dangerous, especially for pedestrians who now cross 8 lanes of fast-moving traffic at the Lakeshore and York Street to get back and forth to the downtown. Additional traffic will be generated by the proposed vehicular drop-off and pick-up for Union Station. The combined traffic from surrounding mixed-use developments, coupled with traffic generated by Rogers Centre and the Air Canada Centre will make the Bremner/York intersection another nightmare for pedestrians.

• The heaviest concentrations of pedestrian traffic are around Harbourfront Centre (over 12 million visitors in 2005), the ferries to the Islands, Air Canada Centre and Rogers Centre. Families carrying children and strollers can be seen balancing precariously on narrow streetcar platforms on Queens Quay to take a two-stop ride to Union Station – a dangerous design with accidents waiting to happen, and a very inefficient use of public transit.

YQNA’s Power Point presentation has been shown to a number of stakeholders --residents, planners, city councillors, developers, businesses and architects. So far the response has been overwhelming positive.

YQNA envisions a walkway that is well-proportioned for the expected large volume of pedestrian traffic – a safe, secure and pleasing environment.

We look forward to working with TWRC and the City of Toronto on this first covered walkway between the city core and the Waterfront. An urgent first step is for the City to reserve the rights of way. The future will prove that investing in pedestrian flow at this essential stage will make the Waterfront an even better place to live and to visit.

The map below is of the area between Union Station and Queens Quay with the arrow indicating YQNA’s proposed walkway.

YQNA, 55 Harbour Square Suite 2011,Toronto ON M5J 2L1 — Tel: 416-867-6200 — E-mail/Chair: colgrass@sympatico.ca www.YQNA.org or info@YQNA.org

For further information contact:

Braz Menezes (416 363-9757)

Ulla Colgrass (416 867-6200)

of YQNA’s Planning and Development Committee