Bulldog photo of the Don Valley Parkway and Don River, looking south from the Leaside Bridge, May 2020.

Metrolinx has announced in a March 1st, 2023 news release, that they have identified a new location for the Don Valley GO layover facility. New location will proceed to planning and design phase to increase service and support GO Expansion.

“As part of the development phase of the GO Expansion – On-Corridor Works Project, Metrolinx has been working with ONxpress to optimize GO service expansion levels and a new location for the layover facility has been identified in that process. This means that Metrolinx will no longer pursue planning and design work for the layover facility originally planned for the Don Valley.

“The new proposed location is on the Richmond Hill GO Line, near York Mills Road and Leslie Street, and is in a light industrial area. This location is within the required proximity to Union station to accommodate train movements, has available space for the facility and minimizes service impacts on GO operations. The location also meets TRCA flood requirements and has less community and environmental impacts.

“To enable rail service increases during design and construction of the new layover, the Rosedale Siding (located between Bayview Avenue and the Don Valley Parkway) will be used temporarily to stage GO trains during the day. GO Trains will be staged at the Rosedale Siding for about two hours in the morning peak period, and another two hours in the afternoon peak period.”

• Metrolinx abandons plans for GO Transit railyard in Don Valley
• Metrolinx does an about-face on a GO facility planned for the Don Valley
• Metrolinx scraps plan to build GO rail yard in the Don Valley

The Don Valley site in question was described in a 2022 City report:

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This month’s edition of Leaside Life features a wonderful story about the teen who brought Elvis Presley to Leaside High School. Who knew?

This Leaside teenager brought Elvis to Toronto

A vandalism spree has put many mailboxes out of commission in the country’s biggest city, Canada Post told CBC. The spike has prompted the Crown corporation to wrap dozens of the signature red rectangles in plastic to keep customers from depositing mail in damaged or unsecured boxes.

• Spike in Toronto mailbox vandalism leaves fewer snail mail options, CBC
• CP24 Video
• Why are so many street mailboxes shrink-wrapped? Canada Post’s answer only adds to the mystery, The Star

What is Multiplex Housing

For the purposes of this study, it is housing with 2, 3, or 4 units in a single building. This housing type is also referred to as a duplex, triplex, or fourplex. These homes could be rental or condominium units and they could either be in the form of converted houses or purpose-built as a multiplex.

Multiplex Survey

Follow this link to complete the survey online.

You can also e-mail your comments to EHON@toronto.ca by March 10, 2023.

Local shutterbug and avid cyclist, Rudy Limeback captured and tweeted photos of a cement truck on its side on Bayview Avenue, south of Moore Avenue Monday afternoon.

Toronto fire responded to a collision at Bayview and Moore just after noon today. All lanes of Bayview Avenue had to be closed in order to facilitate the clean up.

cement truck rollover coming up Bayview Ave at Moore

not sure when it happened, these pics taken at 1:45pm as the recovery process begins pic.twitter.com/rqAjBkkjok

— Rudy Limeback (@rudydotca) February 27, 2023

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Toronto Hydro outage map, February 14, 2023 2:30pm.

A 9:21pm tweet from Toronto Hydro stated that it was damaged equipment that caused a power outage affecting a large section of midtown.

“Crews are on site completing an assessment of damaged equipment in the following approx. boundaries: Glencairn Ave. south to St. Clair Ave. E. & Avenue Rd. east to Mount Pleasant Rd. Customers in this area will be experiencing an outage as a result. We appreciate your patience.”

They later warned that “customers should be prepared to be without power through the night.” Tweets from area residents confirm that the outage has darkened Eglinton Ave. East at Bayview Ave. as well.

Toronto Hydro has updated the public Tuesday to say that the damaged equipment was caused by “a fire in an underground cable chamber”. At noon on Tuesday, the affected area was still in the dark.

Update from Toronto Hydro at 1:31 PM · Feb 14, 2023

“Crews have completed repairs. The next step in the restoration process involves testing the equipment to ensure it’s working safely & reliably. If all goes according to plan, we’re aiming for an estimated time of restoration of approximately 4 p.m.”

Update from Toronto Hydro at 5:16 PM · Feb 14, 2023

“The majority of customers have now been restored. The remaining customers are being brought back in stages. We have all hands on deck — multiple crews are working as quickly and safely as possible.”

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Yonge Street (June 21, 2021)

Yonge Street (June 21, 2021)

Yonge Street (June 21, 2021)

City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following news release:

Project Area /City of Toronto

Toronto City Council voted in favour of making the ActiveTO Midtown Complete Street Pilot on Yonge Street between Bloor Street and Davisville Avenue permanent, with several changes to address the immediate concerns of local residents and businesses.

The City of Toronto’s ActiveTO Midtown Complete Street Pilot is an example of a Complete Streets project that accommodates all road users, enhances local neighbourhood context and character, and delivers on Council’s commitments to the Vision Zero Road Safety Plan and the TransformTO Climate Action Strategy.

Mayor John Tory and a majority of City Councillors did support several requests for changes to help improve the bike lanes and address legitimate concerns raised by local residents.

Changes include:

• Traffic signal and physical intersection modifications to better facilitate traffic flow, turn movements and pedestrian safety
• Additional parking and loading spaces to support local business
• Creating a dedicated traffic management plan as it relates to construction, current and projected, in the corridor, including the deployment of traffic agents as needed
• Install LED signs at Yonge and Delisle to prohibit left-turns during prohibited times to support shuttle bus operations
• Directing staff to continue to identify opportunities to improve traffic flow including traffic signal and physical intersection modifications to better facilitate traffic flow and turn movements, opportunities to mitigate concerns with traffic diversion onto local roads to improve safety and traffic flow, particularly to improve sight-lines and ingress/egress for east/west streets at “landlocked” intersections in the area, where feasible
• Working with local Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) on initiatives to support main street local business, including identifying and implementing additional parking and loading spaces, where feasible
• Identify opportunities to improve safety and attractiveness of the corridor in a way such as transforming painted curb extensions and buffers into concrete or planted islands, where feasible
• As part of the development review process along the corridor, work with City Planning and adjacent developers to incorporate upgrades such as raised cycle tracks and green infrastructure into the streetscape frontages of redevelopment sites, where feasible, and minimize the impact of construction work zones in the right-of-way
• Requesting Emergency Management Services and Toronto Fire Services to provide granular data regarding response times in the project area

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Source: thecrosstown.ca

An Eglinton Crosstown LRT construction notice has announced that Rawlinson Avenue will finally open at Eglinton Avenue East in late-February 2023.

What Work is Taking Place?
In approximately late-February 2023, Rawlinson Avenue will reopen at Eglinton Avenue East. All traffic lanes and turns will be reinstated at the Rawlinson-Eglinton intersection (refer to map above). No further traffic changes at this intersection are expected as a result of Crosstown construction.

What to expect
Access to Eglinton Avenue East from Rawlinson Avenue will be reinstated. Noise from relocation of fencing, equipment, and materials can be expected during this work.

Hours of Work
• In approximately late-February 2023.
• This work may be rescheduled due to inclement weather or unforeseen circumstances.

Traffic Details
• Rawlinson Avenue will open at Eglinton Avenue East.
• All traffic lanes and turns at the intersection will be reinstated.

Pedestrian Details
• No changes to the current pedestrian routes are expected as a result of this work.