‘Worst waterfront in the world’ to be transformed by 2012

By Kimberly Spice —

City planners won praise from area residents for a plan to transform the Downtown waterfront—once voted one of worst in the world—into one of the 10 best.

More than 300 Queen’s Quay neighbourhood residents liked what they heard at the presentation by Waterfront Toronto, the city  and the Toronto Transit Commission. It was the latest round of consultation required for Queen’s Quay Revitalization and the East Bayfront Transit environmental assessments.

Chris Glaisek, vice president of planning and design for Waterfront Toronto, said the project will use the example of a past international Hall of Shame award given to the Toronto’s waterfront and make it into a Hall of Fame location.

“There was a ranking done by the Project for Public Space, an international body that looks at cities all around the world,” said Glaisek. “They rate the best and worse in a whole lot of categories including waterfronts.

“Toronto’s waterfront and photos were all of Queen’s Quay and was listed in the Hall of Shame as the Project for Public Space’s 10 worse waterfronts in the world. We want that to change. We want this to be one of the 10 most beautiful.”

There was little concern or argument as Queen’s Quay residents and area associations voiced their pleasure in being key participants in the development and design of Toronto’s waterfront.

Work on one of the two preferred $350 million proposals is scheduled to begin in 2010, completed in 2012.

The final decision on the proposals will be made September 2009.

Construction will transform the eastbound traffic lanes into wide, tree-lined, pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares. Both plans will move all vehicle traffic north of the streetcar tracks. The more popular proposal is a 2-way traffic design while the other plan is for a 1-way west-bound lane. There will also be a succession of parking aisles on the north side for short-term parking. The TTC streetcar underground portal will be relocated from its current location on Queen’s Quay, east of Bay, to rest between Cooper St. and Freeland to complement pedestrian traffic.

A few concerns voiced by residents and business owners included having enough public washrooms in addition to bus lines having comfortable access to parking to bring in the much needed tourists that sustain many of the waterfront businesses.

However, most of those attending the meeting had high praise for the work Waterfront Toronto has put into the project as well as time taken in listening to the public. More than 40 consultation meetings have been held over the last 18 months.

“I have to compliment Waterfront Toronto on incredible public process and all the consultations that they’ve done,” stated Pam Mazza, representative from the Toronto Island Community Association, echoing many of the comments heard that night. “It’s been splendid and we are all extremely excited about the proposals for Queens Quay. Thank you, Waterfront Toronto team—you’ve been fantastic.”

Coments and concerns can still be submitted to Waterfront Toronto by April 17 to the attention of Andrea Kelemen at (416) 214-1344 ext. 248 or by e-mail at central@waterfrontoronto.ca.