News & Announcements

We've received the following update on Scott Street construction this moring.  Please note that the below dates are subject to change as they are weather dependant.

Work Completed week of December 7^th to December 11^th

The corner of Churchill and Richmond is one of my least favourite in the ward. It's a very high-volume intersection, and the straight-only arrow for southbound traffic is routinely ignored. Pedestrians are often pressured during crossing, and depending where cars stop on eastbound Richmond, buses will hop the curb to make their turn. The corner in front of Gezelig has very little room for pedestrians to wait, and it all adds up to a very uncomfortable experience.

This Wednesday December 9 before Council Jeff, along side Mayor Watson, had the privilage of presenting Kitchissippi resident Jonathan Chow the Mayor's City Builder Award. 

In a continuing series of experiments with crowdsourced traffic analysis, I went out recently to the corner of Harmer and Wellington West. On Thursday, November 26 I shot the intersection from roughly 4:00 till 5:15ish. It's an intersection about which I've been warned - particularly with respect to cars zooming by stopped buses by using the oncoming traffic lane.

On Thursday, I voted against the Transit budget – not an easy decision to make. But, there were several aspects to it that I disagree with.

I won’t go into great detail about continuing increases at the fare box. In the 2015 budget, I pushed back on those unsuccessfully (read more here). I applaud Councillor Tobi Nussbaum’s leadership on that issue this year and he has my support.

One of the most interesting potential development sites in our ward, Westgate Shopping Centre, is soon to be the subject of a new development plan. Owner RioCan is contemplating a pretty significant development of the site that would include much greater density and height. I've had a chance to see the plans, and am very open-minded to them. The site is one of the best serviced in the ward, and the usual intensification impacts that we see in Kitchissippi are pretty mitigated.

As you've likely heard by now, the landowner at the SW corner of Scott and McRae - across from the Trailhead and new Bridgeport development - is reactivating a proposal to develop the lot. It is a family-owned parcel currently, but a larger developer would likely become involved as it moves ahead.

On December 9, Council will vote on the city's budget. One of the chief points of discomfort I hear around the table is about the level of wriggle-room we've given ourselves if the budget is passed as is. Will we be able to fund another season of snow removal and clearing if this winter is again extraordinarily cold or snowy? What happens if we need to effect an emergency measure in our social services? Will we be able to fill our recreation programs to generate needed revenues if advertising is reduced? How would we deal with a major IT failure?

Recently, I posted the results from the first effort I and Kevin O'Donnell made to analyze traffic at the Island Park/Byron intersection. I'm trying to find some time to write that up for staff, and ask for their analysis of the need for, among other solutions, bollards to prevent curb-hopping, advance left or other signal tweaks, and red-light cameras. I'm also looking at finding some time to go out and do a PM peak filming.

S'il vous plaît trouver ci-dessous la Newsletter de Novembre 25. Je l'ai été sévèrement critiqué pour ne pas publier cette information en français. Jusqu'à ce que nous pouvons comprendre certaines questions de flux de travail qui me permettra de publier en français coïncide avec les Anglais , je l'espère , ce sera une étape bienvenue.