Sherwood "extension" clarification

Tomorrow at Planning Committee, we’ll consider approval of the Richcraft proposal for the Dow Honda site on Carling Avenue.

As part of the process, City staff have prepared a report that recommends approval of the building. In that report, staff have referred to a recommendation made by the developer to consider extending Sherwood Avenue through the Queen Juliana Park to Prince of Wales Drive.

This is an old proposal. The Civic Hospital community fought long and hard to have that taken off the table, and the Community Design Plan and related transportation document for the area specifically says that the extension is not something the City will pursue.

Reference to this proposal in the report has many worried that the City may be considering studying such a link in future. I share those concerns. Some residents have also raised the possibility that the Hickory Street bridge may be expanded to accommodate vehicle traffic.

To ensure that we are all on the same page, I’ve asked for clarification from the planners that while the applicant may consider such a link a good idea, there has to be recognition that the option has been explicitly taken off the table.

That clarification is below, and will be made a part of the record of this approvals process:

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Planning Committee Chair Harder,

On behalf of the Planning and Growth Management Department, I want to provide the following clarifications for you, for distribution as required, regarding questions raised about the staff report for the rezoning application at 845 Carling Avenue on tomorrow’s Planning Committee agenda. 

1. Sherwood Avenue:  In the staff report, we reference options to alleviate potential increases in traffic volumes from the subject proposal in the Preston-Carling area, as provided by the applicant’s consultant in their community transportation study prepared for the proposal. One of the consultant’s recommendations is the possible extension of Sherwood Avenue, south through the lands owned by the Federal Government, to Prince of Wales Drive. While the report notes that the consultant’s study indicates that the City should consider this, and while the report also speaks, in general terms, to studying this matter if and when there is an actual proposal for the Public Works and Government Services Canada lands, our report makes no recommendation for this link. The Preston-Carling Public Realm and Mobility Study, which is Appendix A to the Preston-Carling Secondary Plan, states that this consideration will not be advanced.

2. Bridges: With respect to bridge crossings over the O-Train corridor, there is no reference in the staff report to an additional bridge crossing resulting from this proposal, whether for vehicles or pedestrians. The only reference in the the report to a bridge is the Council-approved Hickory Street bridge, which is designed to be built solely as a pedestrian and cycling bridge. The reference in the report to this bridge is in relation to Section 37 public benefit funds being provided by the developer towards its construction.