Finch LRT will slow down, double traffic times
Dear Friends,
There has been a lot of talk lately about transit in our city - Light Rail Transit (LRT) versus Subways, and which is better. Many years ago you made it clear to me that an LRT line would not take into consideration the needs and wants of Emery Village. Finch Avenue West is key to the industrial areas of Emery Village and many of the businesses that contribute jobs and revenue to Toronto rely on the arterial road system on Finch. An LRT line would need to take into consideration the amount of trucks that turn at the intersections in order to meet the delivery requirements of the businesses within the Emery Village BIA.
Finch should be designated as a future subway line and until the funds are in place dedicated bus lanes should be put in. Cole Engineering has released its preliminary report showing that with the building of an LRT line, as insisted by Metrolinx and our Provincial representative, traffic on Finch would not only increase it would slow down and double the travel time. The necessary access on Finch for our tractor-trailers would essentially create a gridlock.
Transit is vital in our city to keep us growing and moving. It is my opinion that we should all be listening very closely to the mayoral candidates opinions of subway versus LRT and I encourage you to pay close attention to the candidates who advocate for the Subway as the best means of transit for our city. I’m sure you will find that those who are devoted to the downtown core and not the city as a whole or the suburban areas are the only ones who advocate for LRT. They are wanting your tax dollars to go toward building a system that only benefits the downtown core and makes access throughout the greater Toronto area not only more difficult but impossible in some pockets.
It is my position as your local councillor that Finch Ave should be a designated subway line with a connection to the airport. In the meantime, until the funds are available, Finch Ave should be built with designated bus lanes. If you agree with me, don’t hesitate to contact MPP Mario Sergio at 416-743-7272 and voice your opinion to your Provincial representative. The transit plan with Metrolinx is a provincial program and discussed and decided on at the provincial level. To date, our MPP has not communicated with the municipal level about their plans nor has he arranged for a community meeting so your voices can be heard. Once the Province has made their decision it will be too late to do anything about the gridlock.
Let’s have these discussions now!
- Ward 7 Councillor, Giorgio Mammoliti