Report to: Development Services Committee Report Date: May 20, 2008
SUBJECT: Temporary Driveway at Unionville GO Station
PREPARED BY: Prasenjit
Roy, Senior
RECOMMENDATION:
That the report entitled “Temporary Driveway at Unionville GO Station”, dated May 20, 2008 be received;
And that a temporary driveway through Town of Markham lands to provide additional access to Unionville GO Station be endorsed subject to the conditions listed in the report;
And that the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to enter into an agreement with GO Transit related to the temporary driveway to the satisfaction of the CAO and the Town Solicitor;
And that Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
GO Transit (referred to as ‘GO’) has recently purchased lands
from the Ontario Reality Corporation, adjacent to its parking lot at Unionville
Station to expand its current capacity by 200 vehicles. GO can only build surface parking lot in the
newly acquired land as per the conditions of purchase. GO has requested approval for a temporary
driveway from the Unionville GO Station to
Staff recommend the endorsement of the recommended option be subject to the following conditions:
Ÿ Submission of an application for Site Plan approval
Ÿ Execution of an agreement outlining GO Transit’s obligations
Ÿ All costs and liabilities to be borne by GO Transit
Ÿ 60 days written notice to GO Transit for closing or removal of the driveway for construction related matters
Ÿ Region’s approval of the YMCA Boulevard entrance location
Ÿ Ministry approval of the setback from Highway 407
Ÿ Town and TRCA approval for the Rouge River tributary crossing
The above conditions will be finalized and incorporated into
the agreement.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to
seek Council’s approval for GO Transit to construct a temporary driveway across
Town lands between the Unionville GO station and YMCA Boulevard as shown in Attachment
A.
BACKGROUND:
GO Transit (referred to as ‘GO’) has recently purchased the Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC) land adjacent to its parking lot at Unionville Station to expand its current capacity. As per the conditions of sale, GO can only build surface parking lot in the newly acquired land. The expanded parking lot will accommodate an additional 200 parking spaces, over the current 800 parking spaces. The current single driveway access is deficient in the weekday afternoon peak periods because of queuing issues resulting in travel delays for GO patrons. GO proposes to construct a second driveway access to YMCA Boulevard over Town lands in order to improve levels of service for Markham residents.
Following discussions with Town staff, GO submitted a traffic study and a number of driveway layout options for the second driveway.
OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:
Upon review of the options, staff recommend the layout shown in Attachment A. In this option, the proposed temporary driveway intersects YMCA Boulevard at approximately 80 metres from the stop bar at Kennedy Road. This driveway then extends southerly to the Highway 407 right-of-way, and then extends westerly to connect into the GO parking lot from the south side. At present, this recommended driveway alignment possesses an unsignalized right-in right-out configuration at YMCA Boulevard, though GO is also reviewing the option to provide a right-out only configuration. The salient points of this option are as follows:
Ÿ The location of the alignment along the outer edges of the Town lands will allow development on the proposed Canadian Sport Institute site and maintain the temporary GO driveway in place while the future buildings and roads are constructed. Upon completion of the east/west internal road in the CSIO site, the temporary driveway would be closed and traffic rerouted to the east/west internal road. This would also minimize commuter traffic disruptions during development of these lands, and would also ensure GO patrons continue to receive additional access to the parking lot through a second driveway in future.
Ÿ GO plans to build a multiple storey parking structure (the size is yet to be determined) to replace its existing surface parking lot in the future. It is the long-term intention of the Town and GO to merge the parking supply and access issues for CSIO patrons and local and inter regional transit. However, the newly acquired lands acquired from the ORC will be only utilized for surface parking as per the conditions of purchase. It is expected that once the parking structure is built to its full configuration, GO will dispose of the ORC lands, regarding which further discussions between GO and Markham will take place.
Ÿ
The temporary right-in right-out second driveway
can adequately address the present and future traffic demands from the GO
station expanded parking.
Ÿ Near the intersection at YMCA Boulevard, the temporary driveway passes through the future stormwater management pond to allow construction of the ultimate internal road. The stormwater management pond would be expanded to its ultimate configuration once the GO driveway is removed.
Staff recommend endorsement of the recommended option subject to the following conditions:
Ÿ
Ÿ Agreement: Execution of an agreement to the satisfaction of the CAO and the Town Solicitor outlining obligation of GO, including:
o Liability
o Maintenance
o Removal
o Funding
Ÿ Cost: All costs related to the construction, illumination, maintenance, and decommissioning are to be borne by GO Transit. In addition, GO will also bear any additional costs incurred by the Town for development of the CSIO site as a result of accommodating GO’s driveway.
Ÿ
Duration:
The temporary driveway would be granted on an interim basis. Upon construction of a permanent road, GO would
have to relinquish any and all its claims on the temporary driveway. A 60 days notice from Markham to GO Transit
to close the driveway for construction related matters and removal is
recommended.
Ÿ
Regional
approval: The Region may have
concerns regarding the intersection location.
A written acceptance/ approval would be required from the Region.
Ÿ
MTO
approval: The Ministry of
Ÿ
Tributary:
The proposed driveway will cross a tributary to Rouge River, and therefore a
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) approval is required.
The above conditions will be finalized and incorporated into
the agreement.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE: (external link)
All costs, including construction,
illumination, maintenance, and decommissioning of the driveway through Town
lands will be borne by GO Transit.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:
All environmental impacts associated with the temporary driveway and the expanded parking lot would be addressed through TRCA approval of the Rouge River tributary crossing.
ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS:
Not applicable.
ENGAGE 21ST CONSIDERATIONS:
Not applicable.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The Planning Department and Community Services staff have reviewed and commented on the report.
RECOMMENDED BY:
________________________ ________________________
Alan Brown, C.E.T. Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Director of
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A: Recommended Temporary Driveway Layout