Report to: Development Services Committee Report Date: November 17, 2009
SUBJECT: Yonge Subway Extension to Richmond Hill Centre/Langstaff Gateway
Urban Growth Centre
PREPARED BY: Valerie
Shuttleworth, Director of Planning & Urban Design
RECOMMENDATION:
1)
That the report
entitled “Yonge Subway Extension to Richmond Hill
Centre/Langstaff Gateway Urban Growth Centre”, dated November 17th be received; and
2)
That the report
and attachments be forwarded to the Town of Richmond Hill and the Region of York as Markham’s submission with respect to the “Richmond Hill
Regional Centre Preferred Concept Report”, dated September 9, 2009.
And
that Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect
to this resolution.
This report has been prepared in response to Development
Services Committee consideration of a draft motion on November 3, 2009, and staff
comment related to the funding and alignment of the Yonge Subway
extension. The report also provides staff
level comments on the “Richmond Hill Regional Centre Preferred Concept Report”,
dated September 9, 2009.
On September 29, 2009 Council
deferred 3 draft motions for future consideration at the November 3, 2009 Development
Services Committee. Council also
requested staff comments on the motions.
On November 3rd, Development Services Committee considered
the 3 draft motions and a staff memo of the same date, and dealt with the
motions in part. However, the following
resolution was deferred to the November 17,
2009 Development Services Committee meeting:
1) That
the Honourable Dalton McGuinty,
Premier of Ontario be requested to initiate the public process to implement the
alternate financing method for the immediate Finance, Design, Build for
the Yonge Subway Extension and the Yonge Bloor platform modification project
and implement value engineering to study cost reductions; and,
3)
That the environmental assessment be
modified to leave the subway alignment on Yonge
Street at Richmond Hill Centre; and that
consideration be given to a 1.0 kilometre extension
to 16th Avenue and Yonge
Street.
1) Funding
for the Yonge Subway Extension
Discussion at the November 3rd
Development Services Committee meeting centered around
potential alternate funding options for the financing of the Yonge
Street subway extension. Staff had offered the following comments with
respect to the funding matter:
·
Metrolinx will be finalizing the Benefits Case
Analysis for the Yonge Subway later this year;
·
The Benefits Case Analysis will review funding
mechanisms and value engineering to maximize the cost/benefit;
·
York Region, the City of Toronto and TTC commenced
(in September 2009) the conceptual design of the subway at a cost of $5.75
million;
·
Staff suggest the draft recommendation regarding
funding may be best deferred and reviewed concurrently when staff update
Council regarding Metrolinx Benefits Case Analysis later this year or early
2010.
Since the
November 3rd meeting staff spoke with Metrolinx
staff who advised that, although an interim Benefits Case Analysis was released
in June, the final analysis likely won’t be released until later this year or early
next year.
Therefore,
staff’s suggestion that this part of the motion be deferred until the Metolinx Benefits Case Analysis is complete remains. Staff will report back to Committee at that
time.
2) Alignment
of the Yonge Subway Extension north
With respect
to the portion of the motion that suggested that the approved Environmental
Assessment be modified to leave the subway on Yonge Street through the Richmond
Hill portion of the Urban Growth Centre,
staff note the following:
·
Markham Council endorsed the Option ‘C’ alignment on
October 14, 2008 (see resolution attached as Appendix ‘A’). Option ‘C’ alignment provides for the subway
to veer east of Yonge Street, to a mobility hub in Richmond Hill Centre, which
will also enable direct inter-modal connection to GO Rail Transit, 407 Transit
and VIVA. Markham Council also requested
the Langstaff station on Yonge Street to be located as far north as possible,
and the Hub station to be as far south as possible, to improve connectivity to
the Langstaff Gateway lands in Markham.
·
On March 10, 2009 (in response to the completed EA,
which included the Option “C” alignment), Council requested that the Langstaff/Longbridge Subway Station be located as far north
as possible in the final design and that all agencies and municipalities
involved be requested to ensure that the transit network and mobility hub is
designed to provide the best possible transit service to the significant
transit oriented development in the Urban Growth Centre (i.e.
including lands in both Richmond Hill and Markham) (see
resolution attached as Appendix ‘B’).
·
The EA Study (Option ‘C’) was filed and approved by
the Ministry of Environment on April 6, 2009.
The Richmond Hill Centre and Langstaff Centre master plan processes have
been based on the subway location and mobility hub east of Yonge Street as per
the approved EA and the Metrolinx Regional Transportation Plan. The Calthorpe master plan for Langstaff
introduces the concept of a Transit Hall or concourse to connect Langstaff to
the Mobility Hub (Option ‘C’).
·
Markham Council on May 12, 2009 (see resolution
attached as Appendix ‘C’) also requested Provincial Ministries, the Provincial
Facilitator and Metrolinx to take a more active role in the planning and design
of the Yonge Subway and transit oriented development in the Provincial Urban Growth Centre.
The
Provincial Facilitator has initiated a series of meetings with key stakeholders
and is fully apprised of the coordinated planning efforts currently under way
in the growth centre. While the Region
and TTC should plan for the future extension
of the subway north to 16th Avenue, this will require further EA approval, which
would complicate/delay commitments by Metrolinx needed now to enable the subway
to be built and open by 2016, and is not recommended to be pursued at this
time.
A
recommendation to re-examine the Yonge Subway alignment could delay the subway
construction further, as a public process would have to be undertaken to amend
or add an addendum to the approved Environmental Assessment. This may compromise the broader objective to
secure funding for the subway at the earliest opportunity. We also note that
station locations will be addressed through the detailed design process, with
input by Metrolinx, the Province, the Toronto Transit Commission and other key
stakeholders, including the Town of Markham.
Should Council
still wish to consider a resolution to alter the approved subway alignment,
Staff suggest that further consultation should first occur with the Region of
York as EA proponent, prior to recommending alternate alignments to the Province.
Richmond Hill
Regional Centre Preferred Concept Report
On October
15, 2009 Richmond Hill released this report for review and comment. The report can be accessed electronically at:
http://www.richmondhill.ca/documents/op_reg_centre_preferred_concept.pdf
Staff have reviewed
the report and provided preliminary comments to Richmond
Hill staff (see Appendix ‘D’ attached). The majority of
our comments on the concept plan relate to the mobility hub location and
design. The schematic of the mobility
hub is a concept only and not yet finalized. In our comments we highlight all
the motions Markham Council has passed related to the hub location and design and
again suggest that the transit agencies go through a high-level planning
exercise similar to the one recently completed for Markham Centre.
Through this planning exercise, the major consideration is to provide good
transit connections to both the
Langstaff and Richmond Hill portions of
the UGC.
Although the Richmond
Hill transit plan shows a BRT station in
the Langstaff portion of the UGC (see Figure 1), one BRT service is
not an adequate connection between Langstaff and the
mobility hub. The pedestrian concourse with climate control, sidewalks
and open 24 hours, as included in our Langstaff Master Plan, is a critical part
of the intended transit integration across the entire Urban Growth Centre.
This connection is missing in the Richmond
Hill concept plan.
As well, the Richmond Hill plan shows
the GO station re-located north which is contrary to Markham Council’s request
to ensure that the mobility hub is designed to provide the best possible
service to the Langstaff gateway. We have not been
informed of any decision by GO or Metrolinx with
respect to relocation of the GO station.
Multi-modal transit station locations and integration at this Anchor
Mobility Hub requires further analysis and discussion.
Markham Staff
will continue to work with the Region, Richmond
Hill and all the transit agencies to finalize the
mobility hub location and design in a manner that best serves the entire urban
growth centre.
There are no
direct financial implications to the Town of Markham in this
report. Metrolinx
is currently reviewing the Benefits Case Analysis and review of funding options
for the Yonge Subway extension.
This report
aligns with the strategic priorities of Growth Management
and Transportation.
The Planning & Urban Design and Engineering Departments
have coordinated in the preparation of this report.
RECOMMENDED BY:
________________________ ________________________
Jim Baird,
M.C.I.P, R.P.P. Valerie
Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P, R.P.P.
Commissioner,
Development Services Director
of Planning & Urban Design
________________________
Alan Brown,
C.E.T.
Director of Engineering
Figure 1 – Richmond
Hill Transit Initiatives Within
the Preferred Concept
Appendix ‘A’
– October 14, 2008 Council
Resolution
Appendix ‘B’
– March 10, 2009 Council
Resolution
Appendix ‘C’
– May 12, 2009 Council
Resolution
Appendix ‘D’
– Letter to Richmond Hill Commissioner of Planning
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