By all accounts, Liberty Village residents had a horrific summer. A perfect storm of construction and events in and around the Canadian National Exhibition condemned the neighbourhood's streets to terrible gridlock.
However, city officials are hopeful the proposed creation of a new street in Liberty Village could potentially alleviate some of the neighbourhood’s persistent traffic congestion.
In August, two BlogTO reporters raced each other across the neighbourhood during rush hour, one in a bus, one walking at a "casual walking pace." The pedestrian won.
Though the situation has somewhat eased since the summer, traffic congestion remains synonymous with the Liberty Village neighbourhood.
Next year, Ontario Line construction has the potential to deliver even more misery, as about 126 trucks a day will have to make their way in and around the neighbourhood as Exhibition GO Station gets expanded — and excavated — to serve the future line.
To combat traffic as a result of Ontario Line construction, city officials have proposed the creation of a new street, named Liberty New Street.
As proposed, Liberty New Street would run between Strachan and Dufferin avenues just north of the railway. It would be about 1.3 kilometres long and would ideally divert some traffic around, rather than through, the neighbourhood.
The street’s development isn't a new idea. It was envisioned as part of a westward extension of Front St., but that plan was shelved in 2005.
Liberty New Street remained in the public imagination and an environmental assessment was completed in 2018. At that time, the city said a major goal in constructing the roadway was relieving traffic congestion in Liberty Village.
Construction on the Ontario Line is expected to move into the Liberty Village area in 2025. After prodding by traffic-weary residents, Metrolinx over the summer changed its proposed vehicle routes to keep trucks on major streets, and more or less out of the neighbourhood.
The Metrolinx equipment being moved into the area will include an enormous tunnel boring machine. The transit agency's new plan to avoid worsening congestion involves heavier use of Dufferin Street, which will be connected to the Ontario Line construction by a new haul route for trucks.
In October, city council directed staff to coordinate with Metrolinx to arrange for the Ontario Line Exhibition Station to open at the same time as Liberty New Street.
A new report from Derrick Toigo, the city's executive director of transit expansion, said city staff are working with Metrolinx to design the new street. Once that is done, the two sides will agree on a construction schedule, Toigo wrote.
The report proposing the development of New Liberty Street will go to the Toronto and East York community council on Dec. 4, though councillors won't be asked to make a specific decision at the gathering.
