Concerned about population growth outpacing its infrastructure development, City of Toronto, City Planning urban planner Terry Mills has submitted a lengthy and somewhat dire forecast for the Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue intersection.
With seven towers already under construction there and about 10 more in the approval stream at city hall, Mills said this is only the tip of the iceberg for potential development there. In his forecast he predicts another 40 towers or major developments in the vicinity over the next 20 years and an anticipated 30,000 more people living there.
“We’re seeing runaway development in midtown Toronto’s growth centre at Yonge and Eglinton,” Mills said. “We have to assess local issues using a planning approach based on complete communities.” He explained he came to his forecast by taking inventory of the lots suitable for intensification and those that are or may become available for purchase within the sector.
“The city needs to determine what the tipping point is: How do we accommodate for this population growth with the existing infrastructure? And how to ensure public realm is protected?” he said.
Ward 16 councillor Josh Matlow couldn’t confirm there might be 40 more projects to contend with in the next 20 years but did say it is an area facing unprecedented growth and pressure. “There certainly are a lot of applications going to the city from condo developers for that area, and it is incredibly important that infrastructure keeps up with that anticipated growth,” he said, adding the recently approved Midtown in Focus Plan, which sets guidelines for protecting public realm and improving park space in the area, is one way the city is addressing those concerns. “But there is so much more that needs to be done, and that’s why we’ve been fighting so hard for a [subway] relief line there to ease some of those infrastructure pressures.” He added that the next term of council will be vital in determining how the next 20 years of growth there unfolds, and one immediate solution he hopes will be in place shortly is a controlled turn at Yonge Street and Roehampton Avenue, synchronized with the Yonge-Eglinton intersection lights.