Hundreds descend on Green Line LRT open house in Thorncliffe

There was a big turnout Tuesday night for city planners as hundreds came out to see the city’s latest incarnation of the Green Line LRT.

The lines were long at times with people clamouring to get around to each easel to find out what the city is proposing to do to their neighbourhood.

“We heard a lot of input in the past … and so we want to get local community context to understand did we get pedestrian crossing locations right, vehicle access correct? We just want to get that sort of feedback from the community,” said project manager for Green Line North Aleem Nanji.

Nanji said they’re looking to get to a functional level of design before they present to council in June.

“We do know with Green Line, there would be some property impacts, but we don’t know what extent that would be yet.”

Thorncliffe Greenview Community Association Leslie Degagner said they’re hearing some concerns, and following the developments very closely.

“It was important to come down and see what’s going on and get some feedback from our own citizens to see what members feel,” she said.

“It’s an impressive display. As far as the community knows, they’re telling us our stop is going to be right out here. But at the same time, with transit being as good as it is right now, we’re wondering about the cost to the taxpayers and how this is really going to impact the individual.”

Degagner said she’s also heard concerns about impacts to personal property, and they’re wondering how they can help those affected.

Doug Piebiak came out to hear what they have planned. He’s pushing to have the Green Line LRT underground.

“My concern is it should be underground from downtown to 40 Ave, even past McKnight (Blvd), ’cause it’ll heavily impact the traffic flow, and if we want to put in bicycle lanes that’s great too. I’m all a fan for doing the right thing, but let’s think about the next 100 years down the road,” said Piebiak.

“I live about two blocks away. I’m excited to see the LRT come up, so I wanted to see what the final alignment of stations was. I’ve been following this for quite awhile, since they did their first community engagement. So it’s kind of neat to see it go through,” said Thorncliffe resident Owen Stephenson.

Tuesday’s information session was the last one north of the river before planners return to council this summer.

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