Resident calls for improved access to Danforth GO station including walkway to connect Stephenson Avenue

By MATTHEW STEPHENS

With new buildings and increased density coming to the Main Street and Danforth Avenue area, one local resident is advocating to improve infrastructure and make the Danforth GO station more accessible for residents coming from the southwest side of the intersection.

“With all these developments going up in the area, the infrastructure around the station needs to be improved,” local resident Dan Balcaban told Beach Metro Community News. “There’s a lot of congestion in that single entry point, especially for that current residential building that already exists.”

Balcaban is petitioning to improve accessibility to the station by constructing a direct sidewalk path from Stephenson Avenue (just southwest of the Main and Danforth intersection) to the Danforth GO platform, running alongside the renovated Hydro One transmission station.

He also wants to expand the parking lot just north of the GO station, which currently also serves as a lot for the Main Square Community Centre and has minimal vehicle parking spaces for pick up and drop-offs.

Since last year, Balcaban has been discussing his proposal with city officials and Metrolinx, as well as starting a petition to advocate for the new pathway, which has reached 193 signatures so far.

Balcaban said his proposal received a “not very positive” response from Metrolinx, despite their interest to “see if it could be done.”

“There were a lot of barriers put up by Metrolinx, like ‘who’s going to pay for it’ and ‘the cost of this is going to be high, so we don’t know. There’s probably like four agencies that will have to get involved.’,” said Balcaban. “If anything, it seemed like there were more barriers going up, so I didn’t really take it as a yes or a no.”

Metrolinx said that although Stephenson Avenue is municipally owned land, the provincial transit agency is currently in discussion with the City of Toronto to identify the “possibility” of constructing an additional pathway to Danforth GO.

“Metrolinx is always looking for opportunities to enhance GO infrastructure for the communities we serve. The possibility of a pedestrian connection from Stephenson Avenue to the Danforth GO Station platform has been discussed with the City of Toronto,” said Metrolinx in a statement to Beach Metro Community News.  “Metrolinx does not own the land west of Main Street and south of Stephenson Avenue, however we continue to work with our partners to identify feasible solutions.”

Balcaban also spoke with Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford, who “seemed very interested” in the idea, and sent a member of his team to meet with Balcaban on Stephenson Avenue several months ago to discuss the project further.

Bradford told Beach Metro Community News he supports Balcaban’s proposal, and that he’s currently working with Hydro One, city staff and Metrolinx to determine how the project could be facilitated.

“It’s always fantastic when residents champion an idea to make their neighbourhoods better. And this is a good idea – it would be a big help to residents to have better access to the Danforth GO station from the west side of Main Street,” said Bradford.

“Since Dan shared this idea with me, my team has been working with Hydro One, city staff and Metrolinx to figure out which entities own the land, what would be involved in designing a pathway, and who would be willing to cover the costs. Those conversations are ongoing and I’m hopeful we can find a path forward to get this built.”

Balcaban said he also received strong support from Beaches-East York Liberal MPP Mary-Margaret McMahon, who he said took a “keen” interest in the project.

“She actually called me personally and spoke to me about it and said she doesn’t really work with this kind of thing, but that she works at the provincial level,” said Balcaban.

He said McMahon assured him she would speak with Metrolinx’s Senior Management Team to help bring attention to the project.

With a plethora of new developments in the area, including 144 Stephenson Ave., the construction project just north of Danforth GO station, and the recently proposed 35 and 13-storey buildings at the Sobeys site just west of Main Street, Balcaban said creating new pathways to the Danforth GO station is essential to accommodate a significant increase in density in the coming years.

“When I started to hear about even just that one building being built directly north of Danforth GO, I thought we need extra sidewalks,” said Balcaban. “And now that there’s three new buildings in a four-block radius, we need at least three sidewalks built.”

Balcaban said he plans to arrange a consultation meeting with residents by the end of the month to get a better understanding of their needs and determine how his proposal could be implemented.

“There’s been a recent budget meeting for this kind of thing too, so it all depends on where the city wants to put the money,” said Balcaban. “Once we do a community meeting, we’ll see what the rest of the community says. What’s the point in having a governmental council system, if they’re not actually going to put the money where their mouth is.”

For more information about Balcaban’s petition, head to https://www.openpetition.org/ca/petition/online/safer-access-to-danforth-go-build-a-sidewalk-path-from-stephenson-ave

To fill out his questionnaire, visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfur1W4XxP7CBdAvXtqWgWwscy5YejdyxWes2e6cKjiEmVcOQ/viewform?pli=1