Over the last week or two, you may have noticed some new murals going up in our neighbourhood. These murals are painted on the concrete walls of the railway underpass on Bloor St. between Ruttan St. and St. Helen's Ave.

The artist, Richard Mongiat, is painting these murals in preparation for this Saturday's BIG on Bloor festival, where they will be officially unveiled.

Walk by and have a look. It's a nice upgrade to the plain industrial concrete look of that underpass.

The West Bend Community Association, which covers the neighbourhood immediately to the west of us on the other side of Dundas St., is having their June meeting this Wednesday. The main topic of this meeting is the proposed tunnel linking GO Transit's Bloor Station to the TTC's Dundas West subway station, as well as the West Toronto Diamond grade separation project. See below for the details about the meeting.

The West Bend Community Association - June Meeting
18 June 2008, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Indian Road Crescent School 2nd floor staff room
285 Indian Road Crescent (map)

Guest Speaker: Imants Hausmanis, P.Eng., GO-Transit

Mr Hausmanis will describe the plans for a proposed underground connection between GO-Transit's Bloor Station and the TTC's Dundas West Station. In addition, he will provide an update on the West Toronto Diamond Grade Separation Project (the "big dig" between Dupont and St. Clair, starting soon).

Other business: Negotiations begin for 1540 Bloor Street (Joe Mercury site)

This is a summary of what was discussed at the May 28 2008 community meeting. Approximately 100 residents from around the neighbourhood attended.

Introductions, and Special Guests

One of the steering committee members, Jack Fava, introduced the group and spoke about who we represent and what our goals are. He introduced the rest of the steering committee, and the guest speakers.

• MP Mario Silva was represented by Andre Ferreira. Mr. Ferreira expressed support for the group.
• City Councillor Adam Giambrone was represented by his constituency assistant Chris Gallop. Mr. Gallop provided many updates about things happening in our neighbourhood:
  • Development updates (e.g. Castlepoint film studio on Sterling Rd.)
  • Bicycle lanes on Dupont St.
  • Boys and Girls Club update (extending lease for several months or years, and working on a long-term plan).
  • Crime and safety issues: The City is increasing police resources, as well as working towards a handgun ban.
  • There is a proposal to expand Erwin Krickhahn Park (Rankin Park) by replacing the dead-end of Paton Rd. with a garden. This proposal is still in its early design stages.
• Staff Inspector Thomas Russell from the Toronto Police Services 11 Division introduced himself as a new member of 11 Division. He spoke about his past experiences as a police officer, and stressed the importance of reporting crimes so that police know where there problems are. "If we don't hear about these things we can't respond".
• MPP Tony Ruprecht's representative arrived late, introduced herself, and suggested we should contact their office if we have any concerns.

Committee Reports

After the special guests spoke, the individual committees were introduced, and then the meeting split up into groups to focus on these committee issues. The following notes were taken during these break-out sessions.

At our May 28th meeting, the SJTRA announced that the next meeting would take place this Wednesday, June 11th.

This meeting has been postponed until the fall.

We will have notes from the May 28th meeting posted shortly, and the individual committees will continue to work on projects throughout the summer. If you would like to get involved with one of our committees, please contact us.

Dupont St. and Annette St. bicycle lane plan

Toronto Bike Plan

At last Wednesday's SJTRA meeting, Chris Gallop (Adam Giambrone's constituency assistant) mentioned that the City is moving forward with implementing bicycle lanes along Dupont St. between Dundas St. W. and Lansdowne Ave. This is part of the Toronto Bike Plan.

This section of bicycle infrastructure through our neighbourhood will connect to the West Toronto Railpath, the Annette St. bike lanes (installed at the same time as Dupont St.), and the Lansdowne Ave. bike lanes scheduled to be installed next year.

According to Mr. Gallop, the current timeline for implementation is: "The report is going to the Works Committee next Tuesday, City Council at the end of the month, and if approved they should be installed by approximately the end of the summer."

Here is the map (PDF) of the proposed Annette and Dupont St. bike lanes, including the on-street parking configurations.

More background and design details about Dupont St., Annette St., and others can be found in this document (PDF) too.

The South Junction Triangle Residents Association and our upcoming meeting were mentioned in this week's edition of The Villager.

You can read the complete article online here.

We hope to see you all at the meeting on Wednesday evening.

Bicycle advocates and activists are planning the second annual Bells on Bloor bike ride this Sunday. The purpose of the ride is to promote the idea of safer cycling facilities along Bloor St., particularly the installation of bike lanes. The ride will be coming through our neighbourhood along Bloor St. shortly after noon.

These details are from the Bells on Bloor website, where you can find more information:

Do you want bike lanes on Bloor? Then join us!

On Sunday May 25th 2008 help us get ONE THOUSAND Bells on Bloor!

Join cyclists of all ages in a pedal-powered parade, ringing our bells all the way from High Park to Queen’s Park. Cycling protects our environment, so let’s protect our cyclists with more bike lanes. Fighting climate change has never been so fun! Free bike bells for all cyclists, plus bike flags, bike clowns, music, and a special escort courtesy of Toronto's bicycle police!

Date: Sunday May 25, 2008 (rain or shine!)
Time: 12 noon (please arrive early to hear ride logistics)
Start: Bloor St. W at the main gate to High Park
End: Queen’s Park (Queen’s Park Cres. W at Wellesley)

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT

A new Residents' Association for our Neighbourhood!

Attention residents of the South Junction Triangle:

Great news, introducing the South Junction Triangle Residents' Association (SJTRA)! A group of friends and neighbours committed to improving the spaces where we live.

WHAT: Community Meeting
WHEN: Wednesday, May 28, 2008
TIME: 7:00pm to 8:45pm
PLACE: Perth Avenue Public School, gymnasium. 14 Ruskin Ave. (map)

Meet the SJTRA steering committee members and our special guests. Also present: representatives from many other community groups, friends of the community, and Castlepoint Studio Partners Limited:

• Adam Giambrone. City councillor Ward 18 Davenport
• Tony Ruprecht. MPP, Davenport
• Mario Silva. MP, Davenport
• Staff Inspector Thomas Russell. Unit Commander, 11 Division Toronto Police

These SJTRA sub-committees are looking for members:

• Environmental committee
• Development and Planning Committee
• Safety Committee
• Community Initiatives & Beautification Committee

Want to: Learn more? Get involved? Speak out? Be a part of a sub-committee? Meet neighbours who share your concerns and ideas? Join us on Wednesday May 28th, we look forward to meeting you!

You can download a PDF of the meeting announcement below.

According to this CP Rail Press Release, there are railway safety campaigns and enforcement blitzes happening this week. This includes the following happening right in our neighbourhood:

• April 30 - Crossing Education Blitz Osler St crossing, near Cariboo.
• May 1 - Crossing Education Blitz Symington Rd north of Dupont St.

Please be careful around the railway tracks, but also keep in mind that this week they will be cracking down on trespassing and unsafe or illegal crossings. More info is in the CP Rail Press Release.

This public meeting is a followup to the Wallace Junction Focus Area meeting.

The details are all contained in the attached PDF document, which you can download below.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING

To be held by Planning and Growth Management Committee (Under the Planning Act)

Stimulating Economic Growth: Proposed Community Improvement Plans for the City of Toronto, the Waterfront and the South of Eastern Employment District

DATE: May 8, 2008
TIME: 10:00a.m., or as soon as possible thereafter
PLACE: City Hall, Committee Room 1, 2nd Floor. 100 Queen Street West, Toronto