Whereas the Province of Ontario designated Langstaff/Richmond Hill Centre as an urban growth centre in 2006; and,
Whereas the City of Markham approved the Langstaff Gateway Secondary Plan in 2009; and,
Whereas the City of Markham supports the Province of Ontario's decision to upload the responsibility for subway construction and urges the Province to proceed as expeditiously as possible to construct the Yonge Street Subway Extension; and,
Whereas the Provincial Government will be responsible for the planning, design and building for all new subway construction projects; and,
Whereas on April 10, 2019, the Provincial Government announced that the Yonge Street Subway Extension will be 1 of the 4 projects benefitting from Provincial investment in higher order transit; and,
Whereas the Provincial Government has accelerated the target completion date for the Yonge Subway to be shortly after 2027; and further,
Whereas geotechnical and design work for the Yonge Subway Extension has already commenced;
Now therefore be it resolved:
- That the Province of Ontario be requested to work in conjunction with the local municipalities and transit authorities to review and assess the following:
- Existing and proposed infrastructure, including the feasibility of relocating storm water ponds, reconfiguring the Highway 407 interchange ramps for an urban and pedestrian friendly environment; and,
- The land value uplift arising from greater intensification and to maximize the return on investment for public lands and infrastructure; and,
- Opportunities for a public-private partnership including an unsolicited bid proposal for the integrated transit destination hub; and,
- The potential re-designation of the lands west of Yonge Street, south of Highway 407, for Transit Oriented Development (TOD) versus the proposed 2,000-car parking lot; and,
- The benefits of a world class integrated development, engaging a "best-in-class" architectural, engineering, planning and urban design firm; and,
- Participating in a steering committee to coordinate development and infrastructure; and,
- That the City of Markham requests that the Provincial Government, as part of the environmental assessment updates for both the 407 Transitway (to rail) and the Yonge Subway Extension, including the design and construction, consider the following:
- An environmental assessment to bury the high-voltage hydro transmission lines from east of Bayview Avenue - west of Yonge Street - south of Highway 407 - to create greater flexibility in urban planning and release additional development opportunities to benefit the Province of Ontario; and,
- The feasibility of optimizing the Yonge Subway Extension alignment in its own established transportation corridor which is Yonge Street; and,
- Confirming the location of the Yonge Street subway stations to best serve the planned and future communities; and,
- The feasibility of optimizing the Highway 407 rail transitway alignment in its own established transportation corridor; and,
- That the Province of Ontario be requested to maximize the return on investment of public sector infrastructure and land in the Langstaff/Richmond Hill area; and,
- That the Province of Ontario undertake these considerations without any delay to the planning, construction and delivery of the Yonge Subway Extension; and,
- That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Councils of the City of Richmond Hill and the City of Vaughan for their endorsement; and further,
- That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario; the Honourable Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier; the Honourable Victor Fedeli, Minister of Finance; the Honourable Jeff Yurek, Minister of Transportation; the Honourable Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines; the Honourable Todd Smith, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade; the Honourable Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; the Honourable Monte McNaughton, Minister of Infrastructure Ontario; the Honourable Rod Phillips, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks; all Members of Provincial Parliament in the Regional Municipality of York; and the Regional Municipality of York.