As a member of the Library Board, I shared an idea to the hospital executive to consider a Vaughan Public Library (VPL) within the new Hospital. This partnership is a first for both parties. The new library will provide general materials that you have come to appreciate at VPL plus specialty resources for the medical profession. (Photo credit given to Mackenzie Hospital)

Phase 2 of the park will begin this Fall and will include massive earthworks on 130 acres to install sewers and water lines to support all future amenities. This phase will add more parking, more kilometres of trails and an exciting boardwalk around the wetlands. The Federal government provided 80% of the one million dollar grant to assist with the building of the trails and boardwalks. The Province provided the balance. Groundworks are expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

Council has approved a local off-leash dog park at Mackenzie Glen District Park and will begin installation in the Fall 2021. In the future, once Phase 2 at the North Maple Regional Park has been completed, an area will be identified within the park grounds for a larger off-leash park.

After almost a decade of lobbying York Region, they finally approved full funding for the construction of the centre-turn lane. This lane, running from Keele St to Avro/McNaughton Rd, will help alleviate traffic jams in the Maple core and provide much needed safety and relief for emergency vehicles headed to the new hospital. Design work continues, utility poles will need to be moved for the road widening and construction is expected to begin in 2022 instead of 2024. Persistence pays off 😊

The City is developing a speed policy change to reduce speed limits in residential areas from 50 km to 40 km. This change will ensure the safety of our road users, specifically pedestrians and cyclists. Staff will be assessing this speed limit change in existing neighbourhoods by piloting one “40 km/h Neighbourhood area Speed Zone” in each Ward as a start.

With the recent tragedy that has taken the lives of two young children on Athabasca which was attributed to speeding, a full traffic and speed management study will be undertaken. Some subdivisions were designed many years ago without built-in traffic calming measures. Therefore, the outcome of this study will be deemed a pilot project that could potentially benefit other older subdivisions.

Currently, there are a total of 72 traffic-related cases for Ward 1 for this year. Traffic studies scheduled in relation to these cases include 37 automatic traffic recorder locations, 10 intersection traffic studies, 2 pedestrian crossover studies, as well as site-specific reviews of signs, pavement markings, etc. A total of 16 radar message board locations have been scheduled to date. Other traffic reviews include:

The City is undertaking an Environmental Assessment (EA) Study for the widening of Kirby Road from two to four lanes between Jane Street and Dufferin Street. Grade separation of the Barrie GO Rail line at Kirby Road and elimination of the existing jog at the intersection at Kirby Road and Jane Street. These improvements will address capacity and operational needs and accommodate planned growth in the area for all roadway users.

Kirby Road Extension

Design work has commenced for the extension of Kirby Road from Dufferin Street to Bathurst Street. Communication with the landowner regarding detailed design and property acquisition is ongoing. The estimated time to prepare the final plans is the end of 2021 and construction to commence in early 2022.

Together with input from the community, the MoveSmart Mobility Management Strategy is a plan to continue delivering efficient traffic services. It is based on 4 programs and will take approximately 5 years to fully implement. Please visit the City's website for further information.

Due to severe traffic infiltration, the residents are requesting closing part or all of Napier Street at Stegman’s Mill Road. These streets do not have sidewalks. A complete feasibility study investigating the closure of part or all of Napier Street at Stegman’s Mill is ongoing.

The Kleinburg Summit Way subdivision received two all-way stops due to the abnormal road conditions. This unique road is two kilometres in length with no stop along its entire length. The all-way stops will now allow for safe crossings to the main parks and trails as well as two safe locations for vehicles to pull out onto the main road.

The Maple Community Centre will be undergoing improvements, including accessibility upgrades, a new barrier-free washroom, renovated fitness change room and the creation of new recreation activity spaces. Ultra-violet systems and new HVAC Units will be installed to improve air quality.  We are grateful that this project is 80% funded by the Federal government and the balance by the Province.

The revitalization of the Maple Library has begun. Improvements include a fully modern library branch, redesigned reading spaces, an outdoor reading garden, new activity rooms, a barrier-free washroom and more. Renovations are currently underway until the end of this year. The Federal government has provided a large grant towards these renovations.

Council unanimously refused the MZO request that would have allowed two 36 storey condo towers at Jane St. and Rutherford Rd. to be built without going through the proper Public Hearing process. An MZO approval would have excluded affected residents from sharing their comments.

Council withdrew its support of the proposed highway. The identified area of the highway is comprised of 60% greenbelt and 40% prime agricultural lands which would have been destroyed. The remaining farmlands along the route would have most likely been redeveloped. The Federal government announced in May that it would undertake an Environmental Assessment of the proposed highway.

Vaughan is being asked to take 234,000 more residents by 2051 for a total of 569,000 people which equates to a 70% increase based on today’s population of 335,000.

What does this mean for you? It means that all infill development, being empty lots, local plazas, etc, along major roads such as Major Mackenzie, Keele, Jane, Dufferin, Rutherford, Islington, Hwy 27 backing onto stable low-rise residential subdivisions could receive approvals to build medium to high density buildings because the Province has mandated that 50% of the growth must be in already built-up areas. 

Whereas, if you live in the northern areas of Ward 1, this would mean that the balance of our farmlands (3,138 acres) would be turned into factories and warehouses and more homes. Traffic implications for an additional 234,000 more people would be severe and unmanageable. The Region of York at its May 12, 2021 presentation (copy attached) to Vaughan Council has admitted that it does not have the financial means to build out or improve existing road networks. This goes hand in hand with their inability to provide public transit, policing, EMS, etc. 

This situation currently exists for those living in the new Kleinburg area wherein York Region, after almost ten years, has yet to provide transit service for this community with a population now closing in on 10,000 people.

The Province is not providing any financial support to municipalities to help them achieve these new population numbers and they continue to refuse to fund the approved GO Stations at Kirby and at Mulock, both in York Region.

Lack of funding has serious consequences for York Region as it has one of the highest debt levels of any government in Ontario.

The Province is shaping your community without your input and this is wrong. York Region has been given little time to reach out to the public for their comments and even if they do, it may be too late as staff recommendations will have basically been determined.

Attached is a letter that I have sent to the Auditor General of Ontario in support of their review of the Province’s Growth Planning process. Please take a moment to read the letter as it highlights key points that are enormously important to the future of our communities.

We understand that growth needs to happen however, you and your City officials are best placed to know how much growth we can manage. It is imperative and, more importantly, respectful to you the resident, that consideration of all future growth be done in a transparent manner with full public input, it must be appropriate, managed properly and should not negatively affect existing communities.

In September 2021, York Region will be considering a request by a developer to build parks/infrastructure in the Greenbelt. The Provincial government has never identified types of parks suitable for the Greenbelt. The developer had asked for Council support of their request and Council did not take a position. Given that all future development in Vaughan will be in and around Kleinburg and north Maple, home of the Oak Ridges Moraine and Greenbelt this decision will have an enormous impact on the amount of future development, the local communities and the integrity of the Greenbelt. The parcel of land in question, known as Block 41 (Teston/Kirby/Weston/Pine Valley) was the subject of an MZO approval by the Provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the approval did not include the parks in the Greenbelt although it was part of the request/review.

Two areas in Ward 1 were identified to be Major Transit Station Areas:

As per York Region work to update their official plan, the MTSA had been extended to this intersection. In order to comply with Provincial policies, future redevelopment in this area would have forced new high-rises to be built to at least 26 storeys plus. This would not have been in keeping with the low-rise residential abutting the corners. After much negotiating with the Region, the MTSA will only apply to the south east corner of Keele St and Rutherford Rd (Commercial/Industrial area) and the established communities of Greenock, Barrhill and Sherwood Park have now been protected.

After negotiating with the Region, the area both north and south of this intersection were noted as “potential” MTSA boundaries but not officially implemented by the Region. York Region has no funds therefore no plans to improve either the road or rapid transit infrastructure for the foreseeable future and therefore the area cannot be intensified.

The City entered into an agreement with Bell Canada to improve high-speed internet communications for Vaughan residents. Bell Canada is delivering internet service to the City’s citizens in older neighbourhoods to replace aging wire technology designed for land-line telephone service. The older technology limits the speed and reliability of internet service that Bell can provide.

After much discussion, Council has received the report prepared by external consultants. The Ward boundaries for the 2022 election will not change. A total of 687 people participated in the online surveys and 52 residents attended the virtual open houses in January and March.

After immense opposition from the local community, Metrolinx withdrew its proposal to create an access point to the Maple GO Station from a small internal subdivision street called Lindenshire. Had this gone through, it would have created very severe and unsafe traffic influx in a small residential subdivision that was never designed for such infiltration.

An Environmental Project Report (EPR) Addendum has been prepared for the McNaughton Road Grade Separation for an overpass at McNaughton Road and the GO tracks. This work will take several years but once completed, it will eliminate the need to stop at the tracks waiting for the train to pass and just as important for those living in the area, the train will no longer need to whistle when approaching the crossing.

It is disappointing to learn that the Province has continued to refuse funding for this station. There will be approximately 78,000 residents that could benefit from the use of this station. I will continue to voice the need for this station and that it be built as soon as possible. Within the area surrounding this station, there is a new community being built with approx. 10,000 + housing units all of which will bring more people and cars and thus the need for this station must be a priority.

Council approved the EA study, which determined the preferred solution to be a bridge built over Highway 400 at Canada Drive and America Avenue. In 2020, the City began the bridge design, including working directly with the immediate community on a landscape and streetscape design process. Construction is anticipated to begin by the spring of 2022.  A Public Information session was held on June 10, 2021 and was attended by 20 citizens. There were three main questions asked:

(in addition to sidewalks)

The link to the presentation and the recorded Public Information Session

is available on the Project Webpage: https://www.vaughan.ca/projects/projects_and_studies/CDAAbridge/Pages/Project-Updates.aspx

After conducting my own review and investigation along King Vaughan Road, west of Keele Street, I brought to light to Council far too many illegal operations. I have asked By-Law Staff to deal aggressively with all individuals/companies who are operating illegally. Such blatant disregard for City rules/regulations that you and I uphold each day must be challenged and dealt with severely. As further information becomes available, I will update those interested.

Maria Eva Cristante was presented with the 2020 Ward 1 Civic Hero Award. As a life-long devoted volunteer, Maria Eva has supported many community organizations in Vaughan, including St. David Parish, the Valigia d'Oro Awards, Maple Pioneer Seniors Club and the Maple Health Centre. She has helped raise funds for humanitarian relief as well as the new Vaughan Hospital. Thank you Maria Eva for all that you continue to do for the community.