Could you imagine the impact if just one downtown core subway station had not been built decades ago–Wellesley, College or Dundas Station? Unless we urge the Province of Ontario to act now, North York’s future will not include a Cummer Station to serve the 10,400 residents soon to join the approximately 5000 Toronto residents, for a total of over 15,000 residents, all within a walkable 10-minute 800-metre distance from Yonge Street and Cummer Avenue. The Yonge North Subway Extension will benefit the environment, the economy, the North York community and communities to our north. However, provincial funding for the provincial project Yonge North Subway Extension is not sufficient to support all six proposed stations from Cummer Avenue to Richmond Hill. As a result, Metrolinx descoped two of the proposed stations: Cummer and Royal Orchard — “City and TTC staff raised concerns…that the significant development potential and recent activity in the [Cummer] station area, which far outpaces that of other stations, was not sufficiently considered.” According to City Transportation Staff, “Cummer station would be similarly spaced between Steeles and Finch Stations as the existing North York Centre Station is between Finch and Sheppard Stations. A subway station has been anticipated in this location for many years such that the development industry and, in fact, the Ontario Land Tribunal (formerly the Ontario Municipal Board and the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal) have operated under the assumption of the station being delivered as part of the Yonge North Subway Extension. The recently adopted Yonge North Secondary Plan also provides for a higher-order transit station at this location.” The significant amount of new development in the pipeline for the Cummer Station area is predicated on the expectation of this subway station. On the east side of Yonge Street, 9 towers are under appeal or under construction: 4 at the former Newtonbrook Plaza (1674 units under construction) and 5 in the block to the north of Cummer Avenue (1542 units appealed). On the west side of Yonge Street, City Planning expects to settle appeals on developments at 5800 Yonge Street (4 towers, 1496 units), 6080 Yonge Street (262 units, 20 storeys), and the redevelopment of Inez Court (2 towers, 551 units), among others. The result of these developments will be 5525 new residential units as well as a significant amount of non-residential uses. City Planning anticipates that further development will follow the adoption of the Yonge North Secondary Plan and confirmation that a Yonge North Subway Extension Cummer Station will be delivered. The Province of Ontario fully funded Steeles Station and agreed to allocate the proceeds from transit-oriented community charges for developments surrounding the proposed Cummer Station to the City of Toronto. However, due to extensive existing development approvals, there won’t be sufficient funds flowing from these charges to fund an entire new subway station. Development surrounding Steeles Station is however at a much earlier stage and there are expected to be significantly more proceeds from transit-oriented communities available in coming years to fund Steeles Station. The Province of Ontario has many remaining opportunities to recover costs through transit-oriented communities along Yonge Street from the proposed Cummer Station towards Yonge/Steeles. The window is quickly closing for the Province of Ontario to build Cummer Station for generations to come. With low parking ratios, new developments are being built to strongly encourage residents to choose other forms of transportation. The 15,000+ residents surrounding Cummer station will be forced to walk further or find alternative parking arrangements. This is not how we build a future oriented community. The residents most affected by this have yet to move into these approved developments. Since the extension of Line 1 to Finch and the addition of North York Centre, Willowdale has transformed from a sleepy suburb to a vibrant city centre. The Ontario Government must make a decision: to either stifle nearly 50 years of progress or foster 50 more years of growth in Willowdale.
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