TORONTO
STAR - Sat November 1, 2003
Streetcar
lanes rankle residents
Candidates split
on future of St Clair
Seen as test case for official plan
CATHERINE
PORTER
STAFF REPORTER
There's
one issue rattling through Ward 17 this election and it's along
the streetcar tracks on St. Clair Ave. W.
Everyone
agrees they should have been replaced a long time ago. What's
stirring debate is whether or not they should be replaced with
two dedicated streetcar lanes separated from the rest of traffic
by concrete barriers, as on Spadina Ave.
The
four candidates vying to replace Betty Disero, who stepped down
as councillor in Davenport after almost 18 years last May, are
separated by which side of the debate they fall.
"Doing
nothing is not an option. It's a highly used route and the tracks
need repair," said Alejandra Bravo, 32, chair of the Toronto District
School Board parent council. With the support of former mayor
John Sewell and city councillors Joe Mihevc and Maria Augimeri,
she is a frontrunner in the tight race.
As
an immigrant from Chile who speaks four languages fluently, she
has based her campaign on her ability to work as a consensus-builder
on issues in the largely working-class and ethnic community. Facing
off against her is David Senater.
"I
have been very vocal on this matter. I say no way to the TTC right-of-way,"
he said to cheers during a raucous all-candidates' debate last
week.
Senater,
29, is president of an industrial design company, running his
campaign out of a "mobile office" between the homes of supporters.
He held up signs outside gas stations during the blackout last
August, protesting their gas hikes.
Instead
of a barricaded right-of-way, he is proposing a rush-hour streetcar-only
lane, with tough penalties on drivers who flout the rule."That
will save taxpayers $10 million and not divide the community,"
he said.
In
the middle of the debate is Cesar Palacio, who says he started
his campaign 18 years ago, when he was hired by Disero to work
as her executive assistant. Disero and Davenport MPP Tony Ruprecht
endorse him.
Well-known
in the community for spearheading many of the ward's resident
and tenant groups, as well as the two police community partnerships
credited for reducing crime in the ward, Palacio said he has the
most experience for the job. "I know how the system works and
I know how to get things done," said Palacio, 51, who moved to
the ward from Ecuador after emigrating in 1972. When it comes
to the streetcar, he shows he has also learned how to sidestep
a political hot potato, hoping to appease voters on both sides
of the debate.
"Am
I for it or not? In my opinion that's a very simplistic way to
address a very complex proposition. We need more studies. We cannot
afford to make mistakes on this," he said, adding his concerns
include pedestrian safety and left-turn prohibitions restricting
drivers from getting to their homes.
"We
don't have the numbers or statistics to look at it."
The
busy six-lane street bisecting the Davenport ward is seen as a
test case for the city's new official plan, calling for greater
density and improved transportation over the next 20 years.The
city has already dedicated $25 million toward replacing aging
streetcar tracks.
Many
area business owners are dead-set against the right-of-way. Some
are even threatening to move elsewhere over it, said Jeff Gillan,
chair of the Corso Italia Business Improvement Area, representing
250 businesses on St. Clair Ave. W.
"We
don't have a congestion problem here right now. We will have one
if this goes through." On the other side are local transit riders,
like Carolin Banjavcic. Glowering from behind the microphone at
the packed all-candidates' debate, she challenged Senater to prove
his plan will speed up her commute. "We already have streetcar-only
areas, and they are totally ignored by drivers. I want to get
home at night and I want to get to work faster. I want streetcars
going like clockwork and not continually being stopped by cars."
Also
running for councillor is Disero's old competitor, Romolo Cimaroli.
In the 2000 election, he was the only candidate to challenge her,
gaining 17 per cent of the vote. The 41-year-old former manager
of the St. Clair Flea Market says the loss didn't dissuade him
from knocking on doors this time around.
While
he is proposing to negotiate more funding for the TTC, when it
comes to the right-of-way, he is siding with residents.
"The
residents are not at this point in favour of it," he said. If
elected, though, he hopes to convince locals of the right-of-way's
benefits for the ward.
Former
York councillor Nicola Fortunato, who has run in the different
wards in the past two municipal elections, withdrew his candidacy
this week.
