Kus on Madison Ave parkimislahenduse projekt? / In Search of a Madison Ave Parking Study (29)
Eestlased Kanadas | 08 Apr 2019  | Markus AlliksaarEWR
In English, please see below.

Möödunud aasta aprillis korraldas Madison Ave grupp seeria kogukonna konsultatsioone seoses kavandatava uue Eesti Keskusega. Ühel nendest koosolekutest (28. märtsil) tõin ma esile, et parkimine saab olema selle projekti nõrgimaks lüliks. Arvestades seda, palusin ma läbi viia põhjaliku parkimisolukorra uuringu, et seda probleemi analüüsida, lahendada ja arutada kogukonna poolt. Koosoleku korraldajad lubasid selle uuringu läbi viia ja informeerida kogukonda hiljemalt 2018 aasta sügiseks. See lubadus sai uuesti üle korratud kui ma küsisin vastava küsimuse Eesti Maja eelmise aasta aastakoosolekul.

Kahjuks ei ole tänaseni seda parkimislahenduse uuringut avalikusele esitatud. Samuti ei paista, nagu oleks kellegi käest küsitud nende parkimisvajaduste kohta. Muuhulgas ei ole seda küsitud ka Toronto Eesti Seltsi käest, mille juhatusse ma nüüd kuulun ja mis korraldab igaaastast Eesti Vabariigi Aastapäeva aktust. Hiljutisel kogukonna koosolekul (14. märtsil) öeldi mulle korraldajate poolt, et parkimisuuring on tehtud. Kui ma küsisin tulemuste kohta, siis vastati, et neil ei ole seda parajasti käepärast. Mulle öeldi, et ma võin seda küsida Madison Ave projektijuhi käest, aga ma ei ole oma mitmetele e-posti kirjadele senini vastust saanud.

Ma samuti küsisin linna arendusinseneride juhi Avi Bachar kirja kohta, saadetud 14. detsembril 2018, mis lükkas tagasi Madisoni Ave grupi taotluse ehitusreeglite erandiks mis oleks vähendanud parkimiskohtade arvu 19 pealt nullini. Vastavalt sellele kirjale, parkimisuuring oli esitatud koos avaldusega, sisaldades muuhulgas andmeid parkimise kohta praeguses Eesti Majas. Vastavalt sellele kirjale, tehtud uuring leidis, et 958 Broadview parkimisplatsil pargib uuringuperioodil korraga maksimaalselt 12 autot. See järeldus on absurdne igaühele kellel on vähematki tegemist praeguse Eesti Majaga. Eesti Maja parkimisplats on pilgeni täis mitmel õhtul igal nädalal. Koosoleku korraldajat ütlesid mulle, et muudetud parkimisuuring on linnale esitatud ja see on rahuldavalt vastu võetud. Kui ma küsisin mis muudatused olid tehtud selles uuestiesitatud uuringus, siis öeldi mulle, et see informatsioon ei ole kergesti saadaval.

Üks ettekandjatest avaldas arvamust, et käsitledes erasõidukite parkimis, kasutan ma aegunud kontseptsiooni. Ta väitis, et transpordi tulevik Torontos on ühistransport. Hiljem ma mõtisklesin kõigi nende uute elamupiirkondade üle mida ehitatakse Pickeringis, Ajaxis, Auroras, Newmarketis, King Cityis ja igalpool mujal GTA magalarajoonides. Neid ehitatakse täpselt nagu 50-ndatel (kuigi väiksematele maalappidele) inimeste jaoks kelle põhiline transpordivahend on isiklik auto. Kõik see uus ehitamine tähendab, et isiklik auto on jätkuvalt oluline faktor GTA transpordilahenduses järgmise kolme või nelja aastakümnendi vältel.

Viimasel ajal on palju räägitud nn. Uberi generatsioonist, s.t. noortest kes on teinud valiku elada linnas ilma isikliku autota. See trend teatud ulatuses tõepoolest toimub, kuid see ei ole siiski valdav. See trend on suuremaks tehtud kui see tegelikult on, tasub vaadata ainult linnastumise uurija Joel Kotkini publikatsioone selles vallas. Paljud noored perekonnad tahavad eramaja koos tagaaiaga, eriti lastekasvatamise perioodil. Nad ei ole seda võimelised tegema Toronto linnas, kus kinnisvara hinnad on kerkinud hirmkõrgeks. Nad on sunnitud kolima eespool nimetatud linnaümbritsevatesse elamurajoonidesse. Nendele perekondadele on metrooga sõit kesklinna lisaks pikale autosõidule suuremaks ettevõtmiseks mis on kokku lihtsalt liiga palju. Eesti Maja ilma reaalse parkimisvõimaluseta eemaldab nad meie kogukonnast täielikult. Meie kogukond on juba praegu liiga väike, et seda lubada.


Kuna autosõit ei kao lähitulevikus kuhugi, on meil hädapärast vaja parkimisuuringut mis sisaldab järgnevaid punkte:
1. Kasutajagruppide küsitlus mis tuvastab parkimisvajadused nende ürituste tarbeks. Näiteks, kui palju parkimiskohtasid vajab Eesti Vabariigi Aastapäeva Aktus?

2. Loend võimalikest marsruutidest Eesti Keskusesse koos nendega seotud probleemidega.

3. Nimekiri lähedal asuvatest parkimisvõimalustest, koos hinna ja kaugusega Keskusest. Eriliseks mureks on parkimisplats Spadinal, Bloorist põhjapoole. See parkimisplats pakub enamuse selle piirkonna parkimisvõimalustest, kuid näeb küps uueks kõrghooneks. Kas linnavalitsus on lubanud meile, et see jääb? Kas me oleme mõelnud, et üürida parkimiskohti lähedalasuvatest parklatest pensionäride ja puuetega isikute tarbeks?


Et korralikult hinnata parkimisprobleeme Madison Avenüül, on meil vaja vastuseid nendele küsimustele, muidu me arutame seda vaakumis.

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In Search of a Madison Ave Parking Study

Last April, the Madison Ave group conducted a series of community consultation meetings regarding the proposed new Estonian Center. At one of these meetings (Mar 28), I stated that parking is the project’s Achilles heel. For this reason, I asked for a comprehensive parking study to analyze the problem and to develop solutions that could be debated by the community. The meeting facilitators promised to conduct a parking study and deliver it to the community by fall of 2018. This promise was reiterated when I asked a follow-up question at last year’s Eesti Maja AGM.

Unfortunately, to date, no parking study has been presented to the public. Also, nobody seems to have been consulted about their parking needs. This includes the Toronto Eesti Selts of which I am now a director, and which organizes the Vabariigi Aastapäeva Aktus every year. At a recent community engagement meeting (March 14), I was told by the meeting facilitators that a parking study has been conducted. When asked for its conclusions, I was told that they didn’t have it handy for reference. They told me that I could approach the Madison Ave project manager for it, but several e-mail requests for the study have yielded no response to date.

I also asked about a letter from the City Manager of Development Engineering Avi Bachar dated Dec 14 that turned down the Madison Ave group’s request for a zoning variance that would reduce the number of parking spots slated for this site from 19 to zero. According to this letter, a parking study was submitted with this application, which analyzed parking patterns at the current Eesti Maja. According to the letter, this study had observed in their study period that the peak number of occupied parking spots at 958 Broadview Ave. was 12. Anybody who has any familiarity with the Eesti Maja knows that this conclusion is absurd. The Eesti Maja’s 72-space parking lot is overflowing several nights every week. The meeting facilitators told me that an amended study was submitted to the City, which had satisfied them. When asked what modifications were made to the resubmitted study, they said that they did not have that information readily available.

One of the presenters opined that in thinking about transportation in terms of private vehicles, I was using outdated concepts. He said that the future of transportation in Toronto is with public transportation. Later on, I pondered all of the brand-new subdivisions being built in Pickering, Ajax, Aurora, Newmarket, King City, and every other bedroom community in the GTA. These are built exactly like 1950’s homes (except on smaller lots) for people whose primary mode of transportation will be their car. This new construction means that the private automobile will be an important factor in the GTA transportation equation for the next three or four decades.

There has been much talk about the so-called Uber generation, that is young people who choose to live in the city and eschew car ownership entirely. There is some truth to this trend but it is not the whole truth. It has been exaggerated, as urban geographer Joel Kotkin has tirelessly documented. Many young families want a house with a backyard to raise their kids. They are not going to get that in the City of Toronto where house prices are exorbitant. They must move out to the aforementioned suburbs. For these families, the additional strain of a subway ride on top of a long commute may be too much. For them, an Eesti Maja with no realistic parking will cut them off entirely from our community. Our community is too small to write these Estonians off.

Given that commuting by car will be a reality for the foreseeable future, we urgently need a parking study that includes the following items:

1. A canvas of all potential user groups to assess the parking requirements of the functions they organize. For instance, how much parking does the Vabariigi Aastapäeva Aktus require?
2. A catalogue of potential routes to the Madison Center with their related traffic issues.
3. An inventory of nearby parking, with their cost and distance from the Center. Of particular concern is the parking lot on Spadina north of Bloor. This provides much of the area’s paid parking but it looks ripe for redevelopment. Have we secured a promise from the City that it will remain? Have we considered leasing space from neighbouring parking lots for seniors and people with accessibility needs?

We need answers to these questions in order to be able to properly assess the parking situation on Madison Ave, but currently we are debating in a vacuum.

 

Viimased kommentaarid

Kommentaarid on kirjutatud EWR lugejate poolt. Nende sisu ei pruugi ühtida EWR toimetuse seisukohtadega.
rkomendant@studiok.ca14 Apr 2019 13:19
No the budget is not realistic, never has been. None of the machinations for Madison Centre de Internationale are logical (old tower, shaky foundations, no light, no parking etc.etc). Rumour mill says R&D is up at 4M+ and anyone with bonafide RealWorld credentials has been shunted off to the side, with not even a "come back tomorrow" (Oz). Looks like the Parking quandary may create a way to back away from all this nonsense. Chanting: open-the-books open-the-books!
Is the budget realistic?13 Apr 2019 12:42
The current sale price of the Esto house at only $12 million is on the low end of the range we've been told. Currently, modest houses around Broadview and Danforth are going for about $1 million. Since there are two houses bundled into the EM sale price, that would mean we would only get $10 million from the sale of the EM. That seems really low, given that it is a huge view lot with a large building close to the subway. What will be left of that once capital gains taxes are removed? We might only get $5 million to use for the new center!

Also, how much has now been spent on lawyers and consultants for the new project planning? Is this on budget? Since the project is delayed, and the first rezoning application was rejected, the total budget projection may be quite out of date.

It would be good to release the parking study, and also a revised budget so that prospective donors can gain confidence that this is a realistic endeavour.
Sad13 Apr 2019 11:56
to see that up to $17m of canada's estos' legacy being risked, and possibly squandered into a 'black hole'.

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