Bloor West Village Residents Association

From the Bloor West Village Residents Association:

The City is preparing to start major water main and sewer replacement projects that will disrupt movement and commerce in the Bloor West Village this summer.

As you can see from the project description below, the work will stretch from Clendenan in the East to Riverdale Gdns. in the West.

The street and sidewalks will be torn up. Crews are set to begin May 25th.

On the positive side this will mean the removal of the crumbling bricks on the sidewalks and intersections that have long posed a hazard to pedestrians and made the streetscape look awful.

However, an opportunity to widen the sidewalks, create bump outs and enhanced tree planters, and possibly establish bike lanes – is being passed up.

The City’s Urban Planning and Public Realm Sections say these have long been discussed as part of a long-needed renewal of the look of Bloor West Village.

But, they note that the BIA declined to become a partner in these enhancements. So, it will be the standard concrete and asphalt repair job as needed.

It’s hard not to agree with the City staff who worked on re-making the Village that this is an opportunity sadly lost. If Councillor Bill Saundercook advocated for a vision beyond the standard, he has not shared it and not engaged the community in helping to drum up support for a better Village.

Steve McNally
BWVRA Chair

Bloor Street – Keele Street Watermain Replacement and Pavement Resurfacing

10EY-13WS Watermain Replacement

A 300mm watermain will be replaced on Keele Street from Glenlake to Bloor St. and on Bloor St. from Keele St. to Riverview Gardens. In addition, most waterservices and several sections of storm and sanitary sewers will be replaced under this contract. The proximity of adjacent services prevent the use of the existing alignment, no by-pass will be required, thus allowing cold weather work.

This contract will be divided into two sections at Clendenan Avenue with at least one crew working simultaneously in each section. A completion date will be specified to ensure that the road work can commence in time for most to be completed this year. This may force the contractor to add additional crews to meet the deadline. This is likely to be additional crews to install waterservices as sections of the watermain are completed and a separate crew to do the sewer replacements.

The contractor will be required to maintain at least one lane of traffic in each direction during watermain and sewer construction. The contractor will be required to provide a permanent concrete base repair of their watermain and sewer trenches.

Tender call is scheduled for February 4, 2010 (actual March 25). We would expect award by late March, 2010 (now May 12) and a start of construction by April 12, 2010 (now May 25). We will specify a completion date of July 16, 2010 for the section between Clendenan and the South Kingsway and Sept. 16, 2010 for the remainder.

10EY-03RD Pavement Resurfacing

Pavement resurfacing will consist of removing the asphalt surface, repairing the concrete base and replacing the asphalt on Keele St. from Glenlake to Bloor St. and on Bloor St. from Keele St. to Riverview Gardens. Curb and sidewalk will be replaced as required.

After discussions with the BIA, it was agreed that most decorative sidewalk will be removed and replaced by plain concrete sidewalk and the City standard two Row Concrete Paver Band (P-1). Some areas in good condition such as the area around the fountain at Jane Street will remain undisturbed. We will incorporate the BIA’s new solar powered lights. There will be no changes to the current curb line and existing south side parking lay-bys.

Work will be divided into sections with specific completion dates for each. Emphasis will be on completing the work through the commercial area west of Clendenan Avenue. Work will be scheduled to avoid scheduled events in the Bloor West BIA as much as possible.

Again, the contractor will be required to maintain at least one lane of traffic in each direction during construction.

Tender call is scheduled for April 20, 2010 with contract award by June 9, 2010. Work should commence as soon as the sewer and watermain contractor completes the section west of Clendenan Avenue, not later than July 19, 2010.

All work will be co-ordinated with the planned deck replacement on the Humber River Bridge.