City News Release: City of Toronto gears up for winter

The first signs of snow have been spotted in Ward 39 in the past week, and the City of Toronto is ready to keep its streets clean. Find out more about what the City is doing to brave this winter below:

Emerald Ash Borer Update

Excerpted from the Fall 2011 Newsletter:

Emerald Ash Borer Update
On a sad note, I wish to inform you of the loss of many Ash trees in Ward 39. The Emerald Ash Borer insect continues to infect Ash trees in the entire City. Overall, an estimated 420,000 trees, which represents one third of Toronto’s entire tree canopy, will have to be destroyed.

If you have Ash trees on your property which are infected, you are responsible to remove them at your own cost. Should you wish to replace the trees that have to be removed, you could contact:

LEAF (Local Enhancement & Appreciation of Forests): they offer a Backyard Tree Planting Program that provides native trees and shrubs to homeowners in Toronto at a subsidized cost. Visit www.yourleaf.org for more information.

For healthy Ash trees on private property, there is a chemical compound that can be injected into the tree every other year to prolong its life. For more information on this process, please contact 311.

Toronto to host 2012 Ontario Summer Games

The City of Toronto will host the 2012 Ontario Summer Games from August 16 to 19, 2012. The 2012 Games will bring together almost 2,500 athletes competing in 28 sports in multiple venues across Toronto and surrounding regions, as well as 368 coaches, 113 managers, 281 officials, 21 provincial sport organization representatives, more than 1,000 volunteers and thousands of spectators. The Games are a unique opportunity for many young athletes, as the multi-sport competition serves as a stepping stone to many national and international competitions.

The Ontario Summer Games are still looking for volunteers, so please see their website for more details.

ANC House Basketball League

Action for Neighbourhood Change (ANC) is creating a house basketball league and needs your help! They are looking for youth aged 13 - 21 as coaches, referees, and of course players. They will be recruiting people on Mondays and Wednesday starting November 14th.

For more information, please contact Ziggy Miller at 416-609-9393, or download this flyer for details.

Improved bus service in Ward 39

Below is an excerpt taken from a letter from the TTC to our office concerning bus service improvements, dated August 15th, 2011:

Improved Service on Bus Routes
TTC staff carefully monitor ridership levels and operational performance on all TTC bus routes and, working strictly within the budget limitations allowed us by the City, we make adjustments to service in order to ensure that passenger comfort and crowding are maintained at reasonable levels, and that the attractiveness and reliability of the services are kept as good as possible.

Over the past few years, we have made a number of service improvements on routes in your ward, and these include:

42 Cummer:

Service was increased in January 2011 in the morning and afternoon peak periods, and in the late evening from Monday to Friday. Service was also increased in September 2010 on Sunday mornings. These service increases were in response to increasing ridership, and they reduced crowding on this route.

199 Finch Rocket:

We are currently conducting detailed stop-by-stop ridership counts on this route, and we will complete an evaluation of the service change this fall. The evaluation will include consideration of changes to stops, including the possibility of adding the stop at Adirondack Gate/Wayside Avenue to the 199 Finch Rocket route. The decision as to whether this stop will be added back to 199 Finch Rocket express service will be based on several factors, including an analysis of up-to-date stop usage on the 39 Finch East route; the number of people using this stop since the introduction of the 199 Finch Rocket route; an evaluation of the overall travel time changes to customers at this stop, considering both the change in waiting time of the revised local service and the running time difference between the express and local service; and the ability of the 199 Finch Rocket route to accommodate additional customers and additional stops, given our current resource limitations.

43 Kennedy:

Various service increases have been made to this route. Starting in September 2011, significant increases in service will be made during the peak periods and midday from Monday to Friday. These increases are intended both to reduce crowding and also to improve the reliability of the service, by adding more time to the schedules. These changes are in addition to schedule adjustments made in September 2010 to better service Mary Ward Collegiate; increased service Sunday mornings in January 2008; increased service on Monday-Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons in February 2008; and increased service on Sunday late evenings in November 2008.