Public Road vs Private Lane

 

History on the City-owned Public Road

The RGRRA has been advocating for a City-owned public at Richview Plaza road since 2018.

 

February 2026 - Etobicoke York Community Council recognized that this larger and more complex redevelopment requires a public road rather than the private laneway the developer wants.

 

March 2026 - The developer appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal just days before City Council confirmed that Richview Plaza requires a City-owned Public Road.

 

Why a City-owned road?

This new road runs through the development, between Eglinton Ave. to the Wincott/Waterford Drive intersection. Only a City-owned road can ensure the accessibility and safety residents expect, especially given the size and scale of this redevelopment, and expected vehicular, bike and foot traffic.

 

1. It will serve 3000-9000 cars per day (depending on which report you refer to) and it's critical this demand is coordinated with the neighbourhood road system to manage flow and congestion, which is already a challenge. In fact, the redevelopment traffic volume requires left turn lanes be added on Wincott turning into the plaza and from the new road turning left/North onto Wincott.

 

2. Due to traffic volumes, the road requires new traffic lights at Wincott Drive and Waterford Drive instead of the current four-way stop. These traffic lights will be very close to the existing Wincott Dr. and Eglinton Ave. traffic lights which RE already a traffic flow/congestion congestion.

 

3. A City-owned public road will be built before redevelopment begins - ensuring City standards for design, building and maintenance are in place and met. A private lane can be built any time, or not at all, or partially.

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4. The City of Toronto Official Plan Policy states “New streets will be public streets unless otherwise deemed appropriate by the City. Private streets, where they are deemed to be appropriate, will be designed to connect to and integrate into the broader public street network and meet the design objectives for new public streets.”

 

The City requires public streets for developments of this scale and complexity

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