Delegation of Authority for Temporary Street Closings for Construction and Street Event Purposes

(City Council on July 4, 5 and 6, 2000, amended this Clause in accordance with the report dated June 28, 2000, from the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services, embodying the following recommendation:

“It is recommended that the Recommendations of Clause No. 5 of Report No. 13 of the Works Committee be replaced with the following recommendations:

(1) that authority be delegated to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services to close temporarily any or portion of a highway under the City’s jurisdiction during the construction, repair or improvement of such highway or portion of highway or of any works under, over, along, across or upon such highway or a portion of highway, where such construction, repair or improvement is initiated by the City of , or a utility company with statutory rights or a Municipal Access Agreement allowing occupancy of the highway;

(2) that authority be delegated to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services to close temporarily any highway or portion of a highway under the City’s jurisdiction for a period up to and including 30 days during the construction, repair or improvement of such highway or portion of highway or of any works under, over, along, across or upon such highway or portion of highway where such construction, repair or improvement is privately initiated, other than by a utility company as set out in Recommendation No. (1) above. This delegated authority does not extend to the F. G. , the Don Valley Parkway, the W. R. , , or Highway 27, closures which must be reported to Council for approval;

(3) that authority be delegated to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services to close temporarily to vehicular traffic any highway or portion of a highway under the City’s jurisdiction for a period of not more than four (4) consecutive days for social, recreational, community, athletic or cinematographic purpose, or combination of such purposes. This delegated authority does not extend to the F. G. Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway, the W. R. Allen Road, Black Creek Drive, or Highway 27, closures which must be reported to Council for approval;

(4) that the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services be required to notify the Ward Councillor of temporary street closings, and if so requested by the Councillor, such street closings be brought to the appropriate Community Council or Standing Committee for consideration; and (5) that the appropriate City Officials be requested to take the necessary action to give effect thereto, including the introduction of all necessary Bills.”)

The Works Committee recommends the adoption of the report dated May 31, 2000, from the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services.

The Works Committee reports, for the information of Council, having requested the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services to submit a report directly to Council for its meeting on July 4, 2000, on the requirement that the Ward Councillors be notified by electronic mail of temporary street closings, and if so requested by the Councillor, such street closings be brought to the Works Committee for consideration.

The Works Committee submits the following report (May 31, 2000) from the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services:

Purpose:

To consistently delegate to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services of the City of Toronto the authority to temporarily close public highways during construction, repair or improvement or for a social, recreational, community, athletic, or cinematographic purpose.

Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

There are no financial implications resulting from the adoption of this report.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1) authority be delegated to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services to close temporarily to vehicular traffic any public highway or portion of a public highway under the City’s jurisdiction for the construction, repair or improvement of such highway or portion of highway or of any works under, over, along, across or upon such highway or a portion of highway, where such construction, repair or improvement is initiated by the City of Toronto, or a utility company with statutory rights or a Municipal Access Agreement allowing occupancy of the highway;

(2) authority be delegated to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services to close temporarily to vehicular traffic any highway or portion of a highway under the City’s jurisdiction for a period up to and including 30 days during the construction, repair or improvement of such highway or portion of highway or of any works under, over, along, across or upon such highway or portion of highway where such construction, repair or improvement is privately initiated, other than by a utility company as set out in Recommendation No. (1) above, except the F. G. Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway, the W. R. Allen Road, or Black Creek Drive; (3) authority be delegated to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services to close temporarily to vehicular traffic any highway or portion of a highway under the City’s jurisdiction for a period of not more than four consecutive days for social, recreational, community, athletic or cinematographic purposes, or combination of such purposes, except the F. G. Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway, the W. R. Allen Road, or Black Creek Drive; and

(4) the appropriate City officials be requested to take the necessary action to give effect thereto, including the introduction of all necessary bills.

Comments:

Construction:

Section 207, paragraph 43 of the Municipal Act provides that a Council of municipality may pass by-laws “for closing temporarily any highway or portion of a highway under the jurisdiction of the municipality for any period during the construction, repair or improvement of such highway or portion thereof or of any works under, over, along, across or upon such highway or portion thereof and for authorizing a committee of council or a municipal officer or employee, subject to such conditions as council may impose, to exercise any of the powers of council under this paragraph”.

The former municipalities of Etobicoke, East York, Scarborough, Toronto and York enacted provisions through their by-laws or municipal codes delegating authority to the Commissioner to temporarily close roads for construction. These by-laws, codes and policies continue today. The former Metropolitan government accomplished these through various legislative means. For the community of , the Commissioner has the authority to temporarily close traffic lanes only, for construction related purposes, but not full closures. Full closures require Council approval and the enactment of individual by-laws. In addition, the former City of Toronto’s policy requires Council approval for private construction companies applying for road closures exceeding 30 days.

Street Events:

Section 207, paragraph 44 of the Municipal Act provides that a Council of municipality may pass by-laws “for closing to vehicular traffic on a temporary basis for such period as shall be specified in the by-law, any highway under the jurisdiction of the council for such social, recreational, community, athletic or cinematographic purpose, or combination of such purposes, as may be specified in the by-law and for authorizing a committee of council or a municipal officer or employee, subject to such conditions as council may impose, to exercise any of the powers of council under this paragraph”. Former municipalities enacted various provisions through by-laws, municipal codes and policies pursuant to Section 207(44) of the Municipal Act to close temporarily any highway for social, recreational, community, athletic or cinematographic purposes. These by-laws, codes and policies continue today. Conclusions:

By-law and Municipal Code provisions for temporary highway closures for construction and street events in each of the former municipalities are varied. For consistency, to expedite the approval process and to improve customer service, delegated authority to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services is being sought for the temporary closing of a highway for construction for municipal and utility projects, private projects completed within 30 days, and street events. Privately initiated construction projects that extend over 30 days and requests for closure for street events or privately initiated construction projects on the F. G. Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway, the W. R. Allen Road, or Black Creek Drive would require Council approval.

The old by-law and code provisions of the former municipalities will not be repealed at this time, however, the applicable provisions will be superseded by this new by-law insofar as the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services authority to close.

Staff of the Legal Services Division have reviewed the contents of this report.

Contact:

Angie Antoniou, Manager, Right of Way Management, District 1 Telephone: 392-1525/Fax: 392-7465 E-mail: [email protected]

(City Council on July 4, 5 and 6, 2000, had before it, during consideration of the foregoing Clause, the following report (June 28, 2000) from the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services:

Purpose:

To report directly to City Council on a request of the Works Committee on notifying the Ward Councillor of temporary street closings, and if so requested by the Councillor, such street closure be brought to the appropriate Community Council or Standing Committee for consideration.

Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

There are no financial implications resulting from the adoption of this report.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that the Recommendations of Clause No. 5 of Report No. 13 of the Works Committee be replaced with the following recommendations: (1) That authority be delegated to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services to close temporarily any highway or portion of a highway under the City’s jurisdiction during the construction, repair or improvement of such highway or portion of highway or of any works under, over, along, across or upon such highway or a portion of highway, where such construction, repair or improvement is initiated by the City of Toronto, or a utility company with statutory rights or a Municipal Access Agreement allowing occupancy of the highway;

(2) That authority be delegated to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services to close temporarily any highway or portion of a highway under the City’s jurisdiction for a period up to and including 30 days during the construction, repair or improvement of such highway or portion of highway or of any works under, over, along, across or upon such highway or portion of highway where such construction, repair or improvement is privately initiated, other than by a utility company as set out in Recommendation No. (1) above. This delegated authority does not extend to the F. G. Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway, the W. R. Allen Road, Black Creek Drive, or Highway 27, closures which must be reported to Council for approval;

(3) That authority be delegated to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services to close temporarily to vehicular traffic any highway or portion of a highway under the City’s jurisdiction for a period of not more than 4 consecutive days for social, recreational, community, athletic or cinematographic purpose, or combination of such purposes. This delegated authority does not extend to the F. G. Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway, the W. R. Allen Road, Black Creek Drive, or Highway 27, closures which must be reported to Council for approval;

(4) That the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services be required to notify the Ward Councillor of temporary street closings, and if so requested by the Councillor, such street closings be brought to the appropriate Community Council or Standing Committee for consideration; and

(5) That the appropriate City Officials be requested to take the necessary action to give effect thereto, including the introduction of all necessary bills.

Background:

The Works Committee, at its meeting of June 14, 2000, in considering a report (May 31, 2000) from the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services, entitled “Delegation of Authority for Temporary Street Closings for Construction Street Event Purposes”, recommended adoption of the report and requested the Commissioner to submit a further report directly to Council for its meeting of July 4, 2000, on the requirement that the Councillor be notified by electronic mail of temporary street closings, and if so requested by the Councillor, such street closings be brought to the Works Committee for consideration (Clause No. 5 of Report No. 13 of the Works Committee). Comments:

The referral of temporary street closings to the Ward Councillor for review provides opportunity for community input into the application process. However, to ensure that Ward Councillors are apprised of the applications, the recommendations contained herein will establish a consistent process. If the Councillor requests such street closing to be brought to the appropriate Committee for consideration, a report can be submitted by the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services detailing the proposal for the Committee’s consideration and recommendation to Council.

Technical amendments are also required to the Recommendations of our May 31, 2000 report, namely to delete “vehicular traffic” in Recommendations (1) and (2) and to include Highway 27 in Recommendations (2) and (3), in the list of expressways to be exempted from the delegation by-law.

Conclusions:

To ensure continued accountability and that the specific needs and desires of the community are not constrained, the recommendations in this report for street closings would require notice to be given to the Ward Councillor of applications within the Councillor’s Ward and if so requested by the Councillor, such street closings be brought to the appropriate Community Council or Standing Committee for consideration.

Contact:

Angie Antoniou, Manager, Right of Way Management, District 1 Telephone: 392-1525, Fax: 392-7465, E-mail: [email protected])