Yonge-Sheppard Condo Buyers Warned About Gridlock
Posted May 7, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s one of the new hotspots for condo development but those who live and work in the Yonge and Sheppard area say traffic is a nightmare and unfortunately, it only looks like it’s going to get worse.
The gridlock has prompted some to call for mandatory warnings for prospective condo buyers, so they know what they’re getting if they purchase property at the midtown intersection.
At a recent community council meeting in North York, those in attendance voted to support the traffic warning for condo buyers. It wouldn’t be the first such advisory – in the past school boards have warned individuals interested in certain condo projects that they might have trouble registering their children in nearby schools because of overcrowding.
Councillor John Filion is pushing for the warning signs .
“I think the warning will act as a deterrent, people who think gee I’m buying right at Yonge and 401 and I can just scoot right out in the morning and get quickly to work will know ahead of time that they can’t. It’s a great place to live if you’re not trying to drive your car in the morning.”
“Don’t buy here thinking that you’re going to have an easy commute in the morning.”
Residents and those working in the neighbourhood agree traffic is often a zoo.
“(The) 401 is crazy. Sheppard and Yonge are too busy to do anything, so subway’s about the only option to come here,” Ben Beausoleil asserts.
“The traffic is terrible coming in from work,” adds Andrea Teskey. “It takes me 30 minutes to get here from Newmarket and then 20 minutes to get off the off-ramp on Yonge Street. So it’s great that they’re building condos and lots of new places for people to live, but for people who are trying to commute to the city and work here, it makes it really difficult.”
It can reportedly take up to 20 minutes to make a right turn onto Yonge St. from Sheppard Ave. during rush hour. Those who question the advisory contend traffic’s just as bad at every Yonge St. intersection from Eglinton Ave. up to Finch Ave. Others believe it’s unjustly targeting one specific company.
“It just seems somewhat unfair to take one developer and say on this one development on this one intersection there’s going to be a notice,” said lawyer for Baghai Developments, Adam Brown.
Councillors will debate whether to post the warning signs and then vote on it near the end of the month.
