The city needs to start allowing single-lane drive aisles for sites like this with minimal parking. Like, do we really need a double width drive aisle accessing college with the like 5 cars a day that will be using it?

Hamilton just permitted a single-lane ramp to an underground garage with 13 spaces, surely Toronto can approve a 3.5m drive aisle for buildings with >5 parking spaces?
 
innsertnamehere said:
The city needs to start allowing single-lane drive aisles for sites like this with minimal parking. Like, do we really need a double width drive aisle accessing college with the like 5 cars a day that will be using it?

Hamilton just permitted a single-lane ramp to an underground garage with 13 spaces, surely Toronto can approve a 3.5m drive aisle for buildings with >5 parking spaces?
Click to expand...

I broadly agree w/you.....but before I bug you into writing the planner on the file, Abraham Plunkett-Latimer and cc'ing Jason Thorne and Valesia Fara, I think we should discuss the alternative to the existing layout.

Existing layout below:

1756217320670.png


So, the drive aisle portion does get as narrow as 6m in spots, the overall width does support two-way traffic, which I agree is unnecessary here, but it also supports the turning movements for the garbage truck and ppudo spaces.

For a moment, lets set aside Toronto's garbage truck rules which most of us here see as problematic.......

From the PPUDO south, with no other design changes, you probably need the current width, but w/one-way NB traffic, you should be able to reduce with the width next to the retail and College st.

To further inform the discussion, here is the demand for vehicle movements in the Traffic Study:

1756217865403.png


I'm not sure why this requires 4 PPUDO spaces. That's seems out of scale to projected demand.
 
Northern Light said:
I broadly agree w/you.....but before I bug you into writing the planner on the file, Abraham Plunkett-Latimer and cc'ing Jason Thorne and Valesia Fara, I think we should discuss the alternative to the existing layout.

Existing layout below:

View attachment 676646

So, the drive aisle portion does get as narrow as 6m in spots, the overall width does support two-way traffic, which I agree is unnecessary here, but it also supports the turning movements for the garbage truck and ppudo spaces.

For a moment, lets set aside Toronto's garbage truck rules which most of us here see as problematic.......

From the PPUDO south, with no other design changes, you probably need the current width, but w/one-way NB traffic, you should be able to reduce with the width next to the retail and College st.

To further inform the discussion, here is the demand for vehicle movements in the Traffic Study:

View attachment 676649

I'm not sure why this requires 4 PPUDO spaces. That's seems out of scale to projected demand.
Click to expand...
For student housing PPUDO activity tends to be higher than regular residential, from my experience.

the 6m drive aisle would still be needed deeper into the site for access to the parking spaces, but I was referencing more so along College St to narrow the drive aisle impact on the public realm and expand the retail space. Once vehicles are internal to the site you can expand the driveway back to 6m for vehicle turning movements into the loading areas and parking spaces.

The other big issue of course is Toronto's strict on-site turnaround rules for loading vehicles. At a minimum this should be relaxed for sites with access to local streets.
 
innsertnamehere said:
The city needs to start allowing single-lane drive aisles for sites like this with minimal parking. Like, do we really need a double width drive aisle accessing college with the like 5 cars a day that will be using it?

Hamilton just permitted a single-lane ramp to an underground garage with 13 spaces, surely Toronto can approve a 3.5m drive aisle for buildings with >5 parking spaces?
Click to expand...
I'm doing one now and I've not been made aware that the City doesn't permit them (with red / green lights)? Can you point to where in the bylaw I can see that wording?
 
ProjectEnd said:
I interpret (B) as prescriptively permitting that condition, no?
Click to expand...
one-way. Which means you can have:

a) a two-way, 5.5m driveway
b) two driveways, each 3.5m. (one for each direction of travel).

I guess it would depend on the examiner on whether a signalized bi-directional drive aisle was "one way" or not (i.e. operates one way only at any given time), but I'm suggesting an unsignalized driveway here, provided clear enough site lines in the rare case of a conflict in very low traffic conditions, probably with yield signage for outbound drivers.

signalized is overly complicated and will introduce requirements for queuing areas, etc. which just makes it more complex.
 
AlbertC said:
Conveyor belt feeding will be the newest trend for our resident studentniks!
Click to expand...
If you look at the ground floor plan, there is a turnstile at the concierge desk as soon as you enter the lobby from the vestibule. It's getting there, lol!

The moving room is small and not easily accessible from the drive aisle, as a row of parking spaces is located in front of the door. Imagine students moving in at the start of the school season and moving out at the end -- granted, there won't be any moving of large furniture and appliances, but still, it will be quite chaotic for that relatively narrow drive aisle.
 
More student housing here is good it'll bring good activity, but I wish the retail here was better, will probably end up being an upscale bubble tea place, but you can never have too many. That side of the street was a dump back in college. Cant wait for the TCHC building to get redeveloped much taller.
 
DavidCapizzano said:
If I were a student I would rather live here than a mouldy overpriced basement!
Click to expand...

Mihairokov said:
If you saw some of the places that students lived in in Baldwin Village or along Harbord you'd support these new builds, IMO.
Click to expand...
I dont disagree with the above takes, but my problem is when developers do the bare minimum with their livable space provisions because they want to pass it off as "student housing".
 
HousingNowTO said:
Looking forward to this project, but wish that they would simplify the built-form / urban-design to make it easier and less disruptive to build as a Modular or Mass-Timber project.

Huge need for solid student housing options near campus every year in Toronto, as headlines like this one attest to -
Click to expand...
Here is a 19-Storey Mass-Timber student project at UBC in Vancouver for example -
 
B
HousingNowTO said:
Looking forward to this project, but wish that they would simplify the built-form / urban-design to make it easier and less disruptive to build as a Modular or Mass-Timber project.

Huge need for solid student housing options near campus every year in Toronto, as headlines like this one attest to -
Click to expand...
TALLWOOD HOUSE (Wiki)

Brock Commons Tallwood House - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
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