{"id":38123,"date":"2026-05-07T13:13:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T17:13:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=38123"},"modified":"2026-05-07T13:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T17:14:17","slug":"yonge-streets-multi-use-path-approved-amid-budget-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/yonge-streets-multi-use-path-approved-amid-budget-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Yonge Street\u2019s multi-use path approved amid budget questions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Construction on a new multi-use path for Yonge Street between Bloomington Road and Industrial Parkway South will begin this summer following Council approval last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local lawmakers gave the green light to the Yonge Street Active Transportation Facilities Plan \u2013 commonly known as a multi-use path (MUP) \u2013 accommodating pedestrians, cyclists and more, along with a contentious budget increase to make it a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council approved a budget increase of $2,531,900 for the project, bringing its total cost to $7,861,100, funded largely through reserves and with a $2.8 million contribution from the Region of York, which covers half the cost of construction itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe project includes a multi-use path on the west side of Yonge and a sidewalk on the east side,\u201d said the Town following last Tuesday\u2019s Council meeting. \u201cThe total budget is now approximately $7,861,100 funded through development charges, the Growth and New Reserve, and a $2,800,000 contribution from York Region, which is covering half the cost of the multi-use path.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In discussions at the Committee level last month, Council members spoke out against the project\u2019s growing budget, but underscored the value of the overall vision and the Region\u2019s contributions as reasons to move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These views were reiterated last week ahead of the final vote.
Ward 4 Councillor Michael Thompson said the MUP has been a long-term project that\u2019s been subject to extensive public consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in some ways\u2026disappointing to see that, again, we have a situation where the initial budget cost has ballooned, but staff have provided the additional expectations and the fact they didn\u2019t necessarily anticipate it,\u201d he said. \u201cFortunately, this time around the Region is offering $2.8 million. When we approved the Master Plan in 2024, when we approved this initial Capital Project\u2026 we were going to pay for it all, so it\u2019s a windfall in some ways. I think to date\u2026 we\u2019ve already spent $500,000 on the design and moving this project forward. I think that it, in my opinion, is much-needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe residents down there deserve it. It\u2019s a safety issue. We\u2019ve talked in the past about how residents are walking up and down Yonge Street to access the plaza at Henderson and it\u2019s needed. I\u2019m grateful that staff were able to work with the Region to find and secure some additional money. I\u2019m fully in support of moving forward with it because we committed to it a long time ago and we\u2019ve stuck with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also voicing the importance of moving forward was Ward 1 Councillor Ron Weese. In voicing his support, however, he questioned the timeline of moving forward now when there\u2019s still some uncertainty over Metrolinx\u2019s plans for the Yonge Street rail trestle as they prepare for double-tracking to make all-day two-way GO Train service a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director of Planning Marco Ramunno said any work related to the bridge is \u201cessentially on hold\u201d and there was no timeframe. Even if there was a time frame, he added, any work would be carried out at the northern boundary of the MUP and impacts would be minimal, he suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ready to go this summer,\u201d said Ramunno. \u201cMetrolinx is probably a few years off before they move forward with that bridge. Things may change, but they\u2019re not going in there any time soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Replied Councillor Weese: \u201cMy purpose for bringing this forward had to do primarily with the questions that I\u2019ve received from others. I wanted to be out on public record \u2013 I don\u2019t want anybody to think that I don\u2019t want the MUP on there. It\u2019s absolutely critical for connectivity, for our cycling, and it\u2019s important for a quality community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Construction on a new multi-use path for Yonge Street between Bloomington Road and Industrial Parkway South will begin this summer following Council approval last week. Local lawmakers gave the green light to the Yonge Street Active Transportation Facilities Plan \u2013 commonly known as a multi-use path (MUP) \u2013 accommodating pedestrians, cyclists and more, along with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9UT","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-15 12:43:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38125,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38123\/revisions\/38125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}