Public concerns about Queens Quay's facelift and makeover, Part 1

We were at the March 25 meeting and heard a lot of the business, resident association feedback about the proposed alternative -- using the south lane for the Martin Goodman Trial, widening the sidewalk south, greening the transit lanes and confining traffic to the north side.

Here are a first in a series of public comments we heard at the meeting. We have more that we'll put up later.

Traffic was a often cited concern. Residents said there will be greater congestion in the summer

The Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood Association said it was great to get people out of cars, but how cyclists are going to manage from Spadina from Bathurst.. it's a mess now..

Another resident association member said what about the TTC shelters that don't offer full coverage, saying people not to be frozen to death (hyperbole, we think)

There was a concern about the ferry -- will there be any changes? The officials said there were no changes

One resident made a good point that is there a way to get people into the water in the form of a public swimming pool. Note the  major swimming pools on the water in 'central' Toronto are at Sunnyside (6 kilometres from Queens Quay) and at Ashbridges Bay (about 9 kilometres away)

One resident asked about the TTC Queens Quay East Portal -- will you see the ugly sugar factory. The official said that yes, it will emerge at Freeland just west of the sugar factory and north of a condo development

A member of the Toronto island community said she was "extremely excited" about the project but concerned about lack of water access and more connections to the island

A 65 Harbour Square resident said that recent tree plantings have not been successful and how will 300 trees survive? The official said that they plan to allow for a lot more soil (30 cubic metres per tree) and likened it to stacking milk crates and filling it with soil.