Cars likely to win yet another battle as Adam Giambrone’s parking legacy on Dundas West comes almost completely undone

Cars likely to win yet another battle as Adam Giambrone’s parking legacy on Dundas West comes almost completely undone

One of the last things Adam Giambrone did before events transpired to take him out of the race for mayor was remove parking spaces from a stretch of Dundas West in order to accommodate better streetcar flow. (Technically, Giambrone was voting to end a pilot project that had allowed cars to park on the streetside since 2006.) The Dundas West BIA fought against the end of the pilot project, and after she won Giambrone’s old ward, councillor Ana Bailão moved quickly to bring back the old parking regulations. Last night, Toronto–East York community council approved the changes—something that should make many of the businesses along the burgeoning strip (including the owner of Lula in the video above) pretty happy.

According to the Toronto Sun:

Politicos on the Toronto and East York Community Council unanimously approved Bailao’s request to restore 70 parking spaces along the busy stretch and restore overnight permit parking on surrounding streets.

“It feels like we’ve accomplished something,” Bailao said Wednesday. “It feels good to come to City Hall and a month and half (later) saying we’re accomplishing things, we’re going in the right direction, we’re bringing the voice of Ward 18 to City Hall.”

City council will still have to approve the decision at its next meeting.

This is, of course, just the latest front on the new council’s reversal of anything touched by the Giambrone-Miller years.  Given how quickly the council is moving to settle old grudges, we expect the last of Miller’s contributions to this city will be mopped up by, what, mid-May?  The only remaining question is, which will be the last bastion of urban leftiness to fall? The Toronto Atmospheric Fund? Waterfront development?

• Motion passes to bring back parking on Dundas West [Toronto Star]
• Amendment to Parking Regulations on Dundas Street West [Toronto-East York Community Council]