Toronto is offering FREE parking during the LRT construction
To encourage people to visit the neighbourhood, the City is offering free parking along Eglinton Avenue during construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.
The announcement was made Friday morning by Mayor John Tory and Councillor Josh Colle (Ward 15 Eglinton-Lawrence).
“We are all looking forward to the completion of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and the transit it will deliver to the city, but there are real impacts on local businesses and neighbourhoods while we build transit,” said Mayor Tory.
“I believe these supports will help residents and businesses during construction.”
According to the City, the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) will now offer a $6 discount code to use on the Green P app for paid parking within 200 metres of Eglinton Avenue from Jane Street to Don Mills Road.
This works out to be approximately two hours of free parking in most spots in the area.
To access the discount, users must initiate a parking session through the TPA app, click on session options, click on discount, and enter “Crosstown.”
The code will only be available for the duration of Eglinton Crosstown LRT construction.
In addition to the free parking, City Council has also approved $100,000 for immediate programs to assist impacted businesses along Eglinton Avenue.
The funding will support the following programs:
• Expanding Digital Mainstreets to support the growth of businesses by making the adoption of digital technologies easier.
• Economic scans for all Eglinton Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) to identify key demographic trends in the area’s neighbourhoods, the factors that either deter or attract people from shopping there, and the development of strategies for the BIAs to build upon or address these factors.
The City has also commissioned a study to develop recommendations for a city-run program which would “enable retail areas affected by construction projects to access supports to mitigate the negative economic impact.”
It is expected that a report on this study will be presented to a city committee in 2019.
“Bringing a project the size of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT to one of the busiest arteries in Toronto does have impacts on the people travelling along and through Eglinton Avenue as well as the local businesses located right along the corridor,” said Councillor Colle.
“I am happy to see that the City is working together with Metrolinx to minimize the effects of this construction.”
This news follows the City introducing free parking along King Street during the ongoing King Street Pilot Project. Drivers can receive up to two hours of free parking around the King Street Pilot area.
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