The Challenges with Lane Occupancy

At City Council, I have been a vocal opponent of prolonged lane occupancy and have always maintained that developers should not be permitted to shut down portions of the public right-of-way for the purpose of private construction staging.

Last term, I led the charge to increase street occupation permit fees to better reflect the market rate for space on public roadways. I also directed City staff to explore options to shorten the duration of street occupations, including escalating fees, increasing fees at the time of permit renewal, and considering fees for congestion-related economic impacts. On several occasions, I have pushed to eliminate the practice of private lane occupancy altogether.

However, Transportation Services has identified several critical barriers to banning the practice outright, highlighting that many developments are approved lot-line-to-lot-line by the Province's Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), which limits the amount of private space available for construction staging. Once the OLT has issued an approval, the City has few options to meaningfully influence construction staging configurations.

While the City's toolbox is limited by the Province's control over planning approvals in Toronto, I will continue working closely with Work Zone Traffic Coordination staff and local communities to minimize the impacts of lane occupations in Ward 15.