Toronto

Community concern over a TTC plan to reroute a busy bus line through a quiet Etobicoke neighbourhood has prompted the transit agency to change course.

Residents of Beaver Bend Crescent were surprised to discover orange hoarding installed along their street in late May – preparation, they later learned, for the construction of four new bus stops on a street that had never been a transit route.

Their councillor, Stephen Holyday, was later told that the southbound 111 East Mall bus route would be permanently detoured through Beaver Bend because three bus stops along the existing route no longer met accessibility standards.

“We’re concerned about hazards to pedestrians, particularly children,” Alexander Sinenko, a local parent, told CTV Toronto.

“It will create complete chaos at pick-up and drop-off,” said Oksana Cherchik, whose three children go to the school at the foot of the street.

“The nuances of our neighbourhood really don’t seem like they’ve been taken into consideration for such a major transit change,” echoed resident Connie Smith.