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| The R.C. Harris Filtration Plant (AWM) |
An opinion piece submitted to (but not published by) my local newspaper, The Beach Metro News, in May 2021.
I have loved Toronto’s R.C. Harris Filtration Plant since my childhood. The buildings themselves are extraordinary, as are the views they afford of the lake, particularly at sunset. Nevertheless, the Filtration Plant is cut off from the rest of the Beaches and the larger city; indeed, many Torontonians might not know that it is even there. To allow everyone to enjoy this gem of the Beaches, the city should take two steps: extend the boardwalk to Nursewood Road and run a bus from Victoria Park station to Queen Street East.
Despite the Filtration Plant’s striking location, approaching it from the lake requires walking along 350 metres of sand and navigating a massive off-leash dog area. While this might merely inconvenience walkers, no one with a stroller, in a wheelchair, or with impaired mobility can take this route. This lack of access could easily be remedied by extending the boardwalk (and bike path alongside it) to the base of Nursewood Road and then building a ramp from sand level to the Filtration Plant’s south lawn. A fenced-in off-leash dog area could also be built (like the current one beside Kew Gardens), to accommodate the numerous dog lovers who essentially run the area now.
Although these simple steps would ease access for anyone already in the Beaches, a larger problem would remain: the southeast corner of the Beaches, most of which technically lies in Scarborough, is a “transit desert” (and it is doubtful that these last two things are coincidental). The only TTC access to the Filtration Plant is from the eastbound #501 Streetcar, and the closest accessible subway stop is Main Street Station, whose only link to the Beaches is the #64 Main bus.
Consider the thousands of residents of Crescent Town, from whose tallest towers the lake is visible. For them to reach the beach and the Filtration Plant by public transit, they must embark on a TTC hat-trick: line 2 subway, #64 bus, and #501 streetcar. This is almost perverse, as the neighbourhood lies just 2.4 kilometres north of the Filtration Plant, directly down Victoria Park Avenue.
This problem could be solved at a stroke by running a bus down Victoria Park from the eponymous subway station to the Neville Park Loop on Queen Street. Indeed, the existing #12 bus almost does this—until it mysteriously veers east along Kingston Road, as if it were banned from the Beaches. Why not extend the #12 all the way to Queen Street? This would serve everyone from visitors to the Filtration Plant (in particular, residents of southwest Scarborough), mobility-impaired residents of the Upper Beach, students at Neil McNeil High School (which I briefly attended), and people who commute to or from the far east end of Queen Street.
Although residents of Victoria Park south of Kingston Road might object to a new bus line, residents of Southwood Drive, Wineva Avenue, and Hambly Avenue have survived the presence of the #64 Main bus for decades. Perhaps, like #64, the #12 Victoria Park route could be split along two streets past Kingston Road: south along Victoria Park and north long Kingswood Road and Bracken Avenue. (This arrangement would also prevent the bus from having to cut south across Queen Street.)
Adding a new transit route is always controversial. However, the dire lack of TTC access in southwest Scarborough paired with the existence of an existing bus route (the #12) surely make this proposal an easy win. Surely, I can’t be the only Beacher (or Torontonian) who wants to expand access to one of the city’s finest parks.
One final consideration: because these proposals would mean more visitors at the Filtration Plant, the restroom facilities there would need to be expanded—but in this case, I doubt there would be any problems with water pressure.