Project Borderline nets arrests By Andrew Hudson
Volume 44 No. 16
November 3, 2015
POLICE MADE several arrests for shoplifting and heroin possession last month after stepping up patrols along the eastern part of Danforth Avenue. Called Project Borderline, the extra patrols involve not only police officers from 54 and 55 Division, but also licensing inspectors from the City of Toronto and agents with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. The three-month pilot runs until December and covers an area stretching from Donlands Avenue to Dawes Road.
It is part of the police response to a string of highprofile stabbings and shootings along east Danforth that started two years ago. Constable Jonathan Morrice, the crime prevention officer at 55 Division, says the main thrust of the project is to get more uniformed officers on the street. City inspectors and AGCO agents are involved because several of the assaults and murders have occurred in or around Danforth bars, and because nearby residents have complained about late-night noise and public drunkenness. Continued on page 3
PHOTO: ANDREW HUDSON
Paddling out of the sunset at Ashbridges Bay Balmy Beach kayakers Conrad Hopp, left, and Eric Ellery train at Ashbridges Bay on Oct. 23. This year, the Balmy Beach Canoe Club won more medals than any other competing at the national Canoe/Kayak championships in Ottawa. See the full story on page 5.
Ramp and trail improvements coming to Balmy Beach By Andrew Hudson
NEW RAMPS and trail upgrades will make it easier to visit the Balmy Beach Club with a wheelchair or a stroller next year. Parks staff unveiled the plans during an Oct. 21 open house at the Kew Williams Cottage. The design includes a wider, paved and more level trail in front of the club entrance, and new wheelchair ramps on the east side. James Dann, the city’s manager of waterfront parks, said the design aims to be both useful and attractive. A small garden by the ramps may be planted as a butterfly habitat, he said, and two landings along the ramps will provide places to stop and look out over Lake Ontario. The work will require removal of one maple and several poplar trees, but Dann said all the large oaks in
the area will be preserved. “It’s one of the things that people in the Beach hold near and dear,” he said, noting that the plan was reviewed by the city forestry staff. Although the new ramps will not lead directly from the club parking lot to the boardwalk – negotiating the steep slope would require too many switchbacks – a small set of stairs will extend from one of the ramp landings directly to the beach. Anyone with a wheelchair or other mobility device can get to the boardwalk by following the remodelled Martin Goodman Trail to its eastern end at Silver Birch Avenue and coming around. No construction contract has been awarded yet, but Dann said it will have to be scheduled during warm weather because it requires some concrete work and thawed ground.
Given that it is on city land, Ontario law requires the entrance to the Balmy Beach Club to be wheelchair accessible. Dann said there is another good
reason to do it: demand. “The beach is getting busier and busier,” he said, pointing to the growing crowds at Ashbridges Bay fireworks shows and an increasing
number of community events along the eastern beaches in recent years. To see the plan, visit the Accessibility section of the Parks, Forestry & Recreation website at toronto.ca.