Council has approved Phase 1 of the Improving Davisville project, endorsing much needed beautification and safety improvements along Davisville Ave. Many of the safety measures approved at City Council—including raised medians at the pedestrian crossings, curb extensions at Pailton Crescent and Acacia Rd, and traffic calming features at Mount Pleasant—have been requested by the community for years. I’m pleased to see these long-awaited measures progress.
Also approved at City Council was my motion requesting that City staff report back in early 2027 on additional Phase 2 recommendations to address the Davisville Ave curb lanes. Dangerous driving in these lanes has contributed to many of the serious collisions that have occurred along the corridor in recent years. I will continue to pressure the City to ensure a plan is brought forward to improve the safety of the curb lanes through features such as bump-outs, parking amendments, and bikeways.
Both of our local neighbourhood grocers that closed last year, Fruit Baskets and Fresh Buy Market, are returning to the neighbourhood and will continue serving the affordable fruit and veggies that so many of us rely on.
When notified of the upcoming demolition, my office and I immediately reached out to the business owners directly to offer our support. We contacted nearby property owners to identify new space opportunities and advocating to ensure that these businesses were able to remain.
We are grateful to everyone who worked together to ensure that these businesses were able to find nearby retail space in the neighbourhood - and in both cases - to secure even larger space, which allows more people to access more affordable food.