Mario Racco
Mario Racco
Vaughan has a traffic problem, says mayoral candidate Mario Racco, and he wants to be the one to solve it.
“Our streets are completely packed with cars,” said Racco, who was a Vaughan councillor for 18 years before he became a Liberal MPP in 2003. “It’s very hard to move around. Roads are not keeping pace with construction.”
Racco said city reports indicate some streets with new developments need to be expanded to accommodate the increased number of cars on them.
But the city has continued to issue building permits along these roads before they have been widened, he said.
“What that’s doing is creating more traffic problems,” Racco said. “The moment the (housing density threshold) is reached, no more building permits should be issued until the road is enlarged.
“If we do that, not only will it minimize traffic problems, we will also send a message to the community that it’s not the developer who runs the city, as is the case (now).”
Another way to address Vaughan’s traffic gridlock — which Racco says is residents’ main concern — is to extend the Spadina-York subway line past Highway 7, he said.
He’d like three more stops added: Langstaff, Rutherford and Major Mackenzie.
“Allow the people all over Vaughan to use the new subway,” he said. “Build large significant projects that will benefit all of us, create an industry where jobs are secure, permanent and well paid.”
Another concern residents have raised with him is the lack of public information on planning applications, he said.
Racco said the city should give residents details about a project before it happens.
“What’s happening is residents go to these meetings at the eleventh hour screaming, thinking the worst will happen, when in fact some of the projects are very good projects. Just politicians are not communicating the truth to residents.”
— Amanda Kwan, Vaughan Today
(The above appeared in Vaughan Today's September edition)
