c ecoridmism susuhtnuilspjmlqn saturiiseptmfzoog region to foot part of subway tab by caroline grech staff writer regional councillors have agreed to their funding portion for the subway extension to vaughan but not before asking the provincial and federal gov ernments to ante up their share york region will take on 40 per cent of the municipal portion of the project while the city of toronto will pay 60 per cent york regions share would be 268 million with torontos share being 402 million but in an attempt to ensure york doesnt get caught footing more than its share a list of guidelines were also approved those recommendations include a commitment of one- third of the funding of the project by the federal government by april 1 2007 a commitment to top up the provincial contribu tion to at least onethird and the province to amend the develop ment charges act to allow for money to be collected based on future transit plans not historical data while many recommenda tions rely on provincial coopera tion york region chairperson bill fisch believes the recom mendations are realistic we want to make sure that everyone pays their share mr fisch said adding while they havent received a concrete financial commitment from the federal government he is opti mistic it will be coming by the end of the year as the liberal get closer to finalizing their own budget regional councillor tony van bynen said while the subway extension has merit there are substantial financial concerns that go along with the project that is expected to cost about 2 billion noting there are still out standing projects need regional funding such as the york durham sewage system roughly estimated at 800 million and viva a 12 billion project mr van bynen stressed how impor tant the recommendations are i have very serious concerns about the capital impact of the project mr van bynen said adding he doesnt have much confidence in how quickly the other tiers of government move if we dont get these concessions then we cant afford it also key among the recom mendations is the region getting provincial aproval to exceed its regulated debt load there is also a concern with municipalities north of the moraine as far as what the sub way will do for their communi ties mr van bynen said in the end enough hands went up that the project will go ahead mr van bynen said lfseum plahhhfr fortomovrow notice of public open house no 2 the regional municipality of york is conducting a study to develop a regional pedestrian cycling master plan this study is investigating how york region can work with local municipalities to connect local pedestrian and cycling systems into a regionalscale network improve connections to transit nodes and encourage the combining of walking and cycling trips with public transit scheduled to be completed in the spring this study will result in a master plan that will consist of proposed pedestrian and cycling policies and guidelines recommendations to improve the pedestrian sidewalk system on regional roads and a recommended regional cycling network this network is expected to consist of onload bike lanes paved shoulder bikeways signedonly routes and offroad multiuse trails the study was initiated in april and the first public consultation meeting was conducted at two locations in the region on may 30th and 31st the first meeting provided interested parties with the opportunity to review the draft goals and objectives of the study and to identify ideas that could improve conditions for walking and cycling in york region the study is now entering its second phase which will focus on the development of an improved sidewalk network on regional roads and a formal regional cycling network the study team has assembled information from a number of sources using route selection criteria developed in the first phase of the study and has prepared a preliminary candidate route map to guide the field investigation of potential routes in october and november you are invited to attend our second open house to receive an update on the status of this study and to provide your comments on the candidate route map and other information prepared as part of this study the meeting will be held at two ideations from 500 pm to 800 pm as follows monday october 2 2006 regional administration centre 17250 yonge st newmarket seminar room wednesday october 4 2006 regional south services centre 50 high tech road richmond hill york region will also consult with local municipalities conservation authorities and other stakeholders except for personal information all comments received will be on public record should you have any questions or comments you may contact the following project representatives eric gupta project coordinator infrastructure planning branch planning development services dept regional municipality of york 17250 yonge street newmarket ontario l3y6z1 phone 18774649675 ext 5146 fax 9058950191 etajikjjji g dave mclaughlin project manager transportation planning marshall macklin monaghan ltd 80 commerce valley drive east thornhill ontario l3t7n4 phone 9058824211 ext 520 fax 9058827277 mclaug the mercedesbenz markham open house event september 2529 2006 you are invited to preview 2007 models ranging from our bclass starting at 31400 to our slr mclaren which will be on display 404 mercedesbenz mercedesbenz markham 8350kcnniyim 9053051088 wwwmbtorontocamarkham gorges gee46ewve fttvei enjoy a weekend driving tour of countryside attractions in kawartha lakes sept 30th oct 1 st 10am 4pm daily adult buttons 5 kids are free come see the goats get your pumpkins fresh from the patch visit a seed plant catch a fish and much more see many demonstrations take part in activities and experience life on an array of diverse farms cuyof jwarth admission buttons available at all host sites when you start see the map and program at wwwkawarthafarmfestcom 705324941 1 ext 232 fc3t i80 h wtbkiatiimii- lit tj bring this ad with you to receive 2 for 1 adult admission