Mark McQueen responds to critics of the tunnel
TCCA commercial passenger traffic doubled between 2007 and 2008. It is encouraging to see that Torontonians believe the success of the airport is compatible with the direction of Toronto’s waterfront redevelopment strategy. Why else would 64% of Torontonians think the Waterfront is on the right track, with only 14% disagreeing? Moreover, the TPA has worked diligently to ensure that the passenger growth at the TCCA complies with a “good neighbour” policy. Over the past 12 months, noise complaints have dropped 61%.
Something interesting that I found in the
poll results that makes me wonder about who these 500 Torontonians are that were polled:
Q37: Region.
Etobicoke ....18%
North York ...27%
Toronto / East York ...30%
Scarborough........26%
30% of those polled were in Toronto or East York.
Q32: And, FROM YOUR HOME, do you hear any sound or noise associated with the airplanes that land at, and take off from, the Island Airport?
Yes... 10%
No ... 87%
Don't Know... 1%
Refused....... 2%
10% of respondents hearing noise from island airport airplanes seems awfully high to me. Planes from the island fly primarily fly over the lake and not over anyone's houses. Assuming that you would have to live in (old) Toronto to hear the planes, this would imply that at least 1/3 of Torontonians can hear the planes.
Personally, I can't hear them from the waterfront any time I've been there. I certainly haven't heard a plane from the island from anywhere north of the Gardiner.
I am pretty sure that more than 2/3rds of the people in Toronto and East York live north of the gardiner.
Unless perhaps they are talking about the helicopters that buzz all over the city from time to time? Or are small planes causing lots of noise somewhere?
Do Porter flights to Chicago or Thunder Bay fly over people's houses? The Ottawa and Montreal ones (and I assume New York) fly almost entirely over water.
However, if the number is skewed high, it would only make the results stronger -- lots of people can hear the planes and the still the results show strong support for the airport and for building the tunnel.
EDIT: From where exactly can you hear the Porter planes? I could hear them at Polson Pier when I was there last year (nobody lives in that area). I assume the people living in those blocks south of the Lakeshore and west of Bathurst can hear them sometimes. The people living on the island can probably hear them sometimes (although the flight paths avoid them). Can people in the condos along Queen's Quay hear the planes? Is it a constant thing or occasional (like the rest of us get occasional noise from fire engines, helicopters, etc.)? Can anyone report on the actual impact of the island airport on their part of the city?