81 Homes on a Dead-End Road: What the Liverpool Road Traffic Study Missed

Campaign news report · Shaun Rickard for Mayor · September 29, 2026
File A 03/26 · 640 Liverpool Road, 607 & 609 Annland Street and 1276-1294 Wharf Street, Ward 2

Council approved 51 townhouses at Annland and Wharf in 2024. The developer now wants 81. The traffic study behind the application rests on a single September weekday — and the developer's own new counts show traffic growing ten times faster than the study assumed.

PICKERING — A developer is asking the City of Pickering to allow 81 homes on the former Avis property at Liverpool Road, Annland Street and Wharf Street — 30 more than Council approved for the same land two years ago.

The site sits steps from Frenchman's Bay, on a stretch of Liverpool Road that dead-ends at the water. A review of the application's public documents by the Shaun Rickard for Mayor campaign found that the traffic analysis behind the proposal was built on one weekday of counts in September 2023, assumed traffic would barely grow, and is not accompanied by a stand-alone study of emergency vehicle access.

“This is the main road in and out of our waterfront, and it ends at the water,” said Rickard. “Before anyone approves more density here, we need to know — from someone independent — that the road can handle it.”

What’s proposed

The applicant, Liverpool Road Limited Partnership, filed for a Zoning By-law Amendment (File A 03/26) and a Draft Plan of Condominium (CP-2026-02) in early 2026.

The developer cut the plan from 91 to 81 units in June, after residents raised concerns at a March open house and the May 11 statutory public meeting. The revision also doubles the ground-floor commercial space to 484 square metres. It is still about 60 per cent more homes than Council approved.

What the traffic study measured — and what it missed

The developer's consultant, Dillon Consulting, filed a Transportation Brief in January 2026. According to the Brief, the City told the developer early on that a brief would be enough, rather than a full Traffic Impact Study.

Its traffic counts were taken on a single day: Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Counters covered the morning rush, midday and the evening rush at four intersections. There were no summer counts and no weekend counts — on a road that serves the beaches, the marina, restaurants and the Waterfront Trail. The Brief also assumed traffic would grow by just 0.5 per cent a year.

After City planners asked for summer data, Dillon filed an addendum on July 13, 2026 with new counts at one intersection, Liverpool Road and Annland Street. Those counts found:

• Traffic on Liverpool Road grew about 5 per cent a year between 2023 and 2026 — ten times the Brief's assumption — and about 7 per cent a year at the intersection overall.
• The busiest hour measured was a summer Sunday afternoon, roughly 37 per cent busier than the weekday evening rush.
• Under the higher growth rate, a northbound left-turn lane at Annland would be warranted. The developer proposes monitoring instead, and says it has no objection to a four-way stop.

The new summer and weekend counts cover Annland only. The other study intersections — Bayly Street, Krosno Boulevard and Wharf Street — still rely on the single September 2023 weekday.

A warning sign in the developer’s own numbers

The Brief grades intersections from A to F. City of Pickering guidelines treat an unsignalized approach at grade D or worse as “critical.”

At Liverpool Road and Krosno Boulevard, the Brief forecasts the southbound approach reaching grade D in the 2027 weekday evening rush even without the project — and grade E with it, at 95 per cent of capacity. The Brief still describes the site's impact on that intersection as “minimal” and recommends no improvements. The July addendum did not re-run Krosno with the higher growth rate it found.

At Bayly Street, the Brief finds three movements at 81 to 84 per cent of capacity in the evening rush — approaching, but not yet at, the critical line.

Emergency access: questions still open

In their comments on the application, City planning staff asked the developer to update the traffic study with summer counts and to identify measures for safety, congestion and emergency vehicle access. The developer replied that congestion is mainly south of Wharf Street, where Liverpool Road narrows with parking on both sides.

Ontario Power Generation noted that the site lies inside the Automatic Action Zone, within three kilometres of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, and asked the City to require evidence that the development meets emergency-planning requirements. The developer replied that the site would be evacuated the same way as its neighbours, relying on a land-use compatibility report from the earlier application.

Pickering Fire Services reviewed the application and raised no objections at this time. As of September 29, 2026, the City's public file contains no stand-alone emergency-access study or evacuation analysis for the added homes.

What residents raised

Residents have raised concerns at every stage. In one formal submission on March 7, 2026, a Pickering resident questioned whether several supporting studies still fit the larger project. The public record bears out much of that letter:

• The Coastal Study dates from December 2022, before the current plan. The developer says it concerns wave behaviour in the bay and does not depend on density.
• The Environmental Impact Study dates from November 2022. A February 2026 letter from its author confirms no new site visits or surveys were done for the revised plan, arguing the development footprint is unchanged.
• Only a Stage 1 archaeological assessment has been filed. The developer has now committed to a Stage 2 assessment for the Avis portion of the site.
• On stormwater, a revised report was filed with the developer's second submission; one section of storm sewer on Annland Street is to be replaced.

The resident's submission, with personal details removed, is posted alongside this report.

Where it stands — and how to be heard

No decision has been made. The application is still under review, and the next public step would normally be a staff recommendation report to the City's Planning & Development Committee. Residents can still comment:

• Online: the City's comment form for development proposals, forms.pickering.ca/forms/cdd1802
• City planner on the file: Isabel Lima, Principal Planner, Development Review, 905.420.4660 ext. 2053
• City Development: 905.420.4617 · One The Esplanade, Pickering

Rickard’s commitments

Rickard said that as Mayor he would:

• vote no on rezoning this site beyond the 51 homes Council already approved;
• withhold support for approval until an independent traffic and emergency-access study — covering summer, weekends and the whole Liverpool Road corridor — shows the road can handle it; and
• make public access to the water's edge permanent.

“Liverpool Road isn't just a street — it's how thousands of us reach our waterfront,” Rickard said. “Residents have done their homework. The least City Hall can do is make sure the studies are complete, current and independent before it says yes.”

Pickering's municipal election is Monday, October 26, 2026.

Sources

• City of Pickering, Liverpool Road Limited Partnership application page and supporting documents — pickering.ca/news/posts/liverpool-road-limited-partnership
• City of Pickering, Notice of Statutory Public Meeting, File A 03/26 (April 17, 2026)
• Dillon Consulting Limited, Transportation Brief, 640 Liverpool Road (January 14, 2026)
• Dillon Consulting Limited, Traffic Impact Study Addendum (July 13, 2026)
• Brian Moss & Associates, response to City comments, Planning and Community Concerns (June 15, 2026)
• GHD Limited, EIS Reliance Letter (February 18, 2026)
• Resident submission to the City of Pickering on File A 03/26 (March 7, 2026), personal details redacted

Prepared and published by the Shaun Rickard for Mayor campaign. Figures are from the public application file as of September 29, 2026.

About Shaun Rickard: Shaun Rickard is a Pickering resident and candidate for Mayor who led community opposition to the 2019–2020 waterfront tower proposal. He is running on a platform of Responsible & ethical Development, capping property taxes, stopping fiscal waste, demanding Accountability, protecting Pickering's waterfront & greenspaces and bringing greater transparency to City Hall.

Media Contact:
Shaun Rickard
E: Shaun@ShaunRickardForMayor.ca
W: www.ShaunRickardForMayor.ca

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