The Highland Creek Community
A neighbourhood located in the south east corner of Scarborough, at Lawrence Avenue and Port Union Road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation Division
Located at the eastern edge of the city between Highland Creek and the Rouge River, the Port Union waterfront park provides green space perfect for family picnics. It connects the Port Union community to Lake Ontario. It features a continuous waterfront trail, great views of Lake Ontario, a new pedestrian bridge over Highland Creek and trail connections north into the Highland Creek watershed. Also, Port Union is home to many municipal parks in the neighbourhood, including Adams Park, which is located on Lawson road. It is a popular park because it has a toboggan hill in the winter, a soccer field in the summer, and two playgrounds. It also includes two baseball diamonds that are regularly used by neighbourhood youth. Centennial Park, on the other hand, is a park that has a vast grass field with a children’s playground, located next to the sports fields at Centennial Road Junior Public School. All these parks are operated and maintained by the Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division yearly.
Local News: Ongoing Investigation
There were reports Saturday night on November 9th, 2019, of gun violence between two vehicles in the Port Union Road and Island Road area. Toronto Police claim that the occupants of both vehicles were seen firing a weapon at each other around 9pm. Later that evening, a man was found severely wounded in a vehicle in the area of Brock Road and Highway 401. Toronto police believed this to be one of the victims of gun violence in Scarborough, and he was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Investigators were able to retrieve shell casings on the ground from the gunfire in the West Rouge neighbourhood area. Toronto police have not determined a motive for the shooting and cannot say whether or not it was targeted. They closed Port Union Road for hours as they investigated, but the road has since reopened.
Port Union Road: Construction Delayed?
Many Scarborough residents are frustrated due to the delay of construction on Port Union Road. This project was presented as a solution to the traffic congestion headed towards Rouge Hill Go Station, but it has been in the works for over fourteen years. They had plans of installing a new second northbound lane between Lawrence Avenue and Island Road with sidewalks on both sides of the street. Also, they plan to install bike lanes on both sides of the street and adding left/centre-turn lanes in some locations. Also, a landscaped median will be established between Lawrence and Clappison Boulevard. One of the main problems was that it was the main road in the city with safety issues for cyclists and pedestrians. The City of Toronto claims the project will ease traffic congestion and improve conditions for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists in that area. However, given the complexities of the design, which is still in progress, the timeline has been extended beyond this year. In April 2017, the city began “field investigations” that are required for the detailed engineering design and construction work. The investigations included a survey of the area and an analysis of soil samples at various locations along Port Union to confirm ground conditions. The city at the time anticipated that construction work would begin in 2018.
The West Rouge Community
West Rouge Community Centre is located in East Scarborough, the building formerly was the clubhouse for a golf course. The Community Centre is a multipurpose building that offers rental use of the ballroom, which is used for wedding receptions, special events and recreation programming. Also, the West Rouge Community Centre has many preschool programs perfect for family-oriented neighbourhood. Also, the West Rouge community is the home of a large soccer club, known as West Rouge Storm. It has house league and rep soccer teams for boys and girls. Beginning of 1974, West Rouge was not considered a part of Toronto or Scarborough but was owned by the township of Pickering until it was transferred to Scarborough in 1977. West Rouge is viewed as a “bedroom suburb” in Scarborough. That is, a mostly residential area full of relatively wealthy individuals. It is one of the only neighbourhoods in Scarborough still considered high income, and it is indeed vastly residential, with very few commercial establishments.
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