Cheap Costco gas is attracting too much traffic to the Warden Avenue and Canadian Road area, critics of the gas bar say.
“There is more traffic at Costco now,” said John Stabrakos. “Roads are always busy in that area.”
The 12-pump gas bar was built in 2009 despite Coun. Michael Thompson’s objections. In June that year, Thompson argued the gas bar would bring with it significant traffic problems to nearby streets.
“I have waited at the gas bar for over 20 minutes before,” said Costco member Talia Kalender. “There definitely is a traffic increase in the area now.”
Thompson told Scarborough Community Council in March that the city was wrong in allowing the gas bar and that it has had a negative impact on the community.
A Costco employee, who did not want to be identified, said he doesn’t think the gas bar is affecting the community in a negative way. It is a business doing its job, he said.
City staff said implementing proposed traffic measures on Canadian Road should help discourage potentially hazardous manoeuvres into the gas bar.