The Avenue Road Safety Coalition (ARSC) represents the concerns of the residents and visitors to Avenue Road who walk and cycle between Bloor Street and St. Clair Avenue. We embody the City’s Planning Objective to “create the right balance of space for pedestrians, cyclists, transit and vehicles.”
This 2.1-kilometre stretch of Avenue Road between St. Clair Avenue and Bloor Street West is a six-lane, high-speed road that is unsafe and hostile to pedestrians and cyclists. The sidewalks are substandard and dangerously narrow, especially when considering the speeding cars and trucks.
A better plan for Avenue Road – prioritize people over parking
The Avenue Road Safety Coalition (ARSC), established seven years ago, is dedicated to enhancing pedestrian safety on Avenue Road by advocating for reduced speeds and wider, safer, and more accessible sidewalks. We commend Councillor Saxe and City Council members for recognizing the need for site-specific road safety improvements along the 2.1 km stretch of Avenue Road. ARSC fully supports the recommendation to reduce Avenue Road from Davenport to Dupont to four lanes and to install a signalized crosswalk at the entrance to Ramsden Park. This milestone will significantly improve safety for all users.
However, Avenue Road north of Davenport remains one of the most dangerous and intimidating stretches of sidewalk in the old City of Toronto.
In partnership with the ABC Residents Association and the Annex Residents Association, ARSC offers a simple, cost-effective alternative plan that prioritizes people and accessibility over parking.
Excerpted from letter to Members of the Toronto East York Community Council, June 3, 2024
Featured Posts
Avenue Road improvements – follow-up
Thank you for meeting with the Avenue Road Safety Coalition representatives on July 23 to discuss the City’s installed and planned improvements for Avenue Road between Davenport and Dupont.
The Avenue Road Safety Coalition is pleased with the progress made since May 9 and the news that work is proceeding quickly to complete some of the construction this season. The reduction to 4 lanes, a key ARSC goal to encourage slower speeds, is approved for the first kilometre. Since Council approved the revisions, we have seen tangible progress with the bike lanes, the design for pedestrian improvements between Davenport and Dupont are underway and that the much-needed signalized mid-block pedestrian crosswalk will be completed in sync with the sidewalk improvements over the next few months.
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News
Safe Sidewalks on Avenue Road now!
The Avenue Road Safety Coalition made a video in 2020 to illustrate the safety issues posed by the narrow sidewalks in the 6-lane section of Avenue Rd. between Bloor Street and St. Clair Avenue. We spoke to many residents, business owners and local residents’ association members about the problems and potential solutions.
Watch video now
Truck driver charged as family remember Toronto deliveryman killed on Avenue Road
Police have now charged the 52-year-old truck driver in the April 30 death of Ali Sezgin Armagan, a recent immigrant from Turkey, who was killed while riding his bike for work outside an Avenue Road construction site. The driver is facing a charge of careless driving causing bodily harm or death. Armagan was killed when the driver of the flatbed truck made a left turn into a loading dock near Elgin Ave.
The Avenue Road Safety Coalition Honoured for its Community Leadership
The Avenue Road Safety Coalition (ARSC) received recognition this week from the Member of the Provincial Parliament, University-Rosedale, Jessica Bell, for our leadership work to improve road safety.
Over the past seven years, the ARSC has been working together with a multitude of organizations and individuals to advocate for redesigning the six-lane Avenue Road expressway between St Clair and Bloor Street West.
This is what a 6-lane Avenue Road looks like
Tuesday, October 31, 2023, around 9 a.m., during rush hour on Avenue Rd., just south of Davenport. Speeding traffic and dangerously narrow sidewalks is not a good combination.
ARSC in the News
‘Our family is shattered’: Relatives mourn death of Sheridan College student at dangerous Toronto intersection
Kartik Saini, 20, died after being struck and dragged by a pickup at St. Clair Avenue and Yonge Street on Wednesday afternoon.
Parveen Saini says his family has “lost everything” after his 20-year-old nephew Kartik Saini, an international student from India, was struck and killed by a pickup truck driver making an apparent illegal right turn on Wednesday in Toronto.
Cyclist death renews calls for improved road safety
Albert Koehl, Avenue Road Safety Coalition, is calling for a redesign of Avenue Road to improve safety.
City News reporter Melissa Nakhavoly speaks to the investments some would like the city to make to prevent deadly incidents from occurring.
New proposal would turn part of high-speed Toronto road into a linear park
A group of concerned citizens and an architecture firm are proposing to create a new linear park along Avenue Road to improve walkability and safety.
The proposal calls for the stretch of Avenue between Bloor Avenue West and St. Clair Avenue West to be reduced from six lanes of traffic down to four, which would allow for sidewalks to be widened 240 per cent from their current width and accommodate 500 new trees.