It’s time for a safer, more inclusive, and people-focused Avenue Road
About us
The Avenue Road Safety Coalition (ARSC) is a group that advocates for the safety of those living and travelling on Avenue Road between Bloor Street and St. Clair Avenue West. We represent the concerns of parents with children, seniors, people with disabilities, pedestrians, cyclists, business owners, residents and visitors and those who share our vision for a safer Avenue Road.
The current road configuration poses a high risk of collisions, injuries and fatalities due to its narrow sidewalks and excessive motor traffic speed. For the past seven years, the ARSC has worked with local City councillors to advocate for a road design that achieves lower speeds and wider, safer sidewalks for this section. The ARSC is now on the verge of achieving its objective to make Avenue Road safe and accessible for all.
What’s Next
The Avenue Road Study conducted by the City of Toronto confirmed our concerns that this 2.1-kilometre stretch of Avenue Road is conducive to speeding. The sidewalks fall short of the minimum safety standards and Provincial regulations for accessibility. Many sections are too narrow to accommodate those using wheelchairs or strollers safely.
In 2023, City Transportation staff presented for public consultation options for redesigning this section of Avenue Road to address the identified safety issues. The proposals include wider pedestrian areas, safety improvements at intersections, a short bike lane connection from Bloor to Davenport Road, some on-street parking and narrowing the road to four lanes with some turning lanes. The four-lane design is consistent with the roadway south of Bloor and north of St. Clair Avenue.
City traffic modelling shows these changes will not increase vehicle travel times by more than 60 seconds during rush hour. The City staff also has measures to address the potential traffic infiltration into neighbouring side streets. The proposal is intended to implement cost-effective measures in preparation of a complete reconstruction in the future. City staff is also committed to monitoring approved changes in consultation with those affected for impacts on transportation patterns.
The ARSC supports this direction and anticipates that the City Staff’s final recommendations will address the severe long-standing safety problems and help to achieve the numerous City of Toronto policies and guidelines, including those that address climate change, road safety and a well-planned downtown.
We want Avenue Road to become a safe, quieter, more welcoming Great Street for the thousands who live and travel along it. ARSC supporters, many local and City-wide organizations and our local City councillors past and present, including Councillor Dianne Saxe and Councillor Josh Matlow, support this vision.
Join us in helping to make a safer, more inclusive and people-focused Avenue Road a reality.
ARSC Supporters
8 80 Cities
ABC Residents Association
Amica Senior Lifestyles
Annex Residents’ Association
Avenue Road Food Bank, Church of the Messiah
Bay CloverHill Community Association
Bells on Bloor
Brentwood Towers Tenants Association
Brown Junior Public School and Parent Council
Church of the Redeemer
Clark Faber Fiksel LLP
ClimateFast
Cottingham Junior Public School and Parent Council
Cycle Toronto Midtown
De La Salle College “Oaklands”
Deer Park Residents Group
Friends and Families for Safe Streets
Harbord Village Residents’ Association
Hazelton Place Retirement Residence
ISKCON Toronto – Hare Krishna Temple
Lytton Park Residents’ Organization
No More Noise Toronto
Pears on the Avenue Condo
Rathnelly Area Residents’ Association
Sierra 110 Avenue Road.
St. Clare Multi Faith Housing Society
TCHC Residents – 250 Davenport
TENBLOCK – Housing Developer
The Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT), Clean Air Partnership
Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition
The David Suzuki Foundation
TTCriders
Walk Toronto
The 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. Research done by the City of Toronto shows that 85% of vehicles on the road routinely travel at speeds above 50 KPH. The sidewalks are substandard and dangerously narrow, especially when considering the speeding cars and trucks. See photos of the current conditions on Avenue Road.
Collage photo credits:
Greeley Square planter Photo: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Dunsmuir Separated Bike Lanes 216, by Paul Krueger, via CC by 2.0 DEED
Street Patterns by Nelson Rivas AKA Cekis | Arterventions 2022 via CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED