News

Aside from their negligible impact on car travel times, bike lanes get more people onto bikes by providing them a faster, safer option. That makes the lives of those cyclists better, and also means there are fewer cars on the road.

If Ford is actually concerned with moving cars better, he could accomplish that goal much more effectively by leaving bike lanes alone and joining Toronto’s fight to prevent blocking intersections through automatic camera enforcement power, and sharing more dollars for traffic wardens.

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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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After years of writing about traffic enforcement and pedestrian and cyclist safety, I became convinced that Toronto police either just don’t like or don’t respect policing the roads, and the leadership doesn’t see good reason to change that.

A former police officer told Habibinia much the same. There is a long-standing culture inside the police service where traffic enforcement is not considered “real police work” compared to “sexy” crime-fighting. Yet city hall, which sets the police budget, believes gridlock is a major problem, for people and for the economy.

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For too long, society accepted that death was a fact of life on the roads. It was the cost of convenience to move from A to B as fast as possible in a car. We call crashes “accidents,” even when the causes, from driver speed to road design, are deliberate choices. It’s a cultural problem that such incidents are viewed as ordinary.

Cities must redouble their efforts to make change happen.

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There’s a certain anxiety that activates when some of us pedestrians push the button to activate one of Toronto’s standalone pedestrian crossovers. You take a deep breath as the overhead …

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A researcher has measured how “claustrophobic” New York’s sidewalks are by gathering data on all of the people, benches, trash cans, bus shelters, bicycle racks and clutter in the way.

Any New Yorker who regularly walks around the city quickly learns which sidewalks are a pleasure to navigate and which are more like obstacle courses. Some are wide enough to stroll two, maybe three people across. Some are so narrow and crowded that it’s easier to just walk in the street, despite the danger.

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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.

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Raquel won’t ride her bike north on Avenue Rd., from Bloor St., because she says the section of road is too dangerous to navigate.

A May 13 report from City Hall said that stretch of roadway will have its six-lanes reduced to four and see the implementation of bike lanes to help prevent future cyclist fatalities, of which there have been three since 2015.

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Separated bike lanes, increased pedestrian space and reduced car lanes may be coming to a deadly section of Avenue Road, in a move that some worry could cause more congestion.

A report approved by the city’s infrastructure and environment committee Tuesday recommended the changes on the stretch between Bloor Street West and Davenport Road where three cyclists have been killed in the last nine years. The changes will go to council for final approval on June 26.

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The Avenue Road Safety Coalition (ARSC) has worked for seven years to address dangerous conditions along Avenue Road between Bloor St. and St. Clair Avenue West. We are pleased that work has finally begun to address some of our safety concerns on Avenue Road with the construction of bike lanes from Bloor St. to Davenport Road. We fully support the bike lanes. They represent an important step towards meeting our goals. However, we were disheartened and alarmed to find that the IE 14.4 – Avenue Road Report does not include meaningful pedestrian sidewalk safety improvements north of Davenport Rd in Ward 11 and further extended to St. Clair Avenue West in Ward 12.

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We are writing to request meaningful changes addressing the dangerously narrow Avenue Road sidewalks north of Davenport Road.

The Avenue Road Safety Coalition (ARSC) has worked for seven years to address dangerous conditions along Avenue Road between Bloor St. and St. Clair Avenue West. We are pleased that work has finally begun to address some of our safety concerns on Avenue Road with the construction of bike lanes from Bloor St. to Davenport Road. We fully support the bike lanes. They represent an important step towards meeting our goals. However, we were disheartened and alarmed to find that the IE 14.4 – Avenue Road Report does not include meaningful pedestrian sidewalk safety improvements north of Davenport Rd in Ward 11 and further extended to St. Clair Avenue West in Ward 12.

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