Featured in the Toronto Star
There was a time when city hall routinely rejected community demands for changes to arterial roads — even when motivated by safety concerns — by pointing to a road’s designated function to move lots of cars, fast.
Fortunately, the times, and city priorities, have changed. High-speed, six-lane Avenue Road, between Bloor Street West and St. Clair Avenue West, is the latest road on the verge of a makeover with interim measures to convert it to a calmer, safer four lanes, in advance of full reconstruction at a later date. With public consultations now complete, and a committee vote on the final staff recommendations scheduled for March, city hall may now be ready to deliver.
It’s no surprise that most people, even avid drivers, prefer to live on a residential side-street, given the danger, noise and tailpipe exhaust of cars and trucks on arterials. But in a growing city with high housing prices and restrictive zoning rules, the reality is that people will live where they can.
There is no reason to fear a safer Avenue Road – Toronto Star, February 18, 2024
Photo credit: ID 288712768 © Dmytro Zinkevych | Dreamstime.com
