City committee to discuss dangerous pedestrian intersections

TORONTO — Toronto city council has forwarded a motion that calls for improved safety at Toronto’s most dangerous pedestrian intersections named in a Globalnews.ca investigation to a city committee.

The Public Works and Infrastructure committee will look into the matter and report back to council at a later date.

The motion brought by Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker called for city staff to create a “˜Pedestrian Safety Action plan.’

"It’s really going to take a little bit of time for our staff to visit these intersections, talk to pedestrians who are walking across the street, talk to shop owners who observe the intersection every day," says De Baeremaeker.

De Baeremaeker says Transportation Services has already been given the map compiled by GlobalNews.ca and is going to look at individual intersections. He says some changes could happen very quickly, such as adding zebra stripes at some intersections, or countdown timers for crosswalk signs.

Councillor Paul Ainslie says he thinks some of the responsibility still lies with pedestrians and they need to be careful. Ainslie says the city can’t legislate everything.