Tory unveils plan to cut down traffic congestion

TORONTO – The city is beginning phase two of a multi-step plan to reduce traffic congestion, improve pedestrian safety and get Toronto moving

Mayor John Tory and Councillor Jaye Robinson made the announcement on Wednesday morning at the intersection of Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue, which as part of their plan, has been identified as one of 10 problem intersections in the city.

“We have used traffic data – traffic data we never had before – to identify ten congestion hot spots that exist in the city,” Tory said.

“We need to take a hard look at this intersection and the other ones identified as being the worse come to traffic and understand what is creating these bottle necks and put in place in each and every one of those intersections an action plan to fix it.”

The 10 congestion hot spots identified are:

• Eglinton Avenue and Martin Grove Road
• Black Creek Drive and Lawrence Avenue
• Mount Pleasant Road and St. Clair Avenue
• Bloor Street and Parliament Street
• Kingston Road and Lawrence Avenue
• Yonge Street and Finch Avenue
• Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue
• Eastern Avenue and Carlaw Avenue
• O’Connor Drive and Don Mills Road
• Finch Avenue and Victoria Park Avenue

Tory added the action plan could include signal timing, reengineering road way, or turn restrictions.

The city will also look into developing a curbside management strategy to help accommodate delivery trucks, taxis through measures like off-peak delivery  programs.

Paid-duty police officers would also be used to direct traffic at busy intersections as part of the Traffic Assistance Personnel pilot project.

“We are going to get back to people directing traffic and we  will have to start this with police officers as the law requires,” Tory said.

Currently under provincial law, traffic can only be directed by a sworn police officer, but Tory said if the pilot project is successful, he will be looking into possibly changing the law to “find another way to deliver this service.”

“Something as simple and low tech as a person to direct traffic and keep it moving at key bottlenecks will make a difference. I don’t believe we need to have a highly trained and expensive police officer to do it but it should be done.”

Other plans include a pilot upgrade to the city’s smart traffic signal system, which according to Tory is currently outdated.

“The technology that lies behind our stop lights and allows us to do the retiming is itself 30 years old.”

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In the next six months, the city will purchase and deploy new technology that will be used at 20 intersections around Toronto.

“It will allow us to make sure it works in Toronto and it’s applicable here once we’ve picked it and once that pilot project is complete, we will look to expand the use of this technology across the city,” the mayor said.

“This will mean more green lights when the lights should be green and fewer red lights when the lights shouldn’t be red.”

Robinson also announced she will be hosting a roundtable on Jan. 25 at city hall to invite resident input on how to improve pedestrian safety and congestion in the city.