Toronto officials are bolstering the city’s road safety plan in 2017 by introducing 45 new measures to decrease the number of pedestrian fatalities on city streets, including implementing seniors safety zones, installing more red light cameras and lowering speed limits.
“These are preventative steps and we’re going to take the steps necessary to get the number down,” Mayor John Tory told reporters during a press conference at the corner of Bloor Street and Dundas Street Tuesday morning.
“We must do more to prevent these deaths and protect residents in this city.”
READ MORE: Toronto to accelerate traffic calming measures after ‘alarming’ number of road deaths
City officials said 77 people died on Toronto roads in 2016, 43 of them pedestrians.
“Last year, 86 per cent of the pedestrians killed were aged 55 and older,” Public Works Chair Jaye Robinson said.
“That’s why over the next few months, we are prioritizing the creation f 12 seniors safety zones across Toronto which will include lowering speeds, increasing walk times, improving pedestrian markings and better signage.”
The locations of the seniors safety zones are as follows:
- Dundas Street and Bloor Street
- Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue
- Victoria Park Avenue and O’Connor Drive
- McCowan Road and Lawrence Avenue
- Brimley Road and Lawrence Avenue
- Morningside Avenue and Lawrence Avenue
- Eglinton Avenue and Midland Road
- Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street
- Dundas Street and College Street
- Kennedy Road and Sheppard Avenue
- Danforth Road and Main Street
- Danforth Road and Coxwell Avenue
The city said it will also install 76 new red light cameras, add 20 more accessible pedestrian signals, reduce the speed limit at 32 high-volume corridors and expand speed readers in 20 school zones.
READ MORE: Toronto ramps up road safety measures in effort to lower pedestrian deaths
“We are using a data driven strategy to identify the areas of greatest concern,” Robinson said. “Then armed with this information, we’re making context specific changes to improve safety across the city.”
Tory said the city will also conduct road safety audits at 14 locations where pedestrians have been killed or seriously injured to offer insight on how to improve safety.
READ MORE: Toronto road safety plan aims to cut down on traffic fatalities
“As a city, we have to be honest in saying that we’ve been slower to move than some other cities and now we’re moving,” he said. “We’re moving in a very determined way and this is the beginning.”
City officials said they hope to have many of the measures in place by the first quarter of 2017.
A full list of Toronto’s road safety plan, including where speed limit reductions will be implemented and by how much, can be found here.
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