Roads

In the 1970s, Toronto enacted a bylaw that made playing street hockey in the street illegal. But, now city staff and councilors are considering getting rid of the bylaw, thanks to a campaign by Matthew Blacket, member of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee and publisher of Spacing Toronto.

“It’s wrong to have bylaws that outlaw ‘the active and healthy lifestyle that our government is actually trying to encourage,’" said Blackett.

This week, Spacing published its second article in a two-part series on TCAT's recent Complete Streets Forum. (TCAT reported on the first post in the last TCAT News.)

An Environmental Assessment (EA) study is underway for the eastern Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard corridor between Jarvis Street and the Don Valley Parkway.

A survey of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers who use this corridor has started. Members of the general public are invited to provide their input so that informed, high quality decisions can be made about the future of the Gardiner.

The results of the survey will provide valuable public input about key travel behaviour and attitudes concerning the future of the eastern Gardiner-Lake Shore Corridor.

One of TCAT's goals for last month's Complete Streets Forum was for the City of Toronto to adopt a complete streets policy. As such we were quite pleased that Gary Welsh, General Manager of Transportation Services and many other senior transportation staff attended the Forum. Mr. Welsh was quoted in the Toronto Star the day after the Forum that he will take a serious look at adopting a complete streets policy in Toronto.

New shared lane pavement markings are being painted on downtown streets. These markings are called “sharrows” and are used to show the ideal cyclist position in the lane (away from the curb and parked cars), and to remind drivers to share the road.

The most recent edition of Yonge Street Media features a story about TCAT and the Complete Streets Forum. Dylan Reid’s article, “Streets for everyone” offers a great overview of Complete Streets Policies and the region’s interest in their implementation.

As announced in previous TCAT News, TCAT is working with the City of Toronto to evaluate cycling conditions on College Street before and after the installation of a new bicycle pavement marking application. By Apr 30th we are requesting that cyclists who ride along College Street during rush hour between Lansdowne Ave and Manning Ave complete a survey about your experience. Sign up and find more information about the survey here.

Talking Tolls: What’s leadership got to do with it?

Congestion charging. Priced networks. High Occupancy Toll Lanes. These road pricing systems are being implemented around the world in order to reduce congestion, fight climate change and generate revenues for sustainable transportation infrastructure. But why would politicians anywhere support road pricing in the face of widespread opposition? How do they communicate road pricing benefits and costs to the public? What can we learn from their experiences?

A report released this week by Transportation for America titled Dangerous By Design: Solving the Epidemic of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths (and Making Great Neighborhoods) ranks the most dangerous metropolitan areas in the U.S. for pedestrians (Florida has the top 4) and the safest (Seattle, Portland and Minneapolis-St Paul.)

Roger Geller, bicycle coordinator for the City of Portland, Oregon, recently gave an inspired presentation to a standing-room only crowd at the Centre for Social Innovation.