Category: Latest Issues

“Buidling a City that Moves,” the City of Toronto election candidates survey of walking, cycling and transit issues, released its findings today. The results showed strong support from council and mayoral candidates for policies that support walking, as well as cycling and transit.

The survey was a partnership between Walk Toronto and the Toronto Centre for Active Transportation, Canada Walks, Cycle Toronto and the Toronto Environmental Alliance.

For the walking-related questions, the results were:

• 97% support for “Will you work with the Toronto area school boards to develop and implement School Travel Plans that will improve the safety and integrity of school walking routes?” This was the highest level of support for any question on the survey. 100% of incumbents running again for office who completed the survey voiced support.
• 92% support for “Do you support enabling neighbourhoods to establish “slow zones” (with a maximum speed of 30 km/hr) on residential roads?”
• 85% support for “Do you support permanently widening sidewalks with high pedestrian activity in downtown Toronto?”
• 73% support for “Do you support extending snow clearing to all residential sidewalks in Toronto at an estimated cost of $10M per year?” (83% of responding incumbents)

Two-thirds (63%) of the 38 councillor incumbents running for re-election responded to the survey, and 2 of the 3 leading mayoral candidates.

See the announcement and the full results on the TCAT website.

Walk Toronto has submitted comments on the Ontario Traffic Manual (OTM) Book 15 – Pedestrian Crossing Treatments. The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) was seeking public input on the draft version of these revised guidelines.

The draft guidelines include many welcome new elements that bring clarity, additional flexibilty and an emphasis on accessibility. However, in its comments Walk Toronto notes some important areas where they can be improved. For example, it is very important to provide safe direct crossings for pedestrian pathways even if they are close to existing traffic signals. As well, we note that the “pedestrian scramble” section does not reflect the existing practice in Toronto.

Read our complete comments (PDF)

It is also worth noting that the OTM draft provides a clear and useful analysis of the right of pedestrians to cross mid-block in Ontario, in section 2.1. This issue has been subject to a lot of confusion over the years, so this clarity is helpful.

From Section 2.1.2, “Pedestrian’s Rights and Responsibilities”

“In the absence of statutory provisions or by-law, a pedestrian is not confined to a street crossing or intersection and is entitled to cross at any point, although greater care may then be required of him or her in crossing. However, pedestrians crossing the highway must look to ensure the crossing can be made safely or possibly be held responsible for any ensuing collision.”

Also, it clarifies the confusing Section 144 (22) of the Highway Traffic Act, reinforcing the fact that it applies specifically to when pedestrians are crossing at a signalized intersection:

“If there is a crosswalk at a signalized intersection, pedestrians have to walk within the crosswalk: [Section 144 (22) of the HTA]“

An opportunity for a major accessibility improvement for the Lower Don Trail will be coming up at tomorrow’s Parks Committee meeting. The City is planning to install two staircases linking the bridges at Gerrard and Dundas Streets to the Lower Don Trail. While this will provide welcome additional access points for able trail users, people using wheelchairs, strollers, bike trailers and other wheeled devices will not be accommodated. They will continue to have no accessible entry points to the Lower Don anywhere on the 4.5 km. stretch of the Lower Don Trail between Corktown Common and Pottery Road.

Walk Toronto is proposing that an accessible ramp be installed at Gerrard, Dundas (or perhaps at Riverdale Park, though this involves hillier terrain). When the TTC brings new accessible streetcars to its Carlton, Dundas and King lines, people with disabilities will be able to take transit to stops close to the bridge. We want them to be able to use a ramp and not face stairs, which can be a barrier. The same applies to patients at the large Bridgepoint rehab facility, which overlooks the trail.

Thanks to contributions from condo developers in Toronto’s three downtown wards, the City has accumulated $37 million in alternative rate reserves that can be used to improve existing parks. Let’s tap these funds in order to improve access to one of the largest body of green space in the city’s inner core. Toronto doesn’t have a big downtown park like Mt. Royal or Central Park. Instead, we are known for our ravine systems and river valleys. We must ensure that all Torontonians have access to them.

Councillor Fletcher has kindly added this item to the agenda of the Parks & Environment Committee’s meeting on Aug. 15. If you act quickly, you can send a letter of support to the committee before the deadline of 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 14. Click on “Submit Comments” at:
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2014.PE29.8

To view Walk Toronto’s “Lower Don Trail Accessibility” report, see:
http://tinyurl.com/WalkToLowerDonAccessibility

There’s a city election coming up, and with your help, Walk Toronto is working to make sure all municipal candidates talk about walking as a key part of making a great city.

What Walk Toronto is doing

Walk Toronto has teamed up with other sustainable transportation groups to come up with a platform and election survey, “Building a Toronto that Moves,” that will ask every candidate where they stand on making Toronto a better city for walking.

It wasn’t easy to choose just 4 yes/no questions to ask about pedestrian issues, but, working with Canada Walks, we focused on “slow zones,” widening Yonge St. sidewalks, sidewalk snow clearing, and safe walking to school.

You can see the complete platform on the Toronto Centre for Active Transportation website: http://www.tcat.ca/election_surveys_2014

Every candidate will receive a survey, and we’ll be publishing their answers in early October, so that voters can use them to help make a decision on election day.

What you can do

To get candidates talking about walking issues, one thing you can do is ask them a question when you see them campaigning on the street, at your doorstep, or at an all-candidates’ meeting.

One question you could ask is:

“Last year, 40 pedestrians were killed by vehicles on Toronto’s streets, a 10-year high. What will you do to improve pedestrian safety in Toronto?”

Or ask them a question about any other walking issue that is close to your heart – the key is to get candidates talking about walking!

Thanks for helping to make walking better in Toronto!

Walk Toronto has teamed up with the Toronto Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT), Canada Walks, Cycle Toronto and the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) to create an election survey for council and mayoral candidates in the upcoming civic elections.

The survey, called “Building a Toronto that Moves,” includes 4 questions each about walking, cycling and transit.

The survey was launched at a press conference this morning (Tuesday June 3) at City Hall.

The full document and the election questions can be found on the TCAT website. The survey results will be published in the fall close to the date of the election, to help Toronto voters make their decision about which candidates to support.

It was challenging to choose just 4 questions to ask, but here are the ones we came up with for walking:

1. Do you support enabling neighbourhoods to establish “slow zones” (with a maximum speed of 30 km/hr) on residential roads?

2. Do you support permanently widening sidewalks with high pedestrian activity in downtown Toronto, such as Yonge Street?

3. Do you support extending snow clearing to all residential sidewalks in Toronto, at an estimated cost of $10M per year?

4. Will you work with the Toronto area school boards to develop and implement School Travel Plans that will improve the safety and integrity of school walking routes?

More detailed background about each issue can be found in the full document.

Original post by Dylan Reid

Walk Toronto is calling on the City of Toronto to commit to clearing the snow from every sidewalk in the City.

While the City ploughs sidewalks in suburban areas, 1,100 km of sidewalk in the parts of Toronto most heavily used by pedestrians are not cleared of snow by the City. Instead, in this “No-plough zone” residents are required to do so, with inconsistent results. As a consequence, ice and snow makes sidewalks throughout a large part of the City dangerous during the winter, especially for seniors and the disabled. Some may be unable to leave their house, and others may suffer life-threatening injuries. Meanwhile, the City pays out millions of dollars in insurance claims and struggles to enforce its own sidewalk clearance bylaws. The current policy simply does not meet the basic standards for creating a fully accessible city.

The full consequences of this City policy are laid out in a comprehensive report by Walk Toronto, “Keeping Sidewalks Safe in Winter” (PDF).

A new report from City of Toronto Transportation Services (PDF) claims that it is impossible for the City to clear narrow sidewalks in the “No-plough zone.” However, the Walk Toronto report demonstrates that in fact many cities already clear narrow sidewalks, and shows the kind of equipment that the city could purchase or contract to do so. Doing so is affordable as well – while Ottawa and Montreal’s budget for snow clearing comes to $0.44 per capita for every centimetre of snowfall they receive, Toronto only spends $0.27 per centimetre of snowfall per capita. Even the most expensive option would only bring that up to $0.30, and the cost should be much less.

The Transportation Services report will be discussed by the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday April 9. Walk Toronto is calling on the committee to direct Transportation Services staff to come up with a plan and a realistic budget to clear every sidewalk in the city. It is important for the City to act now, as the contracts for snow clearing will be coming up for renewal in 2015.

Cross-posted from Spacing Toronto

There’s some good news to share about Walk Toronto’s first campaign!

In March, I wrote in Spacing about the planned reconstruction of Bay Street between Bloor St. and Davenport Rd., which amongst other things, would widen Bay Street’s busy sidewalks, a project championed by Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam. Two city-owned lay-bys, where the roadway cuts into the sidewalk, were planned to removed on the west side of Bay – a TTC bus bay at Cumberland, in front of the entrance to Bay subway station, and at the southwest corner of Bay and Yorkville Avenue.

Pusateri’s, a local high-end grocery store, took exception to these plans, even though local consultations had already concluded and construction scheduled to start this month. The store claims that the lay-by is vital to their business; it currently treats it as its exclusive domain for its valet and detailing service.

Pusateri’s went as far as hiring prominent lobbyists Sussex Strategy Group and transportation engineers at LEA Consulting in a bid to maintain the lay-by in front of their store, rather than move the valet service to a nearby laneway as suggested by proponents such as Councillor Wong-Tam. The item was to be brought to council for the April session of City Council, but was delayed to allow LEA and Transportation Services to develop possible alternative solutions to the lay-by removal or the status quo.

Walk Toronto joined Councillor Wong-Tam, the Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Area, and local residents’ associations to remove the lay-by and complete the Bay Street project in its entirety.

In the back-and-forth discussion since March, LEA, on behalf of Pusateri’s, recommended the retention of the lay-by. However, it would be built with the new granite sidewalk surface and removable bollards to separate the three-car layby from the narrow pedestrian area – an alternative in which, in the consultant’s words, “the full boulevard/sidewalk can be used by pedestrians when vehicles are not present and when Pusateri’s is closed.” For their part, Transportation Services staff recommended a shorter, two-car lay-by – a “compromise” – that would have mitigated the effect of the pinch-point between Pusateri’s seasonal patio and the lay-by curb. This was added to the agenda of last week’s Council meeting as an urgent item as the city in the process of tendering the construction contract.

Last week’s four-day council meeting was most notable for its frustrating and irresponsible ‘debate’ on funding transit expansion, but by late Friday afternoon, and with nearly half the councillors gone home, the Bay Street item was finally up for debate. In the end, the staff report was received, and councillors voted 19-8 in favour of Councillor Wong-Tam’s amended motion that will eliminate the lay-by in favour of the original plans.

A small, but significant, win for pedestrians. A big thank you to Councillor Wong-Tam for standing firm and supporting this important pedestrian issue.

Post by Dylan Reid

The City of Toronto will be reconstructing Bay Street between Bloor St. and Davenport Rd. this year. One of the key benefits to pedestrians will be widening Bay Street’s busy sidewalks. The City of Toronto has consulted with the community and local stakeholders including residents’ associations and the Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Area. One of the top priorities identified by the community was an improved pedestrian realm, particularly wider, safer and more pleasant sidewalks. Two city-owned lay-bys, where the roadway cuts into the sidewalk, will be removed on the west side of Bay – a TTC bus bay at Cumberland, in front of the west side entrance to Bay subway station, and at the southwest corner of Bay and Yorkville Avenue.

Since the consultations concluded, only one local interest has spoken out against the planned improvements. Pusateri’s uses the Bay/Yorkville lay-by for valet parking service for its customers. The Bay Street improvement project proposes to remove the lay-by because it cuts into sidewalk space. The constriction of pedestrian access is a critical concern: the lay-by is located just north of a busy entrance to the Bay subway station and the ‘scramble’ intersection at Bloor St. A patio installed by Pusateri’s during the warmer months further constricts pedestrian flow.

Pusateri’s uses this city-owned lay-by, which was installed ten years ago at the store’s request, for its exclusive use. At the time, Pusateri’s paid $75,000 to cover the costs of the lay-by’s installation, with the support of then-councillor Kyle Rae. Signage installed by the store declares this public space as for the sole use of its valet and detailing service, to the exclusion of all other users. Valet staff stationed in front of the store have shooed away other lay-by users. This sets a troubling precedent for the privatization of public space.

Pusateri’s lay-by on Bay Street, with Forest Hill Detailing and Valet sign in foreground

Pusateri’s hired prominent city hall lobbyists, Sussex Strategy Group, to pressure city council to maintain their lay-by, even though it had not been involved in the local consultations when the street reconstruction project was planned last year. Public Works chair and Ford loyalist Denzil Minnan-Wong supports Pusateri’s in calling for the retention of the lay-by.

Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam notes that during the consultations the local BIA and local resident’s associations supported the plan.

It is Pusateri’s claim that a Bay Street lay-by is indispensable for a gourmet food store’s survival. There are alternatives that would continue to accommodate Pusateri’s customers without disrupting pedestrian traffic, which Councillor Wong-Tam has been advocating. These include the relocation of the valet service to the building’s own driveway off Yorkville Avenue; or directing motorist customers to the Green P parking facility, located just across the street from Pusatieri’s on Yorkville Ave.

Yorkville Avenue looking east. Green P parking lot on the left. Pusateri’s Yorkville Ave. storefront is circled, with driveway leading to the right

The vote on the removal of the Bay Street lay-by takes place at the next council meeting this Thursday, March 21. Councillor Wong-Tam’s office notes that Pusateri’s, or their representatives, has not yet submitted any proposals for review to Transportation Services in advance of this vote. Given the aggressive lobbying on this local matter and Councillor Minnan-Wong’s support, this item may be quite contentious.

Here is a link to the agenda item. At the top is a Submit Comments button. If you click on it, you can easily send your written submission about the agenda item to the city clerk, who will then enter it into the public record.

Walk Toronto has joined the local residents’ association (ABC) in support of the planned road improvements. In addition to a petition, we urge you to contact your local councillor (and copy Councillor Wong-Tam: – councillor_wongtam@toronto.ca) to express your support for an improved pedestrian realm. Last but not least, you can sign Walk Toronto’s petition here.

This notice has been cross-posted at Spacing Toronto

Post by Dylan Reid