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FORUM: Tackling road congestion, noise, and safety (June 2024)

July 19th, 2024 · No Comments

City council working through the summer

By Dianne Saxe

Thank you to everyone who turned out for our two Environment Days in May and June at Central Technical School and Fred Hamilton Park! I hope you have also enjoyed our first long weekends as we kick off the summer weather. I have managed to plant some cherry tomatoes and herbs in pots this year; so far they are withstanding the hungry rabbits.

Toronto city council had another productive session in May, with progress made on mobility and housing. I’m pleased to see council’s growing consensus in favour of road safety. This allows us to keep approving complete streets, including preliminary approval for Avenue Road from Bloor to Davenport, plus the 2025-2027 Cycling Network Plan. I also worked hard to ensure that the city reached a new financial agreement with the Toronto Parking Authority so that Bike Share and EV charging rollouts can continue as planned.

When there are good alternatives to cars like walking, cycling, or taking transit, we leave more space on our roads for critical vehicles: emergency services, buses, construction trucks, delivery vans and cars on necessary trips. We are also working on slowing traffic in our neighbourhoods: speed humps, red light cameras, and automated speed enforcement where residents request them. Thank you to everyone as well who attended our May town hall on the topic. Check this space next month for a summary of the June and July city council sessions.

I continue to work with other councillors to tackle congestion problems. In most areas, the TTC needs the city to adjust parking rules, turn restrictions, etc… to let the streetcars and buses run on time. In Ward 11, this problem is most acute for the Dundas streetcar between McCaul and Spadina, and immediate action is necessary while the Spadina streetcar line is under construction. For this reason, the city is implementing temporary parking and turning changes on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Spadina for the rest of 2024. Later this year, transportation staff will recommend appropriate long-term parking, loading and turning rules for this area.

Our June town hall took on solutions for noise. We know that noise is a huge health problem, especially in a downtown ward like University-Rosedale. I have been working with city staff and “No More Noise Toronto” to improve bylaws and enforcement, with the first changes going through on July 1. Thank you to everyone who contributed to helping us do this.

On the housing front, council has approved townhouses and six-storey apartment buildings within residential neighbourhoods along our major streets. While standard approvals will still be needed, no official plan or zoning changes will be necessary. This should allow more affordable housing to be built quickly on streets like Christie and Dupont across the city. This is another small but meaningful victory in Toronto’s pursuit of new housing close to transit.

Did you know that we’re building the equivalent of two brand new cities, each with the population of Pickering, near Downsview and East Harbourfront? Toronto city council has just approved the Downsview Secondary Plan. East Harbourfront will come to the June council. I made a key amendment to ensure that the roads for these new communities will be designed to be consistent with TransformTO and a high quality of life, for example, that at least 75 per cent of local trips won’t need a personal vehicle.

The turn of spring to summer is a wonderful time of year in University-Rosedale. The Pride Parade runs through our neighbourhood in June, part of the month’s festivities. I was happy to take in Taste of Little Italy and its delicious food and patios. Ward 11 is also home to the Jazz Festival, which had a successful run at the end of the month. South of the ward, I want to highlight the Na-Me-Res Traditional Pow Wow that took place at Fort York in mid-June. It is the centre piece of the city’s Indigenous celebrations for the summer. 

A reminder to everyone that the city’s events and festivals need your support! When you put down the Gleaner, choose a few events in July and August and book your tickets.

Dianne Saxe is city councillor for Ward 11, University-Rosedale.

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