Morse Street Jr Public School - Toronto's 9th most dangerous school for pedestrians

Morse Street Jr Public School makes Global News Top 10 list of most dangerous schools for pedestrians.

Top ten elementary schools for nearby pedestrian injuries, 2000-13:
1. Valley Park Middle School: 28 collisions
2. Downtown Alternative Public School: 26 collisions
3. St. Aidan Separate School: 26 collisions
4. Eglinton Junior Public School: 24 collisions
5. St. Monica Separate School: 20 collisions
6. Ryerson Community School: 20 collisions
7. Pope Paul Separate School: 19 collisions
8. St. Helen Separate School: 18 collisions
9. Morse Street Public School: 18 collisions
10. Galloway Road Public School: 18 collisions

Global News - September 9, 2014 | Toronto's 10 most dangerous schools for pedestrians | http://globalnews.ca/news/1553806/torontos-10-most-dangerous-schools-for-pedestrians/



mh

Checking the Road Closed construction detouring for Cyclists at Eastern & Mosley

Video - Saturday, August 9, 2014 - 1:07pm
Checking the Road Closed construction detouring for Cyclists at Eastern & Mosley



The latest Leslie Street TTC street reconstruction configuration closes the intersection of Eastern and Leslie until September 7, 2014.

The Road Closed detouring for cyclists on Eastern Avenue at Mosley St was non-existent (as usual) when the new configuration was installed on July 28th.

After two independent walkabouts to study the way road users were using the spaces on July 28th¹ and on August 6th² - plus a @TTCLeslieBarns planned Safety Walk on the evening of August 6th, we now have a pretty good detour configuration for Cyclists.

Thanks go to Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth Councillor Paula Fletcher, who attended the Safety Walk on August 6th; to @TTCLeslieBarns who transmitted the idea concisely and quickly; and to Pomerleau Construction, who executed it perfectly.

Ward 30 Bikes was very disappointed that TTC ignored ideas that they asked us for at the last Community Liaison Group meeting on ways to implement cycling detour routes around the closed intersection on residential streets - detour route signage aimed specifically at cyclists that would have been separate routes from Transportation's suggested detour routes for cars (which are always on main arterial streets).

So - we invited Councillor Paula Fletcher to come to the Safety Walk that was supposed to review all the stuff TTC said they were going to do, but didn't (or couldn't) do.

As some background on this - the present road closure is at Moeley and at Leslie - this is resulting in road users using the Plaza Parking Lots as a detour route. This is mixing cars and trucks and cyclists and pedestrians in a narroew conjested and badly signed areas that are not edesigned to act as roadways - they are parking lots not streets.

The safe way to close this intersection is: - on the west side - Close Eastern at Pape with an egress point for local traffic. On the east side - the last arterial avenue is Coxwell - Eastern should have been closed there with an egress point for local access.

Much pressure from local businesses along this stretch has caused the TTC to do what they've done. The feedback their getting from business is that the businesses would rather have the egress through and by their stores in a congested and dangerous way - so that impulse consumerism will create shopping opportunities for people caught in tha chaos at their front doors.

As I put it to a TTC Leslie Barns representative during the Safety Walk - so your putting consumerism over road user safety?

That what is exactly what they've done.


So thinking on our feet we instead advocated for better detour infrastructure that would encourage cyclists to stay out of the Plaza Parking Lots:

Sketch submitted to TTC Leslie Barns - August 7, 2014

The FreshCo and Loblaws parking Lots are in fact the defacto detour route due to the road closure configuration that TTCLeslie Barns is facilitating by not blocking eastbound Eastern at Pape and westbound Eastern at Coxwell. If they had done that the added benifit would have been safe cyclists routes around Leslie Eastern on Queen and lessened motor vehicle impacts on residential streets north off of Eastern - like at Rushbrooke to West which is getting hammered and at Laing to the East which has been getting halmmer since trhis started in September of 2013 - for example.

So now Ward 30 Bikes suggests that you take the good Bike Lane detouring now open at Mosley and Eastern, and cycle through the Road Closed signage and continue through to LeslieStreet where you should dismount for the short pedestrian walkway that is open on the south side of the intersection there at this time (due to close at some point in the construction phase).

References:

¹ Facebook Ward 30 Bikes Page - August 1, 2014 | Cycling Issues - Eastern Avenue Closure (July 28th walkabout) | https://www.facebook.com/ward30bikes/posts/627966513983953

² Ward 30 Bikes - Wednesday, August 6, 2014 | Another Walkabout of the Eastern Avenue Closure at Leslie Street | http://ward30bikes.blogspot.ca/2014/08/another-walkabout-of-eastern-avenue.html




mh

Another Walkabout of the Eastern Avenue Closure at Leslie Street

Wednesday, August 6, 2014 - 12noon to 2pm

Leslie Street reconstruction Site-Walk Notes

I bicycled both eastbound and westbound approaches, and walked the entire site - with special attention paid to the immediate area of Eastern at Leslie.

Eastbound on Eastern from Booth to Leslie:

Signs say only "Eastern Closed at Leslie til Sept. 7th"

One just before Pape, indicates that Pape Avenue is open northbound.

The Larchmount intersection has a northbound left-turn lane and is signaled. After this point the chicane begins making lane changes and left turns, very dangerous.

I concluded that Larchmount is safest Northbound Cyclist's Detour Route.

Inspection of the West-side road closure at Mosley & Eastern - 30 minutes:

On the walkabout portion of the site visit I noted, now ten days into the Closure of Eastern at Leslie - that Rushbrooke is still receiving traffic as a result of a large number of 'emergency' exits off of Eastern - as motorists become aware of the closure just before they get to Rushbrooke. As a result of this surprise situation the Rushbrooke/Mosley/Eastern area is a mass of confusion with vehicles doing U-Turns and stopping short and making sudden turns without looking or signaling. This is further complicated by Traffic Pulses of Cars Exiting the FreshCo Lot - which they are using along with the Loblaws Lot, as a Eastern Avenue Closure Detour Route.

95% of road users on Eastbound Eastern are turning southbound at Mosley and going through the FreshCo/Loblaws Parking lots and back onto Eastern via the east-side Loblaws driveway.

I noted 14 Cyclist road users while at this observation point; 1 of the 14 went straight through and crossed Leslie via the pedestrian walkway on the south side of the intersection (after coming into conflict with a car at the corner of Mosley as she decided to go straight through).

Westbound on Eastern from Queen/Kingston to Leslie:

Signs on Eastern Avenue, East of the Closure are same as in the opposite direction; but no 'last-chance' sign (as near Pape Ave).

Inspection of the East-side road closure at Leslie & Eastern - 30 minutes:

Drivers traveling Westbound along Eastern can see the closure from about 400 metres east of the intersection (past their last exit at Laing) - as a result they are taking the East and West Entrances to the Loblaws Lot and using the parking lot driveway along the North edge to Exit back onto Easter in the opposite direction.

As 'Traffic Pulses' of Cars are coming up the East delivery-way lane - there is some congestion and confusion as people aren't sure where they are allowed to drive. Some try to go southbound along the delivery-way lane which is a One-Way Northbound - as such the placement of the Traffic Guidance Officer at the Entrance/Exit is key.

Over about an hour of observing from both east and west vantage points, I saw 7 cyclists ride up the East-side sidewalk of Leslie North of Eastern Ave to Queen St. Later I walked it - it is a dirty, pot-holed, narrow, winding path --- there is not enough room to walk your bike up this route without coming into conflict with other users - avoid this route with a bike.

AND FOR GOD'S SAKE - DON'T RIDE IT!!!

I also note as above - that on this side of the Closure I recorded 10 Cyclist road users during my time there; 4 of whom were riding on the Eastern Avenue sidewalks (for safety I assume - on this wide, fast roadway with no bike lanes).

Cycling Westbound towards the Closure, I suggest getting off of Eastern at Knox or at Laing. Second most popular route seemed to be the Loblaws Parking Lot West-side driveway, down to the Plaza Intersection - where an Officer is directing all comers through the intersection.

Conclusions:

After 10 days road-users still don't understand what's going on until the last minute as they approach the closure - this is leading to a dangerous mixing of modes especially in the Plaza Parking Lots - but also on the sidewalks in the area. Better signage and clearly marked detour routes for both motor vehicles and for cyclist users (separately) might help reduce dangerous mode mixing and user conflicts.

Perhaps the one simple thing that might accomplish the most good is the closure of Eastern Ave on either side of the closure (leave one lane open; posted Local Traffic Only) . Closing Eastern at Pape Avenue on the West side; and at Laing St on the East side - in this observers opinion - would greatly decrease the dangerous mixing of the three modes - especially in the Parking Lots and at their entrance-ways. This calming of the Plaza's Parking Lots might also draw off cyclists who feel too insecure to ride anything but the sidewalks in the present construction configuration.


A Map - with more notes from this walkabout:

Driving Conditions & Cyclist Detour Routes around Eastern/Leslie Closure

View Driving Conditions & Cyclist Detour Routes around Eastern/Leslie Closure in a larger map




mh

@PaulaFletcher30 to address Lower Don Accessibility Issue at Parks & Environment Committee, Friday, August 15

Councillor Fletcher, Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth, is petitioning at Committee to pass a motion asking for a study and a report-back on accessible connections to the neighbourhoods from the Lower Don Trail - at the Parks and Environment Committee meeting on Friday, August 15, 2014.

The Councillor will talk to concerns a group of us advocates raised this spring about the lack of Accessible Connections (Ramps) from the Bridges that cross the Don Valley down to the LDT below the Viaduct (Dundas, Gerrard and the Riverdale Park Pedestrian Bridge).

It sets the stage for a possible ramp build in the future - she's requesting that:
(quoting)

1) The City re-confirms its commitment to accessibility on the Lower Don Trail.
2) Further study be undertaken on potential points of access onto the Lower Don Trail in particular the pedestrian bridge joining Riverdale Park East and West.
3) Report to P and E in Q2, 2015 on the results.
.
The motion needs our community support.

You can write to the clerk in charge of communications for the Committee to make a written deputation right away - or you can request time on the agenda to speak to the issue on the 15th in Committee Room 1 at City Hall (meeting starts at 9am - meeting agenda is not yet posted).

Email the Committee: pec@toronto.ca
In the title of your email be sure to include this phrase:
"2014.PE29 - Re: Lower Don Trail Accessibility"


Secretariat Contact:
Carol Kaustinen
10th floor, West Tower, City Hall
100 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2

email: pec@toronto.ca
phone: 416-338-5089
fax: 416-392-1879

TMMIS address for Parks and Environment Committee meeting of August 15, 2014 (Meeting 29): http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/decisionBodyProfile.do?function=doPrepare&decisionBodyId=368#Meeting-2014.PE29
.

Michael Holloway
Ward 30 Bikes


Here's a copy of Councillor Fletcher's letter to the Committee:

July 23, 2014

Councillor Mammoliti and Members
Parks & Environment Committee

Dear Committee Members:

Re: Lower Don Trail Accessibility

The Lower Don Trail has limited accessibility from Queen Street to Danforth Avenue.

Currently there are stairs at Queen as well as the Riverdale foot bridge. While there is a trench to wheel a bicycle up and down the stairs it is awkward and cumbersome. Many riders simply carry their bikes up the stairs. Trail access and egress at these points is limited to those who can manage their bicycles on the steep incline.

As part of the Lower Don Trail Master Plan there will be two new stair entrances; one from Dundas and one from Gerrard onto the trail.

In May, I had a site meeting on the trail with staff from DTAH, TRCA, PFR and members of the cycling committee to review the Master Plan for the Lower Don trail and to see if the new stairway entrances at Gerrard and Dundas could be made more accessible for cyclists, and anyone with mobility issues. Both of the locations are on street car routes and of course our new street cars will be fully accessible.

Sadly, it was not deemed possible at either of these locations.

There remains a real need for an accessible point on the trail between Queen and Danforth and it was suggested that the pedestrian bridge from Riverdale Park East to West may be a good option.

I am requesting that:

1. The City re-confirms its commitment to accessibility on the Lower Don Trail.
2. Further study be undertaken on potential points of access onto the Lower Don Trail in particular the pedestrian bridge joining Riverdale Park East and West.
3. Report to P and E in Q2, 2015 on the results.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,


Councillor Paula Fletcher, Ward 30

mh

'Idea Mapping' the Shipping Channel Charrette

[The Map is still updating - last update: Monday, July 28, 2014, 10:26pm]

Mapping the ideas is the best way to combine this web of stuff.

Like the man said, it's a web of ideas, a cloud. I immediately envisioned the map of the internet.

Approach the mash-up board of ideas in words and images from any spacial vector,following from one chit to the next, and you end up telling a different story every time.

All the stories are the 'little cart' of ideas. Here's a map that shows some of those ideas that relate to connecting the city to the lake - the urban culture to the water - for the short term (1-2 years), the medium term (5 years) and the long term (30 years).

Idea Map for the The Shipping Channel Charrette, Pinewood Studios Toronto, July 23 & 24, 2014

View Idea Map for the The Shipping Channel Charrette, Pinewood Studios Toronto, July 23 & 24, 2014 in a larger map

Transportation Archipelago
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 7.86 km
A Transportation Archipelago was identified to create short term connectivity solutions - existing points where the water touched the existing transportation infrastructure, like at Commisioners and the Shipping Channel, water taxis were envisioned that - right now (next summer for the PanAm Games?) could bridge the gap across the channel, and the gap in north-south connections between Leslie Street and the Don Roadway - to possible landing points on the south side of the channel that could connect to Unwin Avenue - like at the proposed spillway green space (on the north side of the channel) just to the west of the Don Roadway.

Water Taxi
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Connect Chery Beach and the Island - connects Bathurst and Carlaw via the archipelago.

Water Taxi from Carlaw to the Dragon Boat Club
Last Updated by Michael Holloway 15 minutes ago
Total distance: 690.38 m
Connect Carlaw to the south side of the Turning Basin landing to the east of the Gas Plant (Provincial Property?).

Don Roadway - Swing Bridge
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 531.03 m
Floating or structural steel that sits at near the water - moves for ship traffic. Landing on the south side meeting an existing roadway on the West extent of the Salt Storage Yard.

Canal - Cherry Beach to the Shipping Channel
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 598.28 m

Canal - South Riverdale to the Shipping Channel
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 1.08 km
Canal to the north extent of the Regulatory Flood Plain

Naturalized Don River Mouth
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Approved Plan

Canal - Presupposes an extention of the spillway of the Don River
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 725.52 m
A visual extension of part of the Naturalization of the Done River Mouth - the approved Don River Extreme Storm spillway. (canal would be a separate hydrology).

Canal The Hearn to the Outer Harbour
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 459.99 m

Canal Cooling Channel to the Shipping Channel
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 349.05 m

Extend TTC Service to Unwin
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 694.74 m
Short term (now) by the PanAm Games (July 2015).

Toronto Bike Share Station
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Short Term (now). Before the PanAm Games (July 2015).

Create a Water Front Tram Service
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 2.75 km
Short Term (now) Before PanAm Games (July 2015).
A rail vehicle would shunt between TTC stops at Cherry St and an extended-to-Unwin Jones Bus(?) Stop at the Entrance to Tommy Thompson Park - on existing rails.

Planned Park - Leslie Slip to Leslie Street
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Medium Term (5 years).
Park will front the water at the end of the Shipping Channel's 'Leslie Slip' - an extension off the east end of the Turning Basin that comes within about 200 metres of Leslie Street. The east extent of the Park will front Leslie Street. The area is bisected by a rarely used rail line owned by the Toronto Port Authority and used occasionally by the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant.

Canal - Leslie Slip to Baselands Wetlands
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 170.14 m
Medium/Long Term.
Likely more of a 'bio-swail' than a canal - an extension of the lowland wetlands on the south side of Unwin Ave along this area.

South Shipping Channel Wall Green Set-back
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 2.25 km
Short Term.
A wide as possible green setback along the south Shipping Channel Wall.
This Trail may be closed from time-to-time to allow industrial activities associated with Shipping (like aggregate off-loading for example).

North Shipping Channel Wall Green Setback
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 2.28 km
Short Term.
A wide-as-possible Green setback along the north Shipping Channel Wall.
This Trail may be closed from time-to-time to allow industrial activities associated with Shipping.

Steps Into The Water
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Short Term.
A stepped observation/seating area that steps right into the water and also provides a high visual barrier/look-out at the top of it, overlooking the cement production facilities to the East.

Canal - Winnifred & Eastern Avenue to the Turning Basin
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 635.93 m
Medium Term.
All these Canals are firstly about draining the Regulatory Flood Plain to upgrade the land for development - but they also act as a way to connect the neighbourhood to the water front by at once bringing the water into the neighbourhood, and by providing possible innovative transportation corridors to the water front proper.

Lower Carlaw Separated Bike Lanes
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 255.52 m
Short Term (now).
A Cycle Track perhaps, on the eastern side of the roadway.

Commisioners St Separated Bike Lane
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 2.41 km
Short Term (now).
Perhaps a Cycle Track on the North side of the Street.
Connects the Martin Goodman Trail at Leslie to the Lower Don Recreational Trail at Lower Don Roadway and the Waterfront Trail at Cherry Street.

Existing Drainage Basin?
Last Updated by Michael Holloway < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 282.16 m
On a walkabout of the Smart Studios site on July 28, 2014, I noted three patches of swamp grass growing in the lot along a low-lying trough, that seem to continue north under Eastern Ave and up Caroline heading Northwest.
See a Video playlist of the walkabout: Natural Basin on North edge of Delta possible Canal Route - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTpRV6DI_Sr3LT8LYhEGXukxsWt5fMgGd

Update: Map of  the area from 1902 shows a creek at Winnifred and Eastern - exactly one block west of where I noted evidence of it on my walk (perhaps the old map is incorrect?). Here's an Zoomed-In image of the area from a University of Toronto historical map:

Map Title: Plan of the City of Toronto Villiers Sankey 1902 University of Toronto Libraries Call Number G3524.T61 20 1902

(Original: http://maps.library.utoronto.ca/dvhmp/maps.html)



mh

A Walkabout on the Port Lands - The Shipping Channel, North side

On Friday, July 18th I began a series of walks further south on the Port Lands than my last¹ walkabout (December 2013). The timing of these new walks is related to City of Toronto Planning's Design Charrette - coming up this Wednesday and Thursday.

The Charrette

The 2-day, mini Charrette, co-hosted by Waterfront Toronto and TRCA is much shorter than recommended² - so I'm going to try and engage with the community during the two days, via Twitter and this Blog.

A "Charrette" is a design-based collaborative community planning method that the school of New Urbanism has developed. A way of wrangling a massive number of elements in an intensive series of feedback loops over a few days involving the people of the area and stakeholders relevant the study area plus a team of planners, architects and other specialists that creates a feasible plan at the end of the exercise.

To quote from Planning's Shipping Channel Charrette PDF (released to the Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) and the Landowner and User Advisory Committee (LUAC):

"The two-day charrette being hosted by the City of Toronto City Planning Division, with Waterfront Toronto and the TRCA, will occur on July 23rd and 24th, 2014. The charrette will focus on defining and establishing a cohesive vision and priorities for the Ship Channel and its surrounds, and for improving public access for the South Ship Channel lands."

We will meet first to formulate a broad outline of the constraints and possibilities talking into account everything - the land, the history of the place, the existing archeology, the economic and political elements and so on. Next we will walk (and boat!) the site - and then formulate a second understanding of a future morphing out of the present. The team of specialists will then create plans on all kinds of scales, that talk to the first round of feedback - within the constraints and the goals. Then back out in groups to tackle select issues - and then back to the team to feed all our ideas back to the whole group. Then the planners, architects and communication specialists will craft some more - ideas, plans, drawings, media.

After the two days of intensive work the Planners will then present a overview of the outcomes in a 2 hour meeting on the evening of the second day.

Social Tools Engagement

At certain points in the process key ideas will come into conflict and (hopefully) be resolved, compromises will happen (hopefully) and in the end we will have a do-able plan that everyone can like - and is do-able in the physical, economic and political world.

At these crisis points in the process I will out reach to get your informed opinion and try to feed your ideas into the process. This use of the social tools is new to the Charrette process - we'll see how it goes.

The Pre Charrette Walks

The specific intention of this set of pre-walks is to trace a walking path around the Shipping Channel - and to discover what use the land around it is presently being put to; and what potential future uses can be gleaned from a process of actually touching the place, documenting the act, and writing about it. This with-in my bias for development that creates Complete Streets and Liveable Cities.

Shipping Channel Panorama - North-side below Don Roadway looking south at City of Toronto Transportation Services salt storage facility.

Below is a map with several video and images at the placemarks - a synopsis of my walkabout so far.

Shipping Channel Walkabout - pre-Charrette discovery

View Shipping Channel Walkabout - pre-Charrette discovery in a larger map

References:

¹ Ward 30 Bikes - Tuesday, February 4, 2014 | Queen St., Logan, Port Lands, South of Eastern, Dundas/Carlaw Corridor - a walk-about to discover North-South Cycling Opportunities - Learning through reading, walk-abouts and writing: Bouchette Street, Logan Avenue & Carlaw Avenue --- Commissioners to Dundas | http://ward30bikes.blogspot.ca/2014/02/queen-st-logan-port-lands-south-of.html

² Youtube - Congress4NewUrbanism | CNU 20 - Charrettes and the Next Generation of Public Involvement | http://youtu.be/RNzKI9n-i58

CNU 20 - Charrettes and the Next Generation of Public Involvement


Under the Video:

Published on May 29, 2012

Are the days of the seven-day charrette behind us? Shrinking budgets, social media, tea party obstruction... it's time to take another look at charrettes and public involvement.

Limited project budgets are challenging everyone. The web has also made it possible for the public, as well as consultants, to participate from a distance. This technology can save money, but what are the costs to shared learning and the building of relationships? How can these high-tech tools be leveraged to increase the number and diversity of people that are engaged in planning projects while still maintaining the advantages of face-to-face meetings?

This session will present the latest tools, techniques and the trade-offs of social media and web-based participation tools within the context of the face-to-face public design charrette format.

Hazel Borys, Managing Principal, PlaceMakers
Ben Brown, Consultant, PlaceMakers LLC
Andrés Duany, Principal, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company
Bill Lennertz, Executive Director, National Charrette Institute
Gianni Longo, Principal, ACP Visioning & Planning

Resources:

Port Lands Acceleration Initiative: Home | http://www.portlandsconsultation.ca/

Port Lands Planning Framework: Land Use Direction | http://portlandsconsultation.ca/sites/all/themes/portlands/files/PLPFLand%20UseDirection_Jun5(sm).pdf

National Charrette Institute (NCI) | http://www.charretteinstitute.org/about-nci.html

Top Port Lands Map Image via: Port Lands Acceleration Initiative: Home | Port Lands Planning Framework | http://www.portlandsconsultation.ca/node/17



mh

@CycleToronto @Ward30Bikes Advocacy works - Flagperson on East side Crossing, Leslie/LSB to end of the Leslie reconstruction

Thanks @PaulaFletcher30 - Thanks @TTCLeslieBarns - Thanks Pomerleau construction.



7am to 7pm Monday to Friday until December (living wage and time and-a-half on holidays - and he lives in this neighbourhood).

A hellish job - buy this person a coffee and donuts every morning you commute to work safely with this person's assistance!

I've noticed an incredible increase in cycling on Queen Street this weekend. Just after the closure of Queen at Leslie; and now with World Pride (@WP14TO); and the coming exodus to the northern lakes.

Bike your hood!

We are - by Jennifer Keesmaat's account at Congress4NewUrbanism - Buffalo 2014 (CNU22) - 30,000 daily commuters!

We are a new demographic. We Ride!


Please engage in this.

We are in the midst of a complex, multidimensional cultural revolution in transportation and city building.

Your participation right now will speed the evolution towards good neighbourhoods, sustainable economies, sustainable lifestyles and sustainable identities.

How to make the intersection of Leslie Street and Lake Shore Boulevard a Complete Street - after the Leslie Street reconstruction is finished - remains @Ward30Bikes penultimate concern.

Not just about this Grand Boulevard / Neighborhood intersection - but about these motorways that divide all the neighbourhoods of the The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) that circle the Great Lakes.


Michael Holloway
Captain, Ward 30 Bikes

References:

Congress4NewUrbanism Keynote - Buffalo 2014 (CNU22)


Note how Tregoning accents statistics; and Keesmaat accents buy-in. They compliment each-other.

Listen carefully.



mh

Lake Shore Blvd / Leslie Intersection, east-side #BikeTO/#WalkTO Detour Crossing STILL a Hazard

I scouted the new construction detours at the Lake Shore Boulevard and Leslie Street Intersection on the evening of Wednesday, May 28 (4:30pm - 6:00pm). On the Friday of the previous week the @TTCLeslieBarns Leslie Street reconstruction detours were moved so that now the north-side Cyclist/Pedestrian intersection is closed - and the south side Cyclist/Pedestrian Crossing is open.

The intersection accommodates the convergence of two important east-west commute cycleways - the Martin Goodman Trail and the Lower Don Recreation Trail - which connect Scarborough and the East Side to the Downtown Core and points west.

BEFORE - South-Side-Closure - Leslie/Lake Shore Boulevard Detour Configuration (since December 2013)

AFTER - North-Side-Closure - Leslie/Lake Shore Boulevard Detour Configuration (reconfigured Friday, May 23, 2014)

Since December 2013 - when the northbound lanes of Leslie Street were closed on the south side of the Intersection I've been doing walk-abouts of this part of the site and taking video of the way Motor Vehicles and Cyclist/Pedestrians are interacting at the east-side Cyclist/Pedestrian Crossing point.

When the south side of the intersection was closed the Crossing came out of a 'doorway' in the construction fencing, 22 metres east of the actual intersection where motor vehicles were actually do the act of turning; 22 metres from where Cyclist/Pedestrian were being beckoned out into the Crossing by the blinking Walk pedestrian sign and Green Cyclist's signal - out into speeding traffic turning eastbound on LSB from northbound Leslie Street traffic flow.

This new configuration does many of the same things.

Close-up of the Leslie/Lake Shore Boulevard Detour Configuration - May 23, 2014

Here's a Video I took of the Cyclist/Pedestrian Crossing on Wednesday, May 28th at 5:30pm:

Note the 'interviewee' says in response to my question, Little scarey corner eh?".

He retorts, "Always".

Leslie and Lake Shore Boulevard - cyclist & pedestrian east-side crossing 5:30pm, May 28, 2014



I have noted - and others have been telling me of late, including the guy in the video - that this corner was dangerous even before the construction detours. When Trial Users coming from the south and from the east approach their northbound crossing right-of-way - vehicles turning from northbound Leslie are looking west on LSB, looking for a spot to slip into the fast flow on red. They don't see the Trail Users - and 'Almosts' happen Every Time you try to cross there with the Cyclist/Pedestrian Crossing signals on green. 

A 'Dutch Intersection' type configuration here would be the solution: A bump-out that forces motorists to slow to a crawl to make the corner - and as a result, come face-to-face with Trail Users as the motorist complete their turn and the Trail Users come to their right-of-way cross point.

South-Side Closure Configuration Problems

In the earlier construction configuration I asked Transportation Services to change the signal phasing to give cyclists and pedestrians a head-start - so they would be in the middle (or through) the intersection when motorists finally rounded the corner eastbound - and thus they wouldn't be as much of a surprise to motorists as they would be plainly visible out there.

I also asked Transportation to consider moving the right-turn Stop Line on Leslie, northbound. right-turn-lane onto eastbound LSB - back from the intersection as much as possible. I suggested moving it back to the usual stop line before the construction configuration (in the old configuration this would have been 17m back from where it was). This I conjectured, would have acted as a Cyclist/Pedestrian Crossing head-start signal phasing - without changing the signal phasing.

I also commented to Transportation Staff that the reason a Cyclist/Pedestrian Crossing user hadn't been hit up to that point was the lucky configuration of the corner there - being as sharp as it was around the retaing wall for the hole in the ground, it - just by happen-stance - slowed cars on that right turn just so that they weren't going so fast that they couldn't stop as cyclists and pedestrians 'popped' out of the construction fencing at the south-to-north entrance to the crossing.

My original idea that I asked Transportation to look into - and the best solution then - and now - is to put a Big Wide Yellow Flashing Crosswalk Sign across the wires supporting the traffic signals right above the east-side Cyclist/Pedestrian Crossing.


The only things done about this since December 2013 were done by @TTCLeslieBarns and Pomerleau, the TTC contractor. They made construction infrastructure changes to provide better sight-lines for pedestrians - so they could see that the intersection was extremely dangerous place to try and cross:

• More signs,
• A no right turn sign on read at northbound Leslie,
• Some slight jigging of the construction fencing,
• Cutting down of the construction retaining walls between the intersection and the crossing point. 

This - putting the onus on the vulnerable users with right-of-way - instead of what is the proper remedy, to instal infrastructure that tells motor vehicle users they are approaching a Cyclist/Pedestrian Crossing which has right-of-way in this situation.

North-Side Closure Configuration Problems: The Same - or Worse

Now with the North-side of the intersection closed, several new issues arise which put cyclists and pedestrians in the same peril - or worse peril:

Now the southbound lanes of Leslie are open and a left turn are allowed, so motor vehicles can turn eastbound onto L:SB as well as northbound traffic eastbound onto LSB - thus increasing the number of traffic vectors impacting the east-side Cyclist/Pedestrian Crossing.

Plus, now the previously sharp corner at the northbound Leslie right turn lane onto eastbound LSB, is a softer angled turn - so motorists can take the turn at a higher rate of speed as they swing around the corner and accelerate for 22 metres towards the Cyclist/Pedestrian Crossing.


This construction detour configured Cyclist/Pedestrian Crossing is essentially a mid-block crosswalk (on a fast Boulevard) ... Let's sign it that way please.


Michael Holloway
Ward 30 Bikes


Credits - Links

All images are screen-shot edits from the Construction Liaison Groups Meeting #9 Presentation PDF - from Meeting #9, held Thursday, May 1, 2014 at South Riverdale Community Health Centre, 955 Queen Street East.

TTC Leslie Barns - Construction Liaison Group page: http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Projects/Leslie_Barns/Construction_Liaison_Groups.jsp

Leslie Barns  & Connection Track - Construction Liaison Group Meeting #9 - May 1, 2014 | http://www.ttc.ca/PDF/Transit_expansion_PDFs/CLG_Meeting-9_May_1_2014.pdf



mh

Reconfiguration of the Martin Goodman Trail at Unwin & Leslie

Attended the walk-about of the site on the evening of May 21, 2014 - with TRCA, Planning, Transportation, Parks ... ? Many of the Tommy Thompson Park User Group were there; as well as Trail Users who responded to Ward 30 Bikes community outreach. The site visit was lead by Park Manager Karen McDonald.

Three Possible Routes - Martin Goodman Trail Reconfiguration Map TRCA - May 21, 2014

The consensus was to move it just to the right a bit into the swap. Will result is lost trees, lost swamp habitat areas of the wetland ... and Much expense.

Plus - construction staging on Unwin during the construction will restrict traffic to some extent.

The existing road bed, just under a thin sod layer about 100 meters south of Unwin, travels from beside the new Tommy Thompson parking lot, almost in a straight line over to the existing Unwin road alignment at the cooling channel bridge.

Issues with this no-brainer route though - are numerous:

1) Off-leah dogs (illegal) would endanger thew habitat and species living there. They would be free to disrupt and kill wildlife in a large area of the Baselands (which covers ~35 hectares) ... so a fence along the south side of the Trail would have to be installed (on the north side open water would theoretically create a natural boundary that would protect nesting species there from dogs).

2) In nature conservancy the idea of 'mass' is important - large areas support species and a larger network of species better than small ones. The Trail would create a barrier between habitats essentially creating one big zone, and one tiny one. Naturalists repeatedly referred to it as "losing" the habitat area between the existing fence and a set-back Trail.

3) Politically - Some participants laid out the argument that development of the Port Lands might make Park lands more vulnerable to future development along the area - that the Park land might be more liable to be enveloped by development interests if the Trail was placed back 100 metres from Unwin. The argument goes that the trail would become the *perceived* boundary line of the Park - rather than the fence - which is the Actual property line between with the Toronto Port Lands Company lands (who actually own Unwin Avenue along this section) and the City of Toronto Park.

For Trail Users, the route along the edge of the Unwin roadway would be sided on one side by a road with cars and trucks on it - noise and toxic exhaust emissions would ruin the idea of a ride in the Wilderness. Conversely along this route, the Trail would have along it's south side, an intimate proximity to the wetlands - at times swamp water (with bulrushes and Water Lilies for example) would actually touch the edges of the Trail's foundations.

Along the old road bed 100 metres south, the Trail would be in the midst of a wetland habitat, far from the noise of the road and out of visual range of it as well. It would feel like one was on a trail through a wild place - a Wilderness.

There is something to be said for the design juxtaposition that the Unwin route provides - the wild environs proximate to the technology that is a roadway..

The sequestered route through the middle of the wetland it was also noted, could have issues with misuse by individuals after hours.

Hard to call.

What do you think?

Public Consultation on this will continue for the Parks summer season (to November). New media is being produced by TRCA showing the proposed routes and possible impact points on habitat.

Ward 30 Bikes will keep on this and post those new media here when they become available.

mh

Queen / Leslie Closure could be "#Leslieville Open Streets Weekends" Opportunity

The Queen/Leslie closure detours cars and buses Jones to Greenwood; and Street Cars from Broadview to Coxwell.

The Queen/Leslie closure May  through June, offers an opportunity here in Leslieville to try a Pedestrian Mall on our neighbourhood's Main Street.

Map showing area of  possible "Leslieville Open Streets" Weekends during the Queen St closure

Open Streets Leslieville

Ward 30 Bikes notes that Queen Street from Jones to Greenwood could be seen as a Pedestrian Mall for May and June. Like the "Open Streets" idea that the City is trying this year on Bloor Street from High Park to Sherbourne¹ - this is an opportunity to create a vibrant pedestrian centred street for a couple of months.

We note that businesses are likely trying to get as much car traffic into the dead ends on both sides of the blockage - they need the access for deliveries, and for many, not just businesses, off-peak on-street parking.

The Leslieville BIA is planning a Festival in the closure area one weekend in June. Let's expand that good idea.

Every weekend in May and June we could completely block Queen Street - at Jones and at Greenwood - and allow only pedestrian traffic into the area. Businesses could push their business concepts out their front doors and onto the sidewalks in some fashion. People would use the street to walk on - just like the Taste of the Danforth weekend; except this would happen Every Weekend for the duration of the construction closure!

This Open Streets - Taste of Leslieville idea could actually increase business!

Shops all along Queen Street East - and especially from Broadview to Coxwell - are going to experience reduced traffic flows past their font doors during the closure. The Greenwood - Jones area has the advantage that the road is also actually closed. We can take advantage of that and do a Yonge Street style Pedestrian Mall thing for 6 weekends in a row starting this coming weekend!

This is not a half-baked idea out of nowhere from us here at Ward 30 bBikes. This idea is central to our thinking around an idea called "Liveable Cities". Liveable Cities include "Complete Streets" - streets that have narrower traffic lanes, wider sidewalks - and bike lanes. Room on our roadways for more kinds of activities - not just commuter car traffic passing through. An Open Street Weekend is a way to help people vision what a Complete Street could do for a neighbourhood. What a Liveable City might 'feel' like.

The massive highway-like traffic flows on Queen everyday, all through the day (almost) - make Queen the kind of street people like to stay away from if they can help it, during the peak hours. It's only at night when traffic volumes subside that everyone comes out for a casual walk after dinner - or whatever it is they like to do on our neighbourhood's Main Street.

Now we have an opportunity to experience this All Day - Saturday and Sunday - for 6 weekends on a row! If it works, we might even want to expand the idea to Friday's as well!

It is quite likely that this concept just might result in an increase in business on Queen! Locals will come out to support it at first; and then as the news spreads, folks from other neighbourhoods would grab the Bus or Walk or Bike over to Jones - or west to Greenwood - and arrive there just to experience the thing.

Leslieville Open Streets Weekends!

Let's turns this road closure thing on it's head. This is a great opportunity to try something that we couldn't try at any other time - ever.

This is a unique opportunity.

The noisy part of the hole they're making at Queen and Leslie is already almost over. Next comes the task of laying the concrete bed; and then the complex 3/4 Grand track placement - and then more concrete pouring. The street should be relatively quiet these next two months - Especially on weekends!

Come on - let's just do this thing. Leslieville Open Streets Weekends!


¹ Toronto Star - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 | Open Streets: pedestrian Sunday on Bloor off to a plodding start | http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2014/04/16/open_streets_pedestrian_sunday_on_bloor_off_to_a_plodding_start.html

Open Streets TO (Original plan: High Park to Withrow Park - scaled back by Council's Economic Development Committee last month) | http://www.openstreetsto.org/

8-80 Cities (one of the sponsors of @OpenStreetsTO) | http://www.8-80cities.org/

Open Streets TO




mh

@TTCLeslieBarns Queen St Closure May 11 to June 21, 2014 - Cyclist & Pedestrian Detours

Queen Street East is closed at Leslie Street until late June 2014.

The Walking Detours

The sidewalks are open on both the north side of Queen and the south side. The south side sidewalk detours south to Memory Lane and then back up to Queen. The north side sidewalk detours north to the lane just behind the Nose Bar - about 1/3 the distance out of your way compared to the south sidewalk route. So your better through-route if your walk is straight through the intersection, east-west, is the north side, sidewalk.

Cyclists have to walk their bikes along the sidewalk with pedestrians. If your not willing to do that - Jones Bike Lanes, Dundas Bike Lanes, and Greenwood Bike Lanes comprise the cycling detour (right).

Here's the Pedestrian Detour Map, a picture I took at Curzon and Queen - north side, May13, 2014.

The Mass Transit Detours

For Bus and Street Car, here's the @TTCLeslieBarns Detour Route map from "Construction Notice May 7, 2014 – Queen and Leslie Intersection Closed" (https://www.ttc.ca/PDF/Transit_expansion_PDFs/LeslieBarns_Notice28_Queen-Leslie-closure_May2014.pdf).

TTCLeslieBarns Map Queen and Leslie Intersection Closure Bus and Streetcar Service May 11 - June 21 2014

TTC Leslie Barns (blog) | https://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Projects/Leslie_Barns/news.jsp



mh

"What she said" - City of Toronto Cheif Planner Jennifer Keesmaat's 'Liveable Cities' narrative

I've been passionate about cycling all my life. I've never had a drivers license, and I've biked everywhere I needed to go; even when I lived in the country as a kid - 10km from my high school.

I've written about and mapped about better cycling routes for years over at Biking Toronto¹ But l came into the political process to see if I could help get some cycling infrastructure on the street. Last spring I joined Cycle Toronto and helped a group of us from the old 'SoDa Bikes' Cycle Toronto group 'reboot' the group as @Ward30Bikes - and took on the responsibilities of 'Captain'.

From the very start of this conversation (that's what I've discovered politics is, a massive conversation) I realized I had to refine my vision in order to convince others mine was the way to go. I've never been a 'realpolitik' guy - just shouting the loudest to get mine for me; rather, I had a real good idea of what I didn't like about what our city was - but I had a much harder time enunciating a vision of what I thought Cities could be.

All my writing and reading and research on cycling issues over the last few years has lead me to a school of thought in Urban Planning. The concept is not new² - but it's not an easy one to express in a few words - it's a complex weave of  understandings in building, transportation, culture, work, policy, play and so on. For the last year I've been studying that school of planning that seems to 'get it' - "The New Urbanism".

This piece reprinted in full below, is by the Cities' Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat - published in the Toronto Star on Sunday April 27 2014 - it nails the vision I've been struggling to express. It pertains to everything from Great bike parking in new developments, to wider sidewalks on an East Danforth with bike lanes and connecting neighbourhoods to the water front ... .

"What she said":

By densifying Eglinton, we can fight congestion

The LRT on Eglinton Ave. should be treated not as a transit infrastructure project but as a critical city-building initiative.

A rendering of how Eglinton Ave. will look after the light-rail, which is currently under construction, is finished.
Image: "future_eglinton" visualization - Courtesy of the City of Toronto, via Toronto Star 2014-04-27
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/04/27/by_densifying_eglinton_we_can_fight_congestion.html

By: Jennifer Keesmaat Published on Sun Apr 27 2014

It’s a well-known fact that it’s not possible to relieve traffic congestion by building more roads in a rapidly densifying city. Research has shown that when we add capacity to our road network, within a very short period of time additional commuters are induced to drive, leading to impassable congestion.

Two University of Toronto professors, Gilles Duranton and Matthew Turner, quantified this phenomena through historical data, showing that road construction goes hand-in-hand with an increase in traffic thanks to the “fundamental law of road congestion.”

We also know that great cities of the world have been able to continue to grow exponentially by planning for movement by adding options or increasing choice. While cycling is just beginning to ramp up in North American cities as part of this recognition of the need to provide more choice and embrace sustainability, the long-time hallmark of a city with choice has been excellent — exceptional, even (think New York City, Paris) — public transit.

But one choice that has the potential to reduce our greenhouse gases while also making our cities safer, quieter and cleaner, critically, is the option to live closer to where we work, and within walking distance or a short transit/cycle ride of the amenities needed for everyday life. Imagine the change in your daily routine if, instead of getting in your car every morning, you tied on your shoes and walked to work.

While it is inevitable that many of us need to travel on a regional scale from time to time, such as to take a vacation, see a specialist or visit families and friends, commuting every day on a regional scale to and from work will always be resource and time intensive — even with high-speed, high frequency transit. If we truly want to reduce congestion, and if we truly care about becoming a more sustainable city, increasing housing choice and affordable housing near the places where people work should be at the top of our city-building agenda.

So when we think about the 19 kilometres of light-rail transit currently under construction on Eglinton Ave., running through the heart of our city, we will miss the mark once again if we treat this investment — and opportunity — as simply a transit infrastructure project, as opposed to a critical city-building initiative.

Densifying Eglinton through midrise development that provides more opportunities for people to live in the heart of the city with high frequency transit access, and as part of walkable neighbourhoods, is about providing housing choice. And more housing choice along key transit corridors is essential to unlocking the congestion puzzle.

But, skeptics may wonder — thinking of the noisy, traffic nightmare that Eglinton is today — is this a real choice? A livable choice? A choice for families? Our avenues will only become desirable, linear neighbourhoods if we reconceive them as complete streets where people move in a variety of ways, including as pedestrians on widened sidewalks lined with shops, medical services, daycares and schools, and separated cycle tracks, as they densify.

We know that the fastest growing demographic in our city — echo boomers, between the ages of 18-34 — are actively trading off a larger house and a long commute for a more urban lifestyle. On the other end of the spectrum, we also know that seniors are downsizing, and in many instances looking for housing choices near the neighbourhoods where they already live. Our avenues, if we get them right, could be home to both of these growing demographics.

Building transit on our existing corridors and leaving them primarily for cars would neglect the opportunity to create these new neighbourhoods, which is as critical to addressing congestion as the transit investment itself. And transit users are pedestrians, so a quality, safe public realm is essential to well-designed LRT.

We must transform our main transit avenues into the future city, the city we desire, the place that we are seeking to become. This future city is comprised of great places to live with a high quality of life where it is possible to walk, shop, cycle to school and take transit to work. It does take some imagining, and some belief, but it will also take tenacity because we have a long way to go.

Jennifer Keesmaat is the Chief Planner & Executive Director of the City Planning Division, City of Toronto.

-----

Reprinted in full - (because she would have wanted it that way).

Read the article at the Toronto Star with all the links and related articles: 

Toronto Star - Sunday April 27th 2014 | "By densifying Eglinton, we can fight congestion" - by: Jennifer Keesmaat | http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/04/27/by_densifying_eglinton_we_can_fight_congestion.html


Notations:

¹ Toronto/GTA Bicycle Route Mapping Wiki | Cyclists Sharing Routes around Toronto - http://bikingtoronto.com/bicycleroutemappingwiki/

² Wikipedia | New Urbanism - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Urbanism



mh

TTC Leslie Barns Leslie Street Reconstruction - Cyclist & Pedestrian Detour Issues: April 22, 2014 Walk-about

Earlier this week Councillor Paula Fletcher made a request to the community to send it their issues and concerns about the Leslie Street reconstruction.

I sent Councillor Fletcher a synopsis of one of Ward 30 Bikes' outstanding issues: incomplete pedestrian detours through the site - noteably on the East side of Leslie South of Eastern.

Here's a quick map I sent to Councillor Fletcher which notes all the issues (made from the LelsieBarns April Detours Map:

W30B - Pedestrian Deficiencies on the East side of the Leslie Street Reconstruction site --- April 2014 Map I

Here's an UPDATED Ward 30 Bikes Map showing the new configuration - to my knowledge - as of my walk yesterday.

W30B - Pedestrian Deficiencies on the East side of the Leslie Street Reconstruction site --- April 22, 2014 Map II

For the original TTC Leslie Barns map image at the original post, see their blog "April 9, 2014 – Construction Update" at: https://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Projects/Leslie_Barns/news.jsp (scroll down until you find the entry).

Sidewalk is now Closed

The Sidewalk on the east side of Leslie South of Eastern Avenue is now closed.

Pedestrians are using the Loblaws driveway right from Eastern all the way down to the Plaza Intersection - and through the parking lot and the Burger King Drive-Thu lanes down to the Multi-use Trail on the North side of Lake Shore Boulevard (Lower Don Recreation Trail - LDRT).

Sidewalk closed on the east side of Leslie South of Eastern Avenue Pedestrians using the Loblaws driveway April 22 2014 4-30pm

At the Traffic Island jut to the South of the Plaza Intersection I watched and snapp pics for about 10 minutes. Here are Images taken from about 4:35pm to 4:45pm - in order; none edited out:

         Image 1                  Image 2                  Image 3

         Image 4                  Image 5                  Image 6

         Image 7                  Image 8                  Image 9

        Image 10                 Image 11                 Image 12

        Image 13                 Image 14                 Image 15

        Image 16                 Image 17                 Image 18

(Are those guys speaking French there in the last two photographs - walking through the middle of the Plaza Intersection dressed in executive suits - from Pomerleau?! :)


There must be a way to create a sidewalk here somewhere. Some paint on the parking lot - something.

The same holds true for the parking lot and Burger King Drive-Tru driveway to the south of here; from the Plaza Intersection south to the Multi-use Trail.

Kudos - The Process Works!

Some Kudos for the process are in order:

Wide detour for the Multi-use Trail north side of the intersection, Lake Shore Blvd and Leslie St

Pedestrian Crosswalk East side Leslie at Lake Shore Boulevard

Still looking at the pedestrian crossing - East side of Leslie north-south across Lake Shore Boulevard. The crosswalk lines have just been painted. Makes the crosswalk more visible for turning eastbound traffic coming northbound on Leslie. Hoping for a big yellow crosswalk sign for the summer.

Measured the Stop Line northbound Leslie the construction configuration Stop Line is 13 metres north of the usual non-construction configuration Stop Line. Moving it back gives the crosswalk pedestrians and cyclists more time to get out in the intersection before eastbound turning car traffic starts to turn the corner. Worth a look by Transportation I think.

I made a map image of that idea (sent into Leslie Barns Community Office last week).

TTC_Leslie-Barns Ward-30-Bikes suggestion 2014-04-14 - move northbound Leslie right turn stop-line back to preconstruction position

That's all for this week.



mh

@Ward30Bikes 'Pre-Walk' of the @TTCLeslieBarns Public Liaison Committee's - March "Safety Walk"

The Leslie Street reconstruction configuration has changed.

Ped&Cyclist walk of Leslie planned for Wednesday (6:30pm at Community office)#biketo @Ward30Bikes @Ward32Spokes pic.twitter.com/aDH8gY0yOi
— Leslie Barns (@TTCLeslieBarns) March 11, 2014

The @TTCLeslieBarns Public Liason Committee is walking the new traffic re-routing as concerns cyclist and pedestrian detours from Queen Street down to Commissioners Avenue tomorrow night (2014-03-19).

To see it in day light - and to linger to see how drivers and pedestrians and cyclists are actually negotiating the new configuration - I walk the site in the day - as I have done four other times earlier in this project.

A Cyclist and Pedestrian 'shooting gallery' on Lake Shore Boulevard

As I noted in video here before (http://ward30bikes.blogspot.ca/2014/02/ttc-leslie-barns-street-reconstruction_14.html) - and at the last meeting of the Public Liaison Committee at South Riverdale Community Health Centre - the East side Multi-use crossing across Lake Shore Blvd is extremely dangerous - especially for northbound cyclists and pedestrians. As I explained before - when the construction moved to the South side of Lake Shore Blvd. on the East side of Leslie Street (from Lake Shore down to Commissioners) - it shifted the northbound Leslie right-turn lane 22 metres to the west from the Cyclist/Pedestrian crossing. No signs were added by City of Toronto Transportation to the roadway, even though the crossing is sitting out in no-man's land. As far as it is from the actual intersection - it is now like an unsigned, mid-block crosswalk on an arterial roadway - except this one is 5 lanes wide and much faster.

Here's a couple of images I took just as I arrived at the corner today at about 5pm.

A cyclists is waiting at the northbound crossing detour from the Martin Goodman Trail to the Lower Don Recreation Trail. I snapped his picture - and then exactly what I've been talking about - happened. By the time I looked up from putting my camera back to capture mode - the first car onto eastbound Lake Shore from northbound Leslie had already driven right through the cyclist's attempt to use the crossing - as I raised my camera to click a shot, the second driver in line turning onto Lake Shore from Leslie had stopped in the crosswalk blocking the egress of the cyclist. The cyclist had to get off his pedals and re-orient his bike so he could get around the nose of the car, that was completely blocking the bicycle/pedestrian crossing. The driver was obviously surprised to see the cyclist there, and had stopped as soon as possible.

Looking south east from the Wendy's Corner at Leslie and Lake Shore - a cyclist waiting northbound, east side of Leslie at Lake Shore Blvd.

Cyclist lifting his bike to negotiate around the nose of a car stopped on the cyclist/pedestrian crossing - east side of Leslie at Lake Shore Blvd. - on the detour of the Martin Goodman Trail that connects it to the Lower Don Recreation Trail (2014-03-18 5:00pm edt)

A few minutes later I walked across the crossing southbound - and meet there at the doorway in the fencing, a woman who was walking her dog - we got talking about how dangerous it felt - and how dangerous it Was. "You really have to be careful here!" she said.

So the crossing sign turns white-walking-man and we begin out into the hail of speed - I'm pointing like we used to do at those arterial crosswalks with the overhead big, yellow and black flashing crosswalk signs - we're walking slowly, on our toes - tentatively out there - to see if they see us.

I'm pointing, she's pointing - the dog is a Rottweiler/Doberman cross - but he's pointing too!

The first car doesn't stop; doesn't even slow - he really didn't see us. The next one does - finally - after slowing and then suddenly realizing it's a Crosswalk, stops short.

Wow!

I saw this kind of thing 3 times in 1/2 an hour here - watch the video (I narrate 4 times but the guy in the yellow jacket has no conflict as no one was turning on that signal cycle at the moment he crossed) - the guy with the two dogs had to stop; the woman and I had to stop; and the original above - the cyclist in the pictures - had to stop.

At the last Construction Liaison Committee meeting Martin Maguire from Transportation  indicated - it seemed to me - that Transportation would look into giving the crosswalk a 6 second head start ahead of the green light northbound Leslie --- and Pomerleau said they'd see about taking down all the stuff in the way of pedestrians line of sight looking westbound as you proceed North out of the construction fencing, 'doorway'.

Someone said they should do one at a time. I retorted that I thought we should do both at once.

As per my request, the 6 second head start for cyclists doesn't seem to have even made it into Transportation's 'Action Items' list (only note about Leslie/LS: Nov 2013 signal length change - page 2/4 - http://www.ttc.ca/PDF/Transit_expansion_PDFs/LeslieBarns_City_Transportation_Update_Mar6_2014.pdf).

 :/

For their part, Pomerleau have taken down the blue tarp around the North end of the Leslie, South of Lake Shore Construction zone - and moved back the fencing to try and improve Westerly sight-lines - so much so, that even a section of broken road is visible outside the fencing now ... BUT - you still can't see cars coming, there is too much lineal fence mass in the way ...

And, as the stories I related above show quite well I think,

PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS NEED A HEAD START!


I'm afraid - as the volume of Trail users grows with the weather turning warmer and warmer; and the evening light significantly longer all of a sudden - that the probability that someone is going to get hit at this spot is arcing up to 1:1 really fast. Cyclist volumes on the Trail have doubled since January. I saw three walkers off the Trail in the 20 minutes that I was there today. Zero in January when I was there for 3/4's of an hour.

Weather today - 2014-03-18 - at 17:00 edt: 0°C, Wind 28km/h - Wind Chill: -7°C
http://weather.gc.ca/trends_table/pages/ytz_metric_e.html
(a dynamic page - for this data in the future see 'historical weather')

I took a couple of videos of the pedestrian/cyclist 'shooting gallery'.

I began to shoot this video in the same traffic signal cycle as in the 2 photographs above (of the cyclist in conflict on the crossing) - you can see the pink cement truck from the images pull off the light at about 30 seconds in):

Northeast corner of Leslie/Lake Shore Looking South - 2014/03/18 17:00 edt


Northwest corner of Leslie/Lake Shore looking Southeast - 2014/03/18 17:10 edt

__________________

Some less bad news for pedestrians; the East-side sidewalk from Eastern Avenue southbound, is still a sidewalk to nowhere. Cyclists and Pedestrians (by the tracks in the mud) are using the one-way southbound driveway in order to walk South.

East side of Leslie, South of Eastern - a sidewalk to nowhere

Good News!

The Plaza Entrances Intersection now has a separated pedestrian crossing!

Plaza Intersection separated pedestrian crossing - looking West from the Loblaws Parking Lot...

.. unfortunately, it's not all that intuitively placed - or something.

I watched people use this intersection for about 1/2 an hour. Coming from the North down the West-side sidewalk; or across the North edge of the FreshCo Parking Lot - the crossing does appear to work. The entrance way into it, and it's position in the landscape is understood by those approaching it.

But from the East, from the main island at the Loblaws Grand Entrance for example - or from the parking lot to the Southeast, or south up from Burger King, or a hike on the Lower Don Recreation Trail - all you see is a jumble of road cones. Your mind doesn't see a Pedestrian Crossing.

I think the smaller, thin cones would work better along the line separating traffic and people. That might better high-light that it is a Pedestrian Way.

Perfect capture of what I saw. Every time someone approached from the East they didn't see the crosswalk. A man walking westbound in the car lanes, doesn't see the pedestrian crossing. A woman and two kids coming from the East, they find their way intuitively.

Next I walked across the pedestrian-way and took up a viewing station on the West side. Immediately I saw people walking across on the South side of the Plaza Intersection.

As I watched for about 5 minutes, and after a number of people did the exact same thing - I realized that all those coming from the South along the West-side sidewalk - and those coming across the parking lot from the Southwest - were walking into the intersection from the Southwest corner and across the South side of the intersection.

I think I figured out why; this series of five images describes it nicely:

1. Pedestrian Route inadvertently leads pedestrians into danger. West-side sidewalk, woman walking northbound towards the Plaza Intersection

Image 1

2. The same woman walking towards the intersection a couple of seconds later... .

Image 2

3. You can just see her behind the sign stepping into the Plaza Intersection from the South-West corner curb area (where the crosswalk normally is when Leslie Street is open).

Image 3

4. Now you can see she's walking diagonally across the intersection towards the North-East curb and the sidewalks that lead to the Grand Entrance into Loblaws (or the one-way southbound driveway that doubles as a sidewalk on the West side of the store).

Image 4

Here's why. 

I followed up to the spot where she stepped into the intersection and took a picture of the panorama. I marked up this image. The curb cut, the non-slip grooves - and the vista in front - all say, 'Walk This Way!!!'

Image 5

I didn't mark it on 'Image 5' - but where the purple line meets the sand bags on the right, you can see that the fence just happens to be on the same line. It helps inadvertantly, to indicate that this is where one is supposed to walk!

Perhaps Pomerleau can square it up a bit; that will also slow cars down around the turn there - which is a good thing.

But I think the ultimate solution is to run the cones along the edge of the West-side sidewalk, all the way to the point where cars and trucks out of the FreshCo Plaza make their turn southbound.

The cones should be connected with yellow tape (like the crosswalk); and a sign added: "Pedestrians use North-side Pedestrian Crossing" ... with a map of the intersection perhaps, and a big "Cross Here!" pointer arrow.

That's it for the Pedestrian gauntlet at the Plaza Entrances.


Here's some concrete cut-offs that were left in a snowbank by accident one snowy day. Now as the snow recedes, they're a trip hazard. Northwest corner of Leslie and Lake Shore.

Watch your step, Northwest corner, LS & Leslie

That is all.

Walking it with the Committee again tonight (Wednesday, March 19th 2014).



mh