Author: Walk Toronto

Are you outraged by the number of pedestrian deaths and injuries in Toronto? Are you fed up with City Council’s lack of strong action to create safer streets for people on foot?

It’s time for pedestrians to make their presence felt at City Hall. Join Walk Toronto, Friends and Families for Safe Streets, and other allies in a Die-In for Safe Streets in Nathan Phillips Square on Monday, March 26, starting at 5:45 pm. Help us get significant numbers of people lying down in front of City Hall so that our politicians sit up and take notice of the toll that road violence is taking in our city.

We will gather at the Peace Garden, on the west side of Nathan Phillips Square (behind the bandstand).

5:45 pm – Gather at the Peace Garden
6:00 pm – Die-in: In solidarity for the victims of traffic violence
6:30 pm – Social at the Duke of York (Queen and Bay)

There is no need to RSVP, but you can do so and find out more information on the public Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/196155814449036/

We hope to see you there,

Walk Toronto

Walk Toronto is proud to be a co-signatory of this open letter from North York residents and sustainable transportation advocacy groups supporting the “Transform Yonge” plan to widen sidewalks and add bike lanes on Yonge St. in downtown North York.
Open Letter in support of Transform Yonge (PDF)

Walk Toronto has submitted a written comment to the Toronto District School Board’s Programs and School Services Committee in support of Trustee Pamela Gough’s motion “Supporting Student Active Transportation During Winter” at the January 17, 2018 committee meeting.

• Read Walk Toronto’s submission (PDF)
• Read Pamela Gough’s motion

City council voted on a proposal to increase the speed limit on part of Bayview Ave. from 50 km/hr to 60 km/hr – reversing a speed limit reduction that was part of Toronto’s Road Safety Plan – on December 8, 2017. However, increased speed limit signs were posted on Bayview before the measure was approved by council, as noted in several photographs taken by witnesses.

Walk Toronto has written to Barbara Gray, General Manager, Transportation Services for the City of Toronto to seek an explanation as to why these signs were posted before the change was approved by council, contrary to proper democratic procedure..

Walk Toronto also asks what measures Transportation Services is taking to address the amendment directing Transportation Services to implement pedestrian safety measures on Bayview Ave.

• Read Walk Toronto’s letter to Barbara Grey (PDF)
• Read Walk Toronto’s communication to City Council asking it to reject the speed limit increase on Bayview (PDF)
• Read the reply Walk Toronto received from Transportation Services (PDF)
• Read Walk Toronto’s reply to the response from Transportation Services (PDF)

The City is tearing up all of the streets in the Lawrence Park neighbourhood to fix the water system. But when it rebuilds the streets, it’s not planning to add sidewalks to more than a small minority of the streets, contrary to the City’s own policies. Local residents have been fighting for more sidewalks to improve pedestrian safety, and Walk Toronto’s Michael Black prepared a comprehensive report on why they are needed. The report was presented to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee when it considered the plan.

Read Michael Black’s full report (PDF)

Read the PWIC agenda item

Walk Toronto’s Maureen Coyle made a presentation to the Ontario Legislature’s Standing Committee on General Government about Bill 65, the Safer School Zones Act.

“We’re encouraged that the Legislature is considering a bill to help create safer streets by holding unsafe drivers accountable and by enacting specific steps to protect schoolchildren and elders. The proposals in Bill 65 are innovations that we know, from available data, have a positive impact on road safety in North America and elsewhere”

Read the presentation

Ahead of the February 2016 City Council meeting, councillor David Shiner moved in Executive Committee to defer funding included in the City budget for the Re-Imagining Yonge project. This move also jeopardized $2 million in matching funding from the Federal Government.

The Re-Imagining Yonge project would transform Yonge St. in North York into a beautiful pedestrian-friendly boulevard, with wide sidewalks, trees, a median, fewer lanes of traffic, and bike lanes.

Walk Toronto submitted a communication to City Council calling on it to restore funding for this project.

• Read Walk Toronto’s communication about Re-Imagining Yonge (PDF)

Postscript: City Council voted 24-20 against restoring the funding. Mayor Tory was among those voting against.

Ontario’s Minister of Transportation recently announced plans to allow safety cameras to enforce speed limits in school and safety zones. But speed is an issue for pedestrian safety on all city streets, so Walk Toronto has sent a letter to the Minister urging him to expand the legislation to allow safety cameras on all city streets.

Read the letter (PDF)

Walk Toronto has been working for several years to improve sidewalk snow clearing in Toronto. One of our initiatives was to approach Toronto Public Health about doing a study that brings together the evidence about the impact of slips and falls during the winter.

At the October 14, 2016 Board of Health meeting, Toronto Public Health presented their report “Preventing Injuries from Wintertime Slips and Falls in Toronto,” which was adopted by the Board. The report gathers together statistical evidence from Toronto and studies from other cities to show the serious negative impacts of wintertime slips and falls, both in terms of the health of individuals and the cost to public finances. The report also makes several useful recommendations about how the City of Toronto can improve sidewalk snow clearing and thus reduce the number of wintertime slips and falls.

• Read the report, “Preventing Injuries from Wintertime Slips and Falls in Toronto” (PDF)

Walk Toronto’s Dylan Reid gave a deputation in person at the Board of Health meeting, supporting the adoption of the report and encouraging the City to implement its recommendations.

• Read the Walk Toronto deputation (PDF)

Walk Toronto has written a letter to John Livey, Deputy City Manager, Cluster B at the City of Toronto, about the upcoming hiring of a new General Manager, Transportation Services for the municipal government.

Walk Toronto emphasized the importance of this decision for Toronto’s pedestrians. The letter says, in part:

Walk Toronto feels that it is essential for Toronto to choose someone who is fully in tune with the new reality of North American cities – where walking (along with cycling and transit) is no longer an afterthought but rather a primary focus of transportation policy. Toronto needs someone who has a vision for a sustainable city where walking is fully accessible, safe, and appealing, and who is able and willing to begin a transformation of the City of Toronto’s transportation policy to meet this new reality.

Read the full text of the letter (PDF)