Item - 2019.NY9.12

North York Community Council:

1. Directed Transportation Services to work with the Leaside community to evaluate their traffic concerns and develop a Traffic Management Plan.

2. Reduced the speed limit to 30 km/h on the streets or segments of streets identified in Attachment 1 to the memo (September 24, 2019) from Councillor Jaye Robinson.

The Leaside neighbourhood refers to the area bounded as follows: in the north, by Glenvale Boulevard/Killdeer Crescent/Rykert Crescent, between Bayview Avenue and Eglinton Avenue East. In the east, by Eglinton Avenue East, between the West Don River and Laird Drive and by Laird Drive, between Eglinton Avenue East and the CPR line. In the south, by the CPR line, between Laird Drive and Bayview Avenue and by Bayview Avenue, between the CPR line and Bayview Heights Drive. In the west, by Bayview Avenue, between Bayview Heights Drive and Glenvale Boulevard.

This neighbourhood is primarily comprised of local and collector roads, and several of its boundaries are major arterial roads. The land use is mainly residential, with several parks and more than five schools.

Partially due to the growing popularity of GPS Navigation Applications like Waze, this neighbourhood has experienced a significant increase in cut-through traffic, with drivers often operating at very high speeds.

The neighbourhood's primary concerns are cut-through traffic, speed, volume, infiltration, lack of compliance with posted signage, and congestion. I have consulted with the Leaside Property Owners' Association who have asked me to move forward with a Traffic Management Plan that will allow Transportation staff to identify long-term, comprehensive solutions to these issues in consultation with the community.

Within the Traffic Management Plan, staff should consider both traffic control and traffic calming measures including all-way stop locations, turn restrictions, speed humps, and other options that will address vehicle speed, volume, congestion, and traffic infiltration issues.

To consult the community, staff should attend public meetings coordinated through the Councillor's office and local residents' association.

When a Traffic Management Plan has been agreed upon, the findings will be reported to North York Community Council for approval.

At the time of writing, more than 1,500 Leaside residents have also signed a petition calling for a speed limit reduction throughout their neighbourhood. As you know, speed limit reductions are one of our most effective tools to improve road safety. All of our data suggests that excessive speeds are a leading contributing factor in serious injuries and fatalities on our roads.

A collision at 60 km/h has a 95% likelihood of death compared to one at 40 km/h with a 30% likelihood of death. At 30 km/h, that likelihood is all but eliminated.

In August 2014, former Councillor Parker moved a motion (NY34.103) directing Transportation staff to report back on the feasibility of implementing a 30km/h speed limit throughout Leaside. Staff have confirmed that no follow up report was ever issued.

There is TTC service on several streets in the neighbourhood.