Road Safety

Last term, I spearheaded Toronto’s first-ever comprehensive Road Safety Plan as former Chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee. The plan takes a data-based, strategic approach and includes more than 50 countermeasures across multiple emphasis areas – pedestrians, school safety zones, senior safety zones, cyclists, aggressive driving and distraction.

Some of our top priorities are school children and school neighbourhoods, and I’ve been working to accelerate the roll-out of School Safety Zones across the ward. School Safety Zones feature lower speed limits, improved street lighting, leading pedestrian intervals, mid-block crossings, increased enforcement, improved pavement makings, flashing signage, and “Watch Your Speed” driver feedback signs.

This school year, the City is transitioning responsibility for the school crossing guard program from Toronto Police Services (TPS) to the Transportation Services division. Unfortunately, some of our school communities went without regular crossing guard coverage this year due to the number of newly warranted crosswalks and the unexpected volume of guards that retired. With the support of Ward 15 school parents, I moved a motion at City Council requesting that the General Manager, Transportation Services address the issue immediately. My motion resulted in the City hiring two additional contractors to backfill unstaffed crossing guard locations for the remainder of the 2018-2019 school year.

As part of Vision Zero, Ward 15 now has access to 8 of its very own mobile Watch Your Speed driver feedback signs. These signs contain a radar device with an LED display that shows the operating speeds of passing motorists, reminding them to obey the posted speed limit. These signs are installed on a temporary basis at the request of local residents, and have been shown to reduce driver speeds by up to 34%. To request a Watch Your Speed Sign on your street, please call or email my office.