Mayor Tory and Councillor Pasternak (Ward 6) have unveiled Council’s elaborate Queen Street Towing Pilot. It begins Monday and will see vehicles towed off of Queen St. all the way from the Beaches to Roncesvalles for six to eight weeks during afternoon rush hour. Here is the release:
The pilot location is Queen Street between Fallingbrook Road (to the east) and Roncesvalles Avenue (to the west). Tow trucks will relocate vehicles that are illegally parked along Queen Street to designated side streets (Cameron Street, Ryerson Avenue, Michael Sweet Avenue and Stephanie Street) or move them to other no parking/open locations.
Police pounds are located outside of the downtown area, requiring up to 90 minutes for a tow truck to move one illegally parked vehicle and then return for others. It’s expected that this pilot will result in shorter tow truck response times and contribute to fewer delays along Queen Street.
Drivers of vehicles that are relocated/towed from Queen Street during the pilot period will receive a parking violation notice but the towing fee will be waived.
In 2018, almost 11,000 parking/stopping violations were issued and approximately 2,400 vehicles were towed during the rush hour period on Queen Street. Police identified the afternoon rush period on Queen Street as particularly challenging due to cars parking and stopping illegally. Each day, approximately 45 tickets are written and 10 vehicles are towed on Queen Street.
If successful, City staff and police would explore opportunities to run this program during morning and afternoon rush hour periods on other routes. Feedback and data gathered from the pilot may also inform future congestion strategies, including updates to the City of Toronto’s Congestion Management Plan.
