City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following news release:
Project Area /City of Toronto
Toronto City Council voted in favour of making the ActiveTO Midtown Complete Street Pilot on Yonge Street between Bloor Street and Davisville Avenue permanent, with several changes to address the immediate concerns of local residents and businesses.
The City of Toronto’s ActiveTO Midtown Complete Street Pilot is an example of a Complete Streets project that accommodates all road users, enhances local neighbourhood context and character, and delivers on Council’s commitments to the Vision Zero Road Safety Plan and the TransformTO Climate Action Strategy.
Mayor John Tory and a majority of City Councillors did support several requests for changes to help improve the bike lanes and address legitimate concerns raised by local residents.
Changes include:
- Traffic signal and physical intersection modifications to better facilitate traffic flow, turn movements and pedestrian safety
- Additional parking and loading spaces to support local business
- Creating a dedicated traffic management plan as it relates to construction, current and projected, in the corridor, including the deployment of traffic agents as needed
- Install LED signs at Yonge and Delisle to prohibit left-turns during prohibited times to support shuttle bus operations
- Directing staff to continue to identify opportunities to improve traffic flow including traffic signal and physical intersection modifications to better facilitate traffic flow and turn movements, opportunities to mitigate concerns with traffic diversion onto local roads to improve safety and traffic flow, particularly to improve sight-lines and ingress/egress for east/west streets at “landlocked” intersections in the area, where feasible
- Working with local Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) on initiatives to support main street local business, including identifying and implementing additional parking and loading spaces, where feasible
- Identify opportunities to improve safety and attractiveness of the corridor in a way such as transforming painted curb extensions and buffers into concrete or planted islands, where feasible
- As part of the development review process along the corridor, work with City Planning and adjacent developers to incorporate upgrades such as raised cycle tracks and green infrastructure into the streetscape frontages of redevelopment sites, where feasible, and minimize the impact of construction work zones in the right-of-way
- Requesting Emergency Management Services and Toronto Fire Services to provide granular data regarding response times in the project area
Council first approved the installation of the pilot in April 2021 as part of the City’s Pandemic Mobility Recovery Strategy. In April 2022, Council approved extending the pilot on a provisional basis to enable further monitoring and evaluation. Community consultation took place before and during the pilot with local businesses, four Business Improvements Areas, several neighbourhood associations and area residents.
After 18 months of installation, the data demonstrates an increase in cycling trips on the corridor ranging between 57 and 250 per cent, an increase in pedestrian trips ranging between 59 and 145 per cent, and an increase in the number of outdoor dining spaces from 10 CaféTO patios in 2020 to 21 in 2022.
After various adjustments to the pilot, motor vehicle travel times in both directions during most times of day are now less than a minute higher than the pre-pandemic baseline during the fall of 2019.
More information is available on the ActiveTO Midtown Complete Street Pilot webpage: www.toronto.ca/community-people/get-involved/public-consultations/infrastructure-projects/activeto-midtown-complete-street-pilot-project/.
The report to Council is available on the City’s website: https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2023.IE1.4.
