O'Connor Traffic Safety Follow Up Meeting
Date: Thursday, January 20, 2022
Time: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
This meeting is taking place on Zoom - please register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_u0RaunidToKpA4k1qQyn3Q
January 12, 2022 Update
Last week, Transportation Services submitted their report on O'Connor Traffic Safety. On January 20th I will be hosting a virtual meeting so that staff from Transportation Services can provide an update on their recommendations and ongoing studies. Please register at the Zoom link above.
I hope you will be able to join. Please share this with your neighbours who may not have received the invitation.
January 5, 2022 Update
City of Toronto Transportation Services has submitted their report in advance of the Toronto and East York Community Council Meeting taking place on January 6th, 2022. You can read the full report here.
You can also submit comments on this item by emailing [email protected] or clicking the "Submit Comments" button at the top of the page here. Comments can be submitted until City Council on February 2nd, 2022.
If you wish to speak to the Community Council on January 6th you will need to email [email protected] or clicking the "Request to Speak" button at the top of the page here before the meeting.
December 2021 Update
I want to thank those of you who were able to attend my recent virtual meeting on traffic safety along O'Connor Drive on November 16th. It was great to hear from everyone who shared experiences and asked questions.
At the meeting, we also heard from local students who told us about their experiences in getting to and from school and the changes they would like to see.
You can watch the virtual meeting here.
After the meeting, I also received many thoughtful letters from students from Chester School advocating for safety improvements on O'Connor Drive.
Thanks to City staff who, right after the meeting, undertook a number of significant improvements.
Speed Limit Changed to 40km/hr
On Wednesday, November 17th, City staff installed the new 40km/hr signage along O'Connor Drive between Broadview Avenue and St. Clair Avenue. The signs have been installed every 300m along O'Connor Drive and City staff have also installed "40km/hr begins" signage at both Broadview Avenue and St. Clair Avenue.
Improved Sightlines at Pape and O'Connor
Some of you also expressed concerns during the meeting about bushes at Pape and O'Connor that obstruct the sightlines. Transportation staff contacted the Church at the corner and worked with them to trim the hedges to improve sightlines. I have included photos of the newly trimmed hedges. Thank you to the residents who let us know about this.
Red Light Camera
Additionally, Transportation Services confirmed that a Red Light Camera will be installed at Pape and O'Connor in the new year.
Community Council Update
Staff have confirmed that my motion from 2019 will be reported on at the Toronto and East York Community Council meeting on January 6th, 2022. I will share this report with you when it is available.
As so many of you have mentioned, O'Connor Drive is a challenging road for pedestrians and cyclists but I am confident that as a community we can work together to ensure this street, and intersecting residential streets, remain safe for all of us. I will continue to keep you updated as further safety improvements are approved and implemented along O'Connor Drive.
I will be sending you updates in the New Year on the many issues and initiatives that will make O'Connor safer.
November 2021 Update
The tragic news that an 81 year-old pedestrian was struck and killed on O’Connor was sad and upsetting for everyone in the neighbourhood. You know only too well that O’Connor is a wildly busy thoroughfare that bisects the residential community.
Since being elected in 2018 to represent the new double sized ward, many of you have shared your concerns about O’Connor with me. In May 2019 I initiated the first ever safety study of the Pape and Donlands intersections and of O’Connor in general. Unfortunately the pandemic diverted City staff away from these transportation studies as they were redeployed to assist with the COVID-19 response across the City. Thankfully they are back now on the job of studying and implementing traffic safety measures. In June of this year the General Manager of Transportation Services came with me to both the Broadview and Donlands intersections to see for herself some of the issues you have told me about.
It's been a long wait, but I want to let you know that the first report on Donlands and O’Connor intersection safety will be coming to Committee in January 2022 and that further improvements should soon be made to the treacherous curve at Broadview and O’Connor. We will work together to address your safety concerns at Pape and along the whole O’Connor corridor.
Many important traffic calming measures – speed humps, turn restrictions, intersection narrowing, pedestrian upgrades, bike lanes, quiet streets, speed limit reductions, new traffic lights – were achieved by working with the community in my previous ward. Now it's time to work with you in this new part of Ward 14 to achieve these same goals and to tame this major arterial to be safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Community members who live and work in the area started an online petition asking the City to implement road safety measures on O'Connor immediately. I want to thank them for taking this initiative and thank everyone who has signed so far.
One huge safety improvement would be adding Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) cameras on O’Connor. The current City program is being implemented by staff and only covers areas immediately adjacent to schools and allows only two cameras per ward which rotate to different locations. The cameras have been in place a little over a year - and we know they work.
I am pushing to add more than two cameras per ward and to expand the program to include dangerous arterial and collector roads. So far city staff do not support this expansion however they have agreed to analyze O'Connor between Pape and Donlands for a possible Automated Speed Enforcement Camera.
I am holding a Town Hall with City staff on November 16th to hear directly from you. This meeting is taking place on Zoom – please register in advance online.
Also, please also let me know about your experiences and your suggestions to make O’Connor a much safer street for all ahead of this meeting. You can send an email to [email protected].
Working for you,
Paula
