Major Toronto intersections to see dedicated traffic wardens?
Yesterday, Toronto Mayor John Tory announced that a new series of regulations will sweep the city; regulations that aim to increase the safety of busy roads while monitoring and improving traffic flow.
A city report from the public works committee recommended hiring “traffic wardens to direct traffic at major intersections, install[ing] photo radar to reduce speed violations and designating new school safety zones.”
“These changes will help ensure better safety measures on our streets, particularly around schools and in neighbourhoods, while addressing gridlock in some of the city’s busiest intersections,” Tory said. The press conference took place at a busy downtown intersection: Adelaide Street and University Avenue.
The amount of traffic wardens to be hired is unknown at this point, but the plan is reportedly already in motion. CBC reports that the city will “post job listings for the positions later this week and paid duty police officers will be deployed starting Monday until traffic wardens are on the job.”
Tory and his team aim to combat the hectic evening rush present nearly everywhere in Toronto, often stretching for hours. The new traffic warden position offers both new jobs and a new level of safety for all road users.
“We will soon have someone making sure that traffic moves through in an orderly and safe manner and that pedestrians and cyclists will be kept safe at all times,” Tory said.
New school zones
Photo radar technology is set for installation in school zones, which would add some incentive for speeders to slow down, protecting the community’s parents and next generation.
For 18 years in Toronto, there was a moratorium on “the creation of community safety zones.” This year, Tory will lift that prohibition and create 100 new school safety zones, which would calm traffic down in outlying neighbourhoods and double the speeding fines applicable in those areas.
The recommendations also point to the need for new processes that make it easier for residents to request speed bumps or stop signs in their communities.
Last year, Tory said that there were over 500 requests for these kinds of traffic calming measures, yet only “30 to 40” actually saw approval, due to the antiquated process that was in place.