In response to last month's fatal collision on Parkside Drive, about 150 residents took part in a peaceful protest on Tuesday, October 26 while Councillor Gord Perks has introduced Motion MM37.1 regarding safety measures proposed on that street. While the motion does include some of the items requested by the Safe Parkside group, there are serious concerns with Item 1F which calls for the addition of Green P parking on the west side of Parkside.
Given this motion will be debated at next week's City Council meeting, please e-mail Toronto City Council (councilmeeting@toronto.ca), as well as copy Mayor Tory and your city councillor calling on them to remove Item 1F from the motion and instead push for expediting the redesign of Parkside Drive through the High Park Movement Strategy. Below is the e-mail I sent, though I encourage you to customize it to emphasize why a safer Parkside Drive is important to you.
UPDATE 2021/11/05 - Since my e-mail was sent to City Council, a suggestion was brought up in the Safe Parkside group to have the motion referred to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee in order to allow for the public to comment and depute on the item. A 2/3 majority is needed to waive the referral for this item at City Council, so at least nine councillors (out of 26 including the Mayor) would need to oppose waiving the referral for this to happen. (Thanks David W)
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Date: November 4, 2021
Subject: MM37.1 (Parkside Drive Safety Measures)
Dear Members of Toronto City Council,
I am Robert Zaichkowski; a resident who lives near where Valdemar and Fatima Avila were killed at Parkside Drive and Spring Road on October 12, 2021. Since that fatal five-vehicle collision, I have been helping a group called Safe Parkside comprising of dozens of neighbours who have been calling for safety improvements on Parkside Drive. Some of the improvements we have been calling for include reducing the speed limit to 40 km/h, widening the east sidewalk to the 2.1 metre minimum, adding protected bike lanes, adding pedestrian crosswalks at Geoffrey Street and adjacent to The Queensway, and redesigning the Lake Shore and Parkside intersection. So far, more than 1000 people (and counting) have signed a petition supporting these asks.
Upon reviewing the motion brought forward by Councillor Gord Perks, I am please it includes reducing the speed limit to 40 km/h, making the necessary changes to allow automated speed enforcement on this street, adding a traffic signal at Geoffrey Street, and adding sidewalks on parts of the west side of Parkside. I also support the idea of redesigning Parkside using a complete streets approach – including protected bike lanes – and that it needs to become part of the High Park Movement Strategy. The City of Toronto must do everything they can to expedite implementation of the movement strategy to prevent further deaths and/or serious injuries in the future.
However, fellow Safe Parkside volunteers and I have expressed serious concerns with Item 1F which calls for the addition of Green P parking on the west side of Parkside. Such a move would increase incidents of jaywalking on Parkside to access parked cars, jeopardize pedestrians with cyclists still illegally riding on sidewalks, and increase congestion. Not to mention, there is the risk the parking could become difficult to remove when the street redesign does get under way which in turn, could throw the hard work done by Safe Parkside and other neighbours over the years out the window. It would be unfortunate to have the goal of improving safety of Parkside Drive get undermined with the addition of parking on this street.
Given these concerns, I urge that members of City Council remove Item 1F from this motion and instead push for expediting the redesign of Parkside Drive through the High Park Movement Strategy including protected bike lanes and wider sidewalks. While we need to act now on making Parkside Drive safer, we must also ensure we get the actions done right the first time around.
Sincerely yours,
Robert Zaichkowski, CPA, CMA
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