Toronto police returning to key intersections to fight gridlock

Toronto police will be directing traffic at seven intersections between Oct. 3 and 28.

Thestar.com
Sept. 20, 2016
By Ben Spurr

Police officers will return to busy Toronto intersections next month to help direct traffic, after Mayor John Tory declared the first phase of a pilot project that enlisted officers to fight gridlock a success.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the road closure co-ordination committee Tuesday, Tory said that police would be deployed to seven congested areas between Oct. 3 and 28 for the second installment of the traffic assistant personnel program. The first phase of the pilot was launched in June and lasted four weeks.

“I’m pleased to report that when officers were present at these intersections, vehicles were able to clear the intersections faster, which meant cars spent significantly less time in the intersections, and pedestrians actually moved in a more orderly fashion,” Tory said.

Asked how he knew the pilot had improved traffic flow however, the mayor admitted that at this point “a lot” of the evidence is “still anecdotal.”

But he argued that taken together the city’s efforts to alleviate congestion, which have also included retiming traffic signals, co-ordinated construction projects, and moving events away from downtown, are working.

“Now, it may have made a difference only insofar as saying, things didn’t get worse in a growing city with increased numbers of people and cars. But I think all of these things are having some impact,” he said.

Tory added that he had asked city staff to bring forward traffic data that would help measure the city’s anti-gridlock efforts in time for the committee’s next meeting.

The seven locations where officers will be deployed are:

• University Ave., Front St. West, and York St.
• Front. St West and Simcoe St.
• Bay St. and Bloor St. West
• Bay St. and Queen St. West
• Sheppard Ave. and Yonge St.
• University and Adelaide St. West
• Bay St. “clearway” lane

In June, police were stationed at eight locations, but the intersection of Park Lawn Rd. and Lakeshore Blvd. W. is no longer a hot spot because work on the Gardiner Expressway that was diverting traffic onto Lakeshore has been completed.

The city is spending $250,000 on off-duty police officers as part of the traffic assistant project. On Tuesday, Tory reiterated his plea to the provincial government to pass legislation that would allow trained civilians to manage intersections, which would be cheaper than using paid-duty officers.

The mayor described the uniformed men and women who have been hired to direct traffic as “highly-trained police officers who, by and large I think, would be preferring to do something else.”

Tory stated that it had been a “difficult summer” for Toronto commuters because many road construction projects were deferred last year to accommodate the Pan Am Games. He said there were 85 projects this construction season, with more than half of them on extended hours to speed up completion. Five of the projects were on 24-hour construction.

The next big headache for the city’s drivers will be on the weekend of Oct. 21, when the Gardiner will be closed for extensive maintenance.