Toronto report on road safety system may be delayed by one year
Council asked city staff in December 2016 to analyze Toronto’s traffic warrant system.

thestar.com
By DAVID HAINS
July 19, 2017

A study that could reshape road safety measures across the city will be delayed up to a year.

Council asked city staff in December 2016 to analyze Toronto’s traffic warrant system - the policies that determine which roads and intersections are recommended for road-safety measures such as crosswalks, stop lights and stop signs.

The motion asked staff to report back, by the first quarter of 2017, on ways to enhance safety for “vulnerable road users” such as pedestrians and cyclists. It passed by a margin of 28 to 11.

Now, the report won’t arrive until the end of 2017 or even the beginning of 2018, up to a year after it was supposed to go before the city’s public works committee.

“Transportation Services staff are in the process of reviewing the various warrants noted in this council motion,” wrote city spokesperson Steve Johnston in an email. “This review has taken longer than expected to complete.”

Councillor Janet Davis, who originally put forward the motion for a review, understands the analysis can be difficult. But Davis also stressed that with dozens of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities each year and the city having committed to a safe-streets plan, completing the work in a timely manner is essential.

“These warrants are outdated and they need to be changed,” she said, arguing the policies are “based on a set of assumptions that are no longer valid.”

Under the current system, when a community group or councillor wants to introduce a road-safety measure, a traffic study is conducted. City staff only recommend changes if the area meets certain criteria, including the traffic speed, volume and proximity to other intersections.

But road-safety advocates such as Dylan Reid of Walk Toronto have long accused the existing warrant system of protecting a car-centric status quo.

“The problem with the system is that it’s a bit of a Catch-22,” Reid explained.

“It may be that people aren’t using the intersection to cross because it’s dangerous,” he said, which city staff might point to as a sign of insufficient demand. The warrant system can even turn down requests at intersections with bus stops or places of worship.

“Basically, the traffic control system is very limited and doesn’t really have the flexibility to take the situation into account.”

Davis’ motion in December followed the death of Jae Blue, a senior citizen in her ward. Blue was on her way to the local community centre when she was hit by a driver at Cedarvale and Cosburn Aves. She was 69.

Davis had asked for road-safety measures at that intersection on two previous occasions, but staff said it didn’t meet the warrant criteria.

“The warrant system does not reflect the views of the local community,” she said, calling it “out of touch with what’s needed.”