Yonge Street and Green Lane intersection named one of York Region's most dangerous

From 2019 to 2021, the Yonge Street and Green Lane intersection saw 60 collisions

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 19, 2023
Simon Martin

Anybody who has driven in York Region at rush hour knows that Green Lane can be a mess.

According to a York Region Annual Traveller Safety Report released late last year, Green Lane and Yonge Street was the only intersection in northern York Region to be in the top 10 in the region for number of collisions. From 2019 to 2021, the intersection saw 60 collisions, the fourth highest total in York Region, tailing three intersections in Vaughan.

Those numbers come as no surprise to John (who chose not to be identified). He is one of the few pedestrians braving the intersection and is heading to to his temporary home at Blue Door on Yonge Street. “It’s bad,” he said. “They come flying off Highway 11. People are idiots. I don’t know where they learned to drive.”

The issue is nothing new for Ward 1 Coun. Terry Foster. The intersection has long been a problem for collisions dating back decades. “It’s just so busy,” he said. “People are confused where everyone is going. It’s confusing when you have that many lanes of traffic.”

With two left turn lanes on one side, two gas stations and massive plazas on three corners, Foster said there is just a lot going on.

That sentiment was echoed by fellow Ward 1 Coun. Loralea Carruthers. She said it is disconcerting that so many accidents occur at the intersection. “We have to solve that problem,” she said.

She said residents use Green Lane because it is a fast way to get to Highway 404 or Highway 400. “I take it all the time because it is so fast.”

The collisions aren't just a problem at Yonge Street and Green Lane. According to the report, seven of the top 10 intersections for accidents in East Gwillimbury are on Green Lane. Leslie Street and Green Lane had 40 accidents over the three-year period, followed by 30 at 2nd Concession, 16 at old Green Lane and the GO station, 14 at Harry Walker Parkway, 12 at Bathurst Street and 11 at the Church entrance just north of Yonge and Green Lane.

The problem only figures to get worse in the coming years, as Green Lane is a key growth corridor for East Gwillimbury. The town’s Green Lane Secondary Plan calls for high-density development along East Gwillimbury. The plan called for a building facing Yonge and Green Lane to have a minimum of three storeys, with buildings located directly at the intersection to be between six and 20 storeys high. It also called for a minimum of 500 units east and west of Yonge Street. The town envisioned a walkable main street along its planned new east-west road, which runs just to the north of Green Lane.

It is much the same story at the key intersection of 2nd Concession and Green Lane, where the East Gwillimbury GO Train is currently located. Again, buildings located directly at the intersection were called to be six to 20 storeys high. Buildings along Green Lane and Second Concession were suggested to be between four and six storeys high.

Carruthers said it won't be long until there is more traffic and more pedestrians on the road. The region is in the midst of upgrading York Region Transit on Yonge Street to Green Lane. The intersection with the most collisions over the three-year period was Islington Avenue and Rutherford Road in Vaughan with 73 collisions.