Are you feeling congested?

Traffic in Leaside. Staff photo.
Traffic in Leaside. Staff photo.

Once upon a time, February was not a particularly high traffic volume month, either in Leaside or city-wide. These days, travelling even short distances is slow going. The city is inundated with road closures for construction of transit projects, not to mention infrastructure repairs to provide support for both existing neighbourhood needs and projects still to be built.

Here in Leaside we experience congestion and parking problems daily thanks to the huge concentration of newly approved condominium towers, each taller than the previous, particularly along arterial streets like Bayview and Eglinton and Laird Drive. 

Added to this is a lack of effective enforcement of legal but too-often ignored City bylaws regulating building site space usage and traffic laws. This lack of enforcement leads (encourages?) arterial traffic to cut through Leaside’s local streets, often at speed.

You already know all this. The question is, what can be done to reduce the resultant congestion? What should be done?

In 2025, city-wide, we’ll probably be hearing more debates about road tolls and congestion charges, at least for drivers wanting to drive on certain streets and highways, and for suburban Toronto-bound traffic – measures which are politically unpopular but have proven effective elsewhere. 

For communities like Leaside, I suspect there will be more demand for greater enforcement of the signage already in place. The Leaside Residents Association (LRA) hears frequent complaints about drivers, including police cars speeding along residential streets and ignoring stop signs. We residents are not blameless, either, as surveys repeatedly tell us that something like 70 per cent of speeders live locally.

Really, the most effective way of reducing Leaside’s traffic volume, lowering drive-through speed, and ensuring a safe neighbourhood is to support implementing enforceable – and consistently enforced – local traffic control.

Let’s all work to make 2025 the year that makes it happen.

Please mark the evening of Mon., April 14, on your calendars! It’s the date of the LRA’s 2025 AGM, to be held in the William Lea Room at Leaside Memorial Gardens. The LRA board is working on the details, considering guest speakers and inviting elected officials. It’s your chance to ask questions and get up to date on all the important issues confronting Leaside. More information on the AGM in my upcoming columns!

The LRA board meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. These are public meetings, and you are welcome to join us. Our next meeting is on Wed., Feb. 5th.

Please note:

Our February and March meetings will both be on Zoom. For contact information and more details and updates, visit: leasideresidents.ca and press the Contact Us button, or leasideresidents.ca/contact-us.

About Carol Burtin Fripp 147 Articles
Carol Burtin Fripp is Co-President of the Leaside Residents Association, and is Chair of the LRA's Traffic Committee. Over the years, she has served on numerous East York and City task forces. Now a retired television producer (TVO and CBC), she writes Leaside Life's monthly LRA column, and has created a daily international current affairs newsletter read from Newfoundland to New Zealand.