Calm that traffic!

For reasons we know too well, the Leaside Residents Association’s recent Annual General Meeting had to be virtual. It’s a format with advantages, and also distinct DISadvantages. On the one hand, it’s accessible to all who have a Zoom-friendly computer. You can watch and participate from the comfort of your own home, not having to go out on a cold winter night. No need to hire a babysitter. But what is missing is the spontaneity and personal interaction of a real public meeting, the ability to ask follow-ups to questions raised on the floor, not to mention the pleasure of seeing your fellow Leasiders.

If you weren’t a virtual attendee, you missed my traffic report, in which I relayed residents’ continuing complaints about speeding drivers, trucks using residential streets, and insufficient traffic law enforcement. With COVID-19 keeping most of us at home, we actually have more time than in pre-pandemic times to observe – and be aggravated by – what we see on our streets.

Fortunately, we are getting closer to having a traffic calming plan for the entire neighbourhood. The city’s Leaside Traffic Management Study, supported by Councillor Jaye Robinson, is chaired by Eric Chan, who sent me a progress report in time for the AGM. He has been working during the pandemic with staff to identify long-term, permanent physical solutions like intersection redesigns and friction surfacing to slow traffic and other measures which are self-enforcing.

Self-enforcing traffic control measures are key, since we know all too well that depending on police enforcement is unrealistic.

Eric Chan and his staff are also continuing to work on identifying specific streets and/or intersections where such short-term solutions as pavement markings, building out intersections with bollards and paint, and other visual means to slow speed can be implemented relatively quickly and inexpensively.

Did you know that we have launched our new website? The contents of the old website (www.lpoa.ca) migrated to the new website, which is www.leasideresidents.ca. Take a look! Many thanks for the hard work by a committee of LRA directors, chaired by Vice President and Membership Director Robin Rix, and advised by former Leasider and LRA Director Paddy Duncan, to whom we owe particular appreciation. N The LRA board’s next monthly meeting is on Wed., March 3rd at 7:30 p.m., by Zoom. If you’d like to attend, or participate, please let us know by the 3rd so we can send you the access details. You are welcome to attend any of our monthly board meetings, which occur on the first Wednesday of each month.

About Carol Burtin Fripp 136 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.