September feels like the start of a new year

I’ve always felt that it’s the beginning of September that feels like the start of a new year, not January 1st. The weather begins to change, summer vacations end, schools reopen. Life changes and becomes more organized. There’s a new energy, a sense of fresh starts. It’s an opportunity for rebirth.

At the same time, many of Leaside’s continuing development and traffic challenges remain unresolved or only partially solved. The LRA has been working through the summer and now looks ahead to addressing these challenges as we approach the fall season.

If you are an LRA member, you frequently receive informative e-blasts from the LRA on topics of local interest and importance. One of our most recent focused on the City’s Leaside Neighbourhood Transportation Plan, which will be reactivated following the October municipal elections. We are looking forward to making progress.

It has been interesting to review the range of comments residents have sent to the LNTP. Many reflect problems which are far from new, and in fact are all too familiar. 

Some examples: Why do we have traffic rules at all, if they are not going to be enforced? Local streets experience 40km/60km traffic although signed 30kph, and there’s truck traffic on streets clearly marked No Trucks.

What can be done to reduce traffic volume, especially on our residential streets, without diverting the problem to other ones? Do one-way streets encourage speeding, or do they offer a solution to gridlock? Are bumps, or pads, an effective way to slow traffic, or are there better ways to calm? If so, what are they, and why have they not been used more widely?

What kind of quick wins can Leaside look forward to from the LNTP? What has happened to the traffic calming study which the LRA (then LPOA) submitted to the LNTP four years ago?

And why is it taking so long to make Leaside streets safer?

These are all reasonable questions. All of them need to be addressed. We will do our best to keep you posted on any progress on this file.

Vote – again!

Municipal elections take place on October 24th. By the time you read this issue of Leaside Life we should know who and how many candidates are officially running for office. As noted in my column last month, the LRA is in discussion with other Ward 15 residents’ groups to ensure there will be local all-candidates meetings, so you can ask questions directly about your priorities. Further details are likely to be publicized in Leaside Life, both online and here, as soon as they are available.

Join us

Why not catch up on local Leaside matters, now that summer is ending? Our next LRA monthly board meeting is on Wed., Sept. 7th, at 7:30 p.m., on Zoom. If you’d like to watch or participate, please let us know by that date and we’ll send you the Zoom access details. Visit us at www.leasideresidents.ca.    

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.