Talking traffic solutions at the LPOA’s AGM

The traffic study area.
The traffic study area.

I hope you have had a very happy Christmas, and that 2019 will be good to us all!

In the weeks before Christmas the Leaside Property Owners’ Association was busy on many fronts. Here I shall report on the December 10th public meeting held by the LPOA, as part of our Annual General Meeting, to present our proposals for traffic calming throughout Leaside.

About 100 attendees heard a detailed presentation by our traffic consultant Gene Chartier of Paradigm Transportation Solutions, who led us through the guiding principles of the study and potential measures to address matters such as safety (not enough of it) and commuter through-traffic (too much of it).

As I wrote in last month’s Leaside Life, our approach is a phased one, not only because of cost, but also because of wanting to be flexible enough to adapt to changing developments and traffic patterns. The approach must be physical in nature, because we cannot depend on police enforcement. Both before and after installation, monitoring must take place to ensure that new calming measures are effective, and that they do not shift problems onto adjacent streets.

Possible first phase traffic calming.
Possible first phase traffic calming.

We have prioritized implementation based on particular attention to safety near schools, parks and community facilities, as well as at traffic entry points into Leaside. We then move inward, installing measures from the boundaries of Leaside into the centres of North and South Leaside as funding becomes available and opportunities arise, such as the ability to coordinate with the City’s road repairs and other construction projects.

Visit our website – lpoa.ca – to see the plan in detail, including individual costing of each type of traffic calming device as well as a full costing of a possible first phase arrangement.

All of this makes for interesting reading! I kept a record of the points raised by attendees of our presentation. Among them: a lot of interest in lowering the speed limit across Leaside to 30 km per hour and installing speed cameras as measures which could be taken right away, as well as using on-street parking on one or both sides to effectively narrow some roadways; general approval of physical means such as speed cushions, and throat-narrowing at intersections to slow turns; support in principle for bicycle lanes (although there was some concern regarding their impact on on-street parking); and impatience with the lengthy process needed to get City approval (polling by street, for instance).

And now we want your comments, please. This is your community, and we want your suggestions and opinions.

Our next LPOA board meeting will be on WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9th at 7:30 p.m., in the Trace Manes building. These meetings are always open to the public. PLEASE NOTE that the January meeting is on the SECOND Wednesday as schools do not reopen until that week, and people may be away until then. Contact us anytime via our website, lpoa.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.