Item - 2021.TE27.65

The Toronto and East York Community Council:

1. Directed the General Manager, Transportation Services to undertake a comprehensive Road Safety Review for Queen Street East from Silver Birch Avenue to Victoria Park Avenue and report back in the first quarter of 2022, with recommendations for measures including but limited to:

a. Opportunities for an all-way stop control or other crossing and traffic controls at Queen Street East and Victoria Park Avenue;

b. Signage to better warn road users travelling east on Queen Street East of the sudden north-bound turn to Victoria Park Avenue;

c. Interventions to calm traffic moving alongside or around streetcars;

d. Creating a Community Safety Zone in this section of Queen Street East; and

e. Adjusting parking or curb lines on the north and south sides of Queen Street East, from Neville Park Boulevard to Victoria Park Avenue to improve visibility and lower risk of collisions.

I am asking for your support for a comprehensive road safety review to be completed for Queen Street East in and around the Neville Park Streetcar Loop. The need for careful but urgent review of this area has been highlighted by a growing number of collisions and concerning road safety incidents over the last several months. For many of these incidents, tragedy has only very narrowly been avoided.

In Spring 2021, many in our community saw images of an overturned Lamborghini that was totaled in a crash after a reckless driver overtook a streetcar. For the surrounding community, the only surprising thing about these images was that nobody was seriously hurt or worse. There have been many similar incidents before and others since. The community in this area knows that stunt driving, impatience with the streetcar, as well as a sudden change in the road design after the streetcar loop cause all kinds of collisions, near-misses and concerning hazards for those who live, work, visit or travel through the area.

I am asking for your support in requesting for a thorough review to consider road safety measures in the area. We need to look at a number of key areas outlined in the motion, as well as any other measure our road safety experts can recommend.

In addition to conflicts with the streetcar, this stretch of Queen Street East is difficult to navigate because of changes in grade, a sudden change in the width and conditions of the road after the streetcar loop, and the fact that many.