June 18, 1999
To:Works Committee
From:Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services
Subject:Community Safety Zones - Status Report on Study
Purpose:
To inform Council on the status of studies to determine the effectiveness of CommunitySafetyZones (CSZ's) within the
City of Toronto.
Funding Sources:
Not applicable at this time.
Recommendation:
It is recommended that this report be received for information.
Background:
At its meeting of July 29, 30 and 31, 1998, Toronto City Council adopted a recommendation from the Urban Environment
and Development Committee (UEDC), endorsing a report from the CitySolicitor dated July 6, 1998. This report discussed
the forthcoming amendment to the HighwayTraffic Act (HTA), (Bill 26), which would provide for the designation of
CommunitySafety Zones. The HTA amendment was proclamated on September 1, 1998. The report also included
instructions for staff to identify a limited number of potential locations for CSZ designation, for consideration by the
UEDC.
At its meeting on November 25, 26 and 27, 1998, City Council amended TransportationServices staffs' recommendations
and added two more CSZ locations: all of Parkside Drive and Annette Street, in the vicinity of St. Cecilia's Public School.
The following table summarizes the CSZ's selected within each District and outlines the date of implementation (when the
signs were installed) for each corresponding CSZ.
In the report from Transportation Services, dated October 16, 1998, staff recommended that CSZ's be installed on five
sections of roads as well as two High Collision locations in North York, namely Bathurst Street at Steeles Avenue West
and Bathurst Street at Finch Avenue West.
| District |
Location |
Ward |
Implementation
Date |
| 1 (former City's of
Toronto, York and
Borough of East York) |
Keele St., between Bloor St. West. and Annette
St.; |
Davenport
High Park |
First week of
February, 1999 |
| |
Scarlett Rd., between St. Clair Ave. West and
Eglinton Ave. West; |
York Humber |
| |
Parkside Drive, between Bloor St. W. and Lake
Shore Blvd. |
High Park |
| |
Annette St. in the vicinity of "St. Cecilia's
Public School" |
Davenport |
| |
O'Connor Dr., between Woodbine Ave. and
Pape Ave.; |
East York |
| 2 (former City of
Etobicoke) |
Dundas St. West, between Montgomery Rd.
and 100 m east of Old Oak Rd.; |
Kingsway
Humber |
First week of
January, 1999 |
| 3 (former City of
North York) |
Bathurst St. between Kenton Dr. and Hounslow
Ave. |
North York
Spadina |
Week of April
26, 1999
|
| [Bathurst Street at
Finch Avenue West] |
Finch Ave. West, between Goldfinch Ct. and
Endell Ave. |
North York
Spadina |
| [Bathurst Street at
Steeles Avenue West] |
Bathurst St., between north limit of Steeles
Ave. West and 100 m south Of Greenwin
Village Rd |
North York
Spadina |
|
Steeles Ave. West, between 100 m west of
Carpenter Road and 100 m east of Bathurst St. |
North York
Spadina
North York
Ctre. |
| 4 (former City of
Scarborough) |
East Ave., between Lawrence Ave. and Island
Rd.; |
Scarborough
Highland Creek |
First week of
January, 1999 |
In the report from Transportation Services, dated October 16, 1998, Transportation Services staff indicated that it would report on the effectiveness of CSZ's in the fall of 1999. City Council subsequently amended this date (at it's November 25th to 27th meeting) to June, 1999.
There has been insufficient time for all of the issues to be adequately addressed. Accordingly, in light of the June, 1999 reporting date, the following report will serve to inform Council on the status of the studies presently underway to determine the effectiveness of select CSZ's within the CityofToronto.
Discussion:
In order to properly assess the relative effectiveness of the subject CSZ's, Transportation Services staff are presently in the process of conducting detailed "after" studies. The "before" studies were undertaken taken prior to the implementation of the CSZ's.
These studies will provide a quantitative assessment of traffic operations including:
i)speed profiles;
ii)traffic volumes; and
iii)illegal traffic manoeuvres
In addition to the aforementioned, the subject studies will also outline aspects such as:
i)implementation and on-going expenditures such as signing, pavement markings, and/or
geometric improvements;
ii)estimated costs of police enforcement;
iii)revenues generated by police enforcement; and
iv)summary of charges laid through courts
Conclusions:
Transportation Services staff are presently in the process of collecting traffic operations data, as well as police enforcement data and records of related charges laid "after" the implementation of the subject CZS's. At this time, the amount of data collected is not sufficient to provide any meaningful analysis. However, staff are presently on course to provide a comprehensive impact analysis of CSZ's and report to the Works Committee in the fall of 1999.
Contact Name :
Dominic Gulli, Manager, Traffic Operations - District 2.
(416) 394-8409; Fax (416) 394-8942.
David C. Kaufman
General Manager, Transportation Services
Barry H. Gutteridge
Commissioner, Works and Emergency Services
cc: T-75
