September 24, 1999

To: Works Committee

From: City Clerk

Subject: Proposed Road Classification System (All Wards)

Recommendation:

The York Community Council on September 14, 1999, recommended to the Works Committee that:

(1) the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services be requested to review the classification of Winona Drive between Eglinton Avenue West and Vaughan Road, with a view to redesignating this section of Winona Drive as a Local Road; and

(2) the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services and the Acting Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services, be requested to take into consideration the comments expressed in the communication dated September 14, 1999 from Ms. Madeline McDowell, a member of the Pedestrian Committee.

Background:

The York Community Council on September 14, 1999, had before it the following communications:

(i) (July 14, 1999) from the City Clerk, advising that the Works Committee on July 14, 1999 concurred with the recommendation in the report (June 29, 1999) from the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services wherein information was submitted on the:

1. consolidation of the various road classification systems inherited from the amalgamating municipalities into a single, consistent system;

2. classification of roads in Toronto according to the new road classification system;

3. clarification on the respective roles and responsibilities of Community Councils and various Standing Committees with respect to traffic operations policies in the context of the new classification system; and

4. phasing in of the delegation of responsibilities of Community Councils and Standing Committees with respect to these matters;

and recommending that this report be referred to all Community Councils for consideration and that their comments be submitted to the Works Committee for consideration at its November 3, 1999 meeting; and

(ii) (September 14, 1999) from Ms. Madeline McDowell, member, Pedestrian Committee, advising that the new proposed road classification system is an extremely important document; that it defines the relationship between traffic operations and planning matters, traffic operations and the urban living environment and traffic operations and the natural environment; that the report is written from the perspective of motor vehicular operations rather than the broader prospect of all traffic including pedestrians yet pedestrians should be a significant factor in the word Atraffic@; that 52% of traffic fatalities in the last 20 years have been pedestrians; that the area of the report dealing with PTO=s perpetuates the absence of pedestrian safety as a priority in traffic operation; that Toronto=s new Official Plan, still in the making, has stated goals of making the City more livable, walkable, environmentally responsible, diverse, integrated and equitable; that the proposed focus on traffic operations does not support this holistic approach; that roads are a component of streets; and that the classification policy is a planning issue and should be considered in that context; that the issue of exhaust fumes and the non-vehicular traffic components are not evident; the report is geared to further intensification of automobile use and it facilitation and it needs to be examined in a complete planning perspective with a closer look at automobile alternatives and networks for them, and at neighbourhoods, which the report does acknowledge, but perceives again largely from an operations perspective; that street planning must be the key and should correspond to the urban environment, land use and architecture; that while there is a great deal that is good in this report, it is weak in the policy area which planning would strengthen; that Works cannot be isolated from Planning; the City is not a grid on spiderweb but a living and working environment for three million people.

Ms. Madeline McDowell, member, Pedestrian Committee, appeared before the Community Council in connection with the foregoing matter and submitted a brief in regard thereto.

City Clerk

c: Commissioner of Works

Acting Commissioner, Urban Planning & Development Services

York Agenda Item No. 1

Glenda Jagai

394-2516