Technical Amendments - Parking Regulations -

Bloor Street West, Between Bathurst Street and

Dufferin Street (Trinity-Niagara)

The Toronto Community Council recommends that:

(1)parking regulations allow parking on Bloor Street West from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. on the north side, at the existing parking meters only, and from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on the south side, at the existing parking meters only, between Bathurst Street and Dufferin Street during weekdays; and

(2)other parking regulations such as taxicab stands, 1-hour parking and the parking meter by-law be amended accordingly.

The Toronto Community Council submits the following communication (February 15, 1999) from Councillor Pantalone:

Recommendation:

That parking regulations allow parking on Bloor Street West from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. on the north side, at the existing parking meters only, and from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on the south side, at the existing parking meters only, between Bathurst Street and Dufferin Street during weekdays. Other parking regulations such as taxicab stands, 1-hour parking and the parking meter by-law should be amended accordingly.

Background:

Council at its December 16 and 17, 1998, adopted Clause 23 of Toronto Community Council Report No. 16. Staff have advised that the Clause failed to incorporate parking regulations other than for existing parking meters. The above recommendation allows the inclusion of other parking regulations such as taxicab stands and has been brought forward by staff.

The Toronto Community Council also submits Clause 23 of Toronto Community Council Report No. 16, entitled "Parking Regulations - Bloor Street West, Between Bathurst Street and Dufferin Street (Trinity-Niagara)":

(City Council on December 16 and 17, 1998, adopted this Clause, without amendment.)

The Toronto Community Council recommends that:

(1)parking regulations be changed to allow parking on Bloor Street West from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on the north side and from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the south side between Bathurst Street and Dufferin Street during weekdays; and

(2)the appropriate City officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto, including the introduction in Council of any Bills that may be required.

The Toronto Community Council submits the following communication (December 1, 1998) from Councillor Pantalone:

Recommendation:

(1)That parking regulations be changed to allow parking on Bloor Street West from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. on the north side and from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on the south side between Bathurst Street and Dufferin Street during weekdays.

(2)That the appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto, including the introduction in Council of any Bills that may be required.

Attached please find a copy of a Transportation report on the introduction of parking during peak hours on Bloor Street West between Dufferin Street and Montrose Avenue. The report does not recommend the introduction of such parking. Please be advised that staff have filed similar reports for Bloor Street between Montrose Avenue and Bathurst Street.

However, at a recent meeting with the Korean Business Association, Bloorcourt Village BIA, Councillors Silva, Disero, Bossons and Adams all expressed support for introducing of staggered parking during peak periods with a six month review.

As you can see, the Commissioner does not support the introduction of parking on Bloor Street West. Yet, the introduction of such parking would not impede the flow of public transit (due to the existing subway corridor under Bloor Street). In addition, this type of parking arrangement is in existence on other major streets such as King Street West, College Street, and Dundas Street West without the negative consequences suggested in the attached report. Councillors Silva, Disero, Fotinos, Bossons and Adams support the introduction of parking along Bloor Street West with a six month review by the Transportation Section.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of this matter.

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(Communication (May 6, 1998) from the Acting Manager,

Central Traffic Region, City Works Services, addressed to Councillor Pantalone)

Further to your memorandum of February 3, 1998, in which you requested comments on the feasibility of allowing parking on the above-noted section of Bloor Street West during the weekday afternoon peak period, we advise that our review of this matter is complete. Based on our results, we do not recommend any changes to the parking regulations. A summary of our investigation is provided below.

Bloor Street West, in this section, is a four-lane arterial roadway having a combined east-west daily traffic volume of 20,000 vehicles. The width of this section of Bloor Street West is generally 13.6 metres and each lane is approximately 3.1 metres wide. When parking is permitted there is only one lane of travel per direction.

The parking regulations on this section of Bloor Street West are generally as follows:

Three-hour parking is permitted during the times not listed in the above table.

The peak hour and average off-peak hour vehicular volumes are represented in the following table:

On this section of Bloor Street West, 650 vehicles per hour per lane is a reasonable estimate of through capacity, given the road characteristics and the high level of pedestrian and loading activity which occur in this vicinity. On-street parking is currently permitted on the north side of Bloor Street West, between Dufferin Street and Montrose Avenue, during the morning peak period and on both sides of Bloor Street West during off-peak periods. However, on-street parking does not cause any significant negative impacts to the operational efficiency of Bloor Street West during these periods because the affected traffic flows are relatively low.

During the afternoon peak period, permitting parking on either the north or south side of Bloor Street West would result in westbound and eastbound Bloor Street West being over-capacity. There is a high demand for parking on the above-mentioned section of Bloor Street West related to the numerous commercial establishments in the immediate area. As a result, motorists periodically park illegally during the peak periods. Observations by Department staff confirm that during the afternoon peak period, vehicle delays and queues increase significantly on these infrequent occasions when illegal parking does occur. If parking were to be permitted in the afternoon peak period, we would expect this type of congestion to occur routinely.

In addition to the arterial road capacity concerns, allowing parking in the peak periods may contribute to increased neighbourhood infiltration in this area. Typically, as congestion along an arterial increases, motorists seek alternative routes to reduce their total trip time.

Based on the above, we do not recommend allowing parking on either side of Bloor Street West during the afternoon peak period.

By copy of this letter, we are advising those Councillors whose wards are affected by this inquiry.

Please contact Vince Suppa, Investigations Supervisor, at 397-5436 if you have any additional concerns regarding this matter.