WILLOWDALE (WARD 23) PUBLIC SCHOOLS
TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 7 – 8:30 PM
Willowdale Middle School – 225 Senlac Road
Hosted by: Trustee Mari Rutka & Councillor John Filion
MINUTES
Mari welcomed delegates to the meeting and introduced the format for the evening. Each school represented was given 5 minutes to present concerns on traffic and pedestrian safety issues:
Avondale PS & AES:
-Volume of cars is a concern. Many are from outside the area due to the nature of the school.
-Poor parking lot design. Parents have to drive through the pedestrian crossing. There is no drop off zone.
-People are parking illegally. Parking in the crosswalk.
Cameron PS:
-No specific concerns.
Churchill PS:
-New lot is opening in January. The current lot has issues with double parking.
-Speed of traffic is a huge concern. This is becoming a dangerous zone for pedestrians.
-Poor lighting, no stop signs, no crossings are among the concerns on Churchill.
-A recent study suggested that the average speed of traffic was 30% over the speed limit.
-The lighting on the street is not on the same side as the sidewalk.
-Parents want stop signs & crosswalks, but speed of traffic is the primary concern
Claude Watson SFTA:
-Crossing signals recently chances to traffic lights and they are happy with that.
-Still have concerns with car volume as parents come in from all over the city.
-The student drop-off is only one loop and there is no parking.
-The "no stopping" restriction on Spring Garden is a concern.
Willowdale MS:
-Senlac & Sheppard, Senlac & Ellerslie are dangerous intersections for student crossings. They would like to have crossing guards at these locations.
-Similar concerns to Churchill PS on the speed of local traffic
Yorkview PS:
-Student drop-offs are an issue. There is no place to do so properly.
Drewry SS:
-They want to look at the traffic flow into the parking lot.
-Blind spots are a concern for traffic coming from the laneway.
Earl Haig SS:
-Primary concern is the pedestrian crossing of Doris at Princess. They would like to see some kind of crosswalk or traffic lights installed.
-Crossing at Kenneth is also an issue due to the volume of students stopping traffic.
-Parking is an issue for parents and the student drop-off area is inadequate. Poor flow through the parking lot is causing bottle necks.
Councillor Filion spoke for a few moments on the issues facing Earl Haig. Over 10 years he has looked at every solution from crosswalks to bridges to fences to moats. There is no apparent solution from the transportation department.
-Crosswalks are considered dangerous, especially so close to traffic lights (at Empress) which is why the crosswalk was removed at Claude Watson
-Traffic lights cannot be installed so close together (Empress & Princess)
-Bridges and tunnels would be prohibitively expensive
-A short fence students would just walk around. A long fence would block access to Princess Park.
-The only method that really would work is educating students and getting them to take responsibility for their own actions.
Finch PS:
-No parking or drop-off space for parents create back-ups
-Particular concern of the crossing at Olive & Estelle – an area the City is currently working on improving.
Hollywood PS:
-Toronto Police have been looking at changing their education program with students. The principal sincerely hopes that this program will remain intact.
McKee PS:
-Traffic on Church is a concern. Kids have been hit crossing the street in large part because of a lack of sidewalks.
-Overpopulation of students was an issue. The recent redistribution has helped in cutting volume, but student drop-offs are still an issue.
Pleasant PS:
-Student drop-offs work well with short-term parking on one side of the street. The issues occur when cars park illegally on the other side.
R.J. Lang E & MS:
-The parking lot is too small. They are looking to expand in the future.
-Student drop-offs are an issue
-The walkway to Hilda is creating a blind spot across the street to Newtonbrook. Better signage is needed.
Councillor Filion began a discussion on possible solutions to the issues raised.
-It is reasonable to expect that it's safe to walk, cross and cycle through your neighbourhoods
-"Walkability" is a new buzz word that it being looked at by many. Recent studies on reducing speeds in neighbourhoods and the positive effect on pedestrian safety have been released by the Chief Coroner and Toronto's Medical Officer of Health.
-Too many people are avoiding gridlock on major roads by driving on residential streets.
-Councillor Filion's office is looking at various methods of promoting walkability. Looking at school areas would be one component of this.
-Sometimes solutions can be simple, such as Finch PS's concern on Estelle & Olive or getting sidewalks on Church into the 2013 capital budget for McKee PS.
-Other times, solutions can be far more difficult such as the situation at Earl Haig SS.
-The idea of schools pooling resources and fundraising to buy a radar "slow your speed" sign for the neighbourhood was discussed.
It was agreed that all parties would take the matters raised at the meeting giving them some thought with the goal of meeting again in late January.
-It was suggested that perhaps a representative from 32 Division would be helpful.