Mayor Tory to seek additional $13M to speed up Vision Zero road safety plans

By News Staff

Facing backlash after a rash of pedestrian and cyclist deaths, Mayor John Tory said he’ll seek an additional $13 million this year to accelerate parts of his five-year Vision Zero road safety plan.

Tory said he would make the request at next week’s executive committee meeting, and that the money would come from the 2017 budget surplus.

“I will be moving to allocate an additional $13 million from that surplus to this year’s Vision Zero,” Tory said Friday, noting that $21 million is already earmarked in 2018 for Vision Zero.

The new money would bring the total Vision Zero investment to $100 million over five years.

Tory said the funds would be spent on speeding up road redesigns, installing zebra markings at 200 new intersections, painting green bike lanes, clearing up a backlog of speed-hump installations, and doubling the number of leading pedestrian interval signals from 40 to 80.

The mayor believes it’s money well spent.

“As mayor, I believe I have no more important duty than to ensure the safety of all Toronto residents,” he said from city hall on Friday. “Any death on Toronto streets is absolutely unacceptable.”

The death of a 58-year-old woman who was struck and run over by a truck while cycling near Bloor and St. George streets on Tuesday brought the issue of cycling safety to the forefront this week. Many took to Twitter to call out Tory for failing to make progress on Vision Zero, which aims to bring the number of road deaths in Toronto to zero.

The safety initiative was first implemented two years ago, but since then Toronto has seen a disturbing spate of fatal collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists.

“I’ve been horrified by the continued rise in deaths involving pedestrians and cyclists being hit by cars and trucks, and in the past few days we’ve once again seen how dangerous and deadly our streets can be,” Tory admitted.

Despite urban planner Jennifer Keesmaat’s passionate pleas for widespread speed limit reductions, Tory’s announcements on Friday didn’t include any plans to lower speed limits.

Tory did say he’s been in contact with mayors from other Canadian cities, where innovative street safety measures have been implemented.

“I personally got in touch with the mayors of Winnipeg and Calgary this week to find out more about how Calgary uses prefabricated concrete pieces at intersections to reduce crossing distances and slow down drivers,” he said.

“Winnipeg uses quick-to-install barriers for bike lanes. I’ve also been in touch with the mayor of Winnipeg … to examine that.”

But in the end Tory stressed that our streets will only become safer when drivers slow down and exercise more caution.

“Our city is changing fast and our roads are shared,” he said. “Drivers must pay attention and drive with the utmost caution. They are the ones surrounded by tonnes of steel. Pedestrians and cyclists are not.”

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