A pair of downtown city councillors are calling for a new “action plan” to address gridlock concerns in Liberty Village.
Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik and Coun. Gord Perks have put forward a motion that will be considered at this week’s city council meeting. The motion asks staff to report back with short-term and long-term plans to respond to concerns about congestion in the west end neighbourhood.
The initiative comes amid a wider debate around Liberty Village’s worsening traffic, with some residents suggesting that it takes them up to 45 minutes just to cover a short distance within the neighbourhood.
CTV News recently spoke with a number of experts and residents about just how bad the traffic has gotten in Liberty Village and what’s needed to fix it.
Here is what they had to say.
(interviews have been edited for length and clarity)
Staff Sgt. Matthew Routh, Toronto Police Traffic Services
I've certainly heard from my colleagues that it's taken them forty minutes to an hour sometimes to get out of Liberty Village.
It's certainly a challenge and our officers are aware of it, and we work to deploy our officers outside of the perimeter of Liberty Village as early as possible simply to combat that challenge that we face.
We actually have deployed officers that are from this building to east and west locations permanently to help alleviate those concerns, to help speed up response times. There's been frustrated drivers, frustrated pedestrians even...probably the best thing we're looking for is additional transit in this area.
I would suggest that at some point we're going to reach a breaking point in this area.
Himanshu Ranka, resident
Love the neighbourhood, I still think it's one of the best decisions I've made living here, but the traffic is a really, really big issue. Yesterday I was trying to get to Fort York park. It took us 45 minutes by car, which is kind of crazy because it's just a kilometre away. I think the solution would have had to been done before this place was built, and I think it might be a little late. I definitely think there should be better planning with events.
Emily Foucault, resident
Crisis, beyond crisis-mode, it's terrible.
Some of the most basic infrastructure like even the sidewalks you have to walk single-file on the sidewalks. And then we have all the carnivals, the concerts, the TFC games, it's crisis mode. And then you think about even in an emergency and getting emergency vehicles out, and they can't come in, it's scary.
Ross Howey, resident
One of the great things about living in our community is that so much is in reach such as stores, restaurants, entertainment...you name it. But sometimes you have to drive or rely on transit to get where you are going. There is a tendency in this city to restrict major arteries while compromising the available alternates. More cars going into the neighbourhood than can leave it means total gridlock at which point driving or taking a bus is no longer an option, especially for the mobility challenged.
Matti Siemiatycki, director of the Infrastructure Institute at the School of Cities (University of Toronto)
Traffic across the whole city is terrible, and Liberty Village is the pinch point. They are really facing a crisis of congestion. I think the key is, there are no quick fixes. The city talks about the traffic wardens, talks about light timings, that might make some marginal difference, but ultimately the challenge is this: there are too many cars and not enough space. We need to have people using other alternative modes of transportation that are viable, that are quick, that are safe and reliable.
It's going to be public transit, that has to be the largest option, as well as walking, and bringing the services close to people so they can walk to a lot of the services —medical, dental, school—all of that needs to be close by and it's coming to Liberty Village, and it's been coming over the years.
Interestingly with Liberty Village, their issues are really every day...it's not just the events. That's why they require public transit, which is coming. They're going to have an Ontario Line station right there, but it's years off. And that's the challenge here. To do something in the short term is going to be around the margins because there's too many cars and not enough space.
I share the serious concerns of Liberty Village residents and visitors about worsening traffic congestion. With Gardiner and King Street construction, and a number of special events, the situation is at a critical point.
Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik
I have been working with city staff seriously over the past few months.
At council this week, I will be calling for a Liberty Village Traffic Action Plan to identify and implement short, medium and long-term solutions.
Some of this work is already underway - the city’s new, dedicated Special Events Traffic Management team is already enhancing traffic coordination for multiple events and addressing neighbourhood concerns. The continued planning effort will include for the deployment of traffic agents, traffic control personnel, traffic signal timing modifications to help traffic keep moving and in parallel, additional electronic variable message signage where necessary to provide critical information to motorists along the way.
This work is both urgent and long-term.