Toronto's 10 worst intersections for pedestrians

[amor de cosmos]

Toronto reveals 10 worst intersections for pedestrians, promises ‘immediate’ improvements
All of the 10 intersections identified in a new city study of pedestrian collisions were outside the downtown core.
By: Daniel Dale City Hall, Published on Sun May 12 2013

Running late for a doctor’s appointment, Jennifer Green and her young daughter waited at a green light for a Walk signal that never came. Then, confused, they waited a second time.

On the third green light after she arrived at Sheppard Ave. E. and Ambrose Rd. on Friday, Green finally decided to defy the unchanging Don’t Walk signal. She and her daughter ran across the street, mother muttering in the general direction of the red hand.

They made it across without incident. Between 2007 and 2011, at least nine others did not. According to a new city study, this seemingly unremarkable North York intersection near the Leslie subway station was the worst in Toronto for people on foot over that five-year period.

One of the intersections on the city’s 10-worst list has already been redesigned. In a new report to council, the city promises “immediate” improvements to the other nine.

Depending on the intersection, the transportation department will do such things as provide more crossing time, give pedestrians a brief head start before cars are allowed to move, install “Yield to Pedestrians” signs, paint or repaint pedestrian markings on the road, and make left turns sharper so cars are forced to slow down.

Pedestrian advocates are pleased. Though some intersections would be better overhauled than tweaked, Dylan Reid said, small-scale changes “can make a difference.”

“People underestimate the role that bad design plays in creating collisions,” said Reid, co-founder of advocacy group Walk Toronto. “People often blame pedestrians and drivers, but often they’re responding to the cues that the infrastructure is giving them.”



Toronto’s 10 worst intersections for pedestrians, 2007-2011

1. Sheppard Ave. E. and Ambrose Rd./Provost Dr.

2. St. Dennis Dr. and Deauville Lane

3. Steeles Ave. E. and Ashcott St./Fenton Rd.

4. Neilson Rd. and McLevin Ave.

5. St. Clair Ave. E. and Brimley Rd.

6. Roncesvalles Ave. and Fermangh Ave./High Park Blvd.

7. Steeles Ave. E. and Strawberry Hills Dr./Hillcroft Dr.

8. Rexdale Blvd. and Queens Plate Dr.

9. Wilson Ave. and Allingham Gardens

10. Keele St. and Annette St.

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hal...rovements.html

https://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?msa=0...0&source=embed

[kwoldtimer]

The Star article's opening anecdote about the Sheppard/Ambrose intersection is a bit mysterious as it doesn't indicate why the pedestrian wasn't getting a "Walk" signal. Failure to activate it or something more?