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• Why parks are important [ Toronto Star ]
• Tusk, tusk, tusk, Elephants make pre-dawn foray into Ont. town [ cbc ]
• ‘Hi…we found an elephant’ [ Toronto Star ]
• Runaway elephants! [ Toronto Sun ]
• Opponents of new taxes launch city hall offensive [ Toronto Star ]
• Lake mayors cut water use [ Toronto Sun ]
• Ban water-wasting toilets, TO mayors says [ Globe and Mail ]
• Great Lakes mayor tout low-flush [ National Post ]
• It’s high time Mayor Miller put a stop to all those annoying red lights in Toronto and — wait for it — here’s a great idea: Roundabouts [ Toronto Sun ]
• Subway stations get $100M makeover [ National Post ]

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7 comments

  1. Apart from the Miller-bashing, the Sun article on roundabouts was worth reading. There aren’t many intersections though where there’s room for full-size roundabouts though, and they may be a problem on roads that are scheduled for Transit City (unless you tunnel under, like is done in Europe). Some of the roundabouts in Britain are gigantic and not suitable for promoting urbanism – pedestrians are often forced into “public subways”.

    The smaller traffic circles are an excellent alternative to four-way stops on minor roads (four-way stops are more of a poor traffic-calming measure and a place for cops to hand cyclists tickets for not making the complete stop).

  2. Surprised to read the roundabout piece in the Sun but very glad to see this conversation begun.

    Having lived in Sydney, Australia for a number of years where roundabouts/traffic circles are common, I would love to see these pop up around the city! They don’t take much getting used to, keep traffic moving, make a great place for pedestrians to pause when crossing if needed, and are also excellent spots for on-street gardens and public art.

  4. I dunno — I found roundabouts a pain in the ass to negotiate in Britain. Pedestrians have to walk “around” farther — even midsized ones can have quite a distance added. And the constantly moving traffic requires a crosswalk, which wasn’t always there, so often was difficult to cross because traffic didn’t stop.

    I found myself wanted to be back in Toronto where I can walk directly to things without being given the run around.

  5. “Why parks are important”, that is almost like asking, “Why we need clean air”. It seems like city bureaucrats are at it again creating a mess out of the West 8 project along Harbourfront, they are going to make it bland and create at least a 4-year delay in the project. Their incompetence almost derailed HTO. When will city council do its job and make these idiots (who don’t deserve the salaries we are paying them) to stop screwing up Toronto? I am also very curious to know how many of them live inside the city’s boundaries, because they don’t seem to understand Toronto at all. Maybe there should be a by-law that puts public parks out of their reach.

  6. There’s a traffic circle in Ottawa where the NCC Scenic Driveway meets Prince of Wales Drive. See map here.

    As others’ comments predict, it is inconvenient to cross as a pedestrian. Wherever you are you’re on a curve, and the scenic shrubbery in the middle partially obscures oncoming traffic. I’d rate it between a separated right-turn lane and an expressway off-ramp in terms of apparent danger, but that’s not based on anything other than personal annoyance.

    If I had to guess, I’d say that the NCC is responsible for establishing it, whether as a Europhilic flourish or out of a horror of unsightly traffic lights. Sadly, Ottawa has plenty of more ludicrous intersections.

  7. Roundabouts are not a panacea. If the traffic volume grows beyond a certain point at major intersections many authorities will cheap out by installing signals rather than grade separating the roundabout with a flyover – which in a couple of years they end up having to do anyway at huge cost.