#StClairDisaster<\/a> debate, so-called, is that the extreme rhetorical polarization whipped up by the brothers Ford precludes any rational discussion about how to make practical improvements where they are warranted.<\/p>\nThe Fords couldn\u2019t give a damn about St. Clair \u2014 their target audience mainly lives elsewhere. But you\u2019d think that Cesar Palacio, the local councillor, would realize his incessant carping about the alleged carnage on St. Clair is inflicting all sorts of brand harm on the retailers he purports to support. After all, he\u2019s spent years telling their prospective customers to steer clear. At some point, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy (in case the Corso Italia BIA is still looking for someone to blame).<\/p>\n
As for local drivers, Palacio and the dwindling collection of Ford allies have been conspicuously silent about how the city might make some targeted fixes to improve bottlenecks, especially on the western stretches of St. Clair. Again, the question begs: why isn\u2019t Palacio trying to mitigate his constituents\u2019 driving problems instead of whining ceaselessly? After all, the right-of-way ain\u2019t going anywhere.<\/p>\n
From what I\u2019ve heard and observed, there are a handful of hot-spots that raise everyone\u2019s temperature: the bottlenecks under the railway bridge near Keele, the westbound turn lanes east of Oakwood, and on the east-bound lanes between Vaughan and Bathurst. It\u2019s also clear that parked cars pose a particular sort of impediment when they\u2019re left on those stretches adjacent to the streetcar stops.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With some positive prodding, the City\u2019s transportation officials could undertake a handful of focused improvements to deal with these locations:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Impose a 24\/7 ban on stopping and parking in the areas directly adjacent to streetcar stops. Those are the locations where turning buses or trucks sometimes get stuck, and where drivers are heading after making a U-turn. They also represent the zones where EMS vehicles may encounter an absolute blockage. Clear them out.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Begin the process of developing a plan to widen St. Clair under the railway overpass east of Keele from one driving lane to two, as is the case everywhere else on this road. The City\u2019s decision to allow the ROW to go through this bottleneck without making provisions to expand the underpass was a mistake and needs to be fixed. Joe Pantalone, lest we forget, lobbied for years to get the City to allocate capital funds to sort out the Dufferin Street jog ($40 million); this location should receive similarly close attention from a planning, engineering and budgeting perspective.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Undertake traffic modeling studies to determine how best to address the back-ups at Oakwood (westbound) and Bathurst (eastbound). In both spots, it\u2019s obvious that the bottlenecks are symptomatic of closely-spaced signalized intersections coupled with overly tolerant street-parking rules. In both locations, there\u2019s plenty of nearby parking, on side streets or in parking lots. Yes, it\u2019s great to be able to stop your car in front of the Shoppers Drug Mart at St. Clair and Bathurst. But it won\u2019t kill anyone to park around the corner.<\/p>\n
In the case of Oakwood, the City should acknowledge that the right-turn from St. Clair to Oakwood is part of the feeder route up to the Allen and the 401. What\u2019s more, drivers have long been funnelled towards that intersection because of the traffic maze south of the Allen, so it is reasonable for them to expect that it works properly. Joe Mihevc in the past year or so pushed the City to add a turn lane onto the Allen from Eglinton West, thus easing a backlog that stretched all the way over to Bathurst. Palacio should press the City to ban parking on the north side of the block east of Oakwood. On balance, it is more important to allow that intersection to function smoothly than to allow cars to stop in front of the dry cleaner.<\/p>\n
And if the merchants yelp about the loss of parking spots, as they invariably will? The City is well within its means to help them out by working with the local BIAs to provide customers with information about Green P lots or even set up a system that allows merchants to provide their customers with discounts on their parking fees, as is done in some downtown towers. After all, the city allocates funds for fa\u00e7ade restoration in the name of local economic development. Why can\u2019t those budgets be used to give a bit of a break to customers who drive to the area to shop?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no reason I can see why these bottlenecks on St. Clair can\u2019t be loosened up sufficiently to improve the driving experience. Which, it should be said, is the right thing to do. After all, the City shouldn\u2019t be in the business of making life unnecessarily difficult for any resident, regardless of their mode of travel.<\/p>\n
None of this will happen, however, until Palacio chooses to move beyond the obstructionist politics that continues to mar his approach to the main arterial running through his ward. And until he does, his name rightfully belongs on the list of those waging, ahem, a War On The Car.<\/p>\n
photo by Sean Marshall<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The problem with the #StClairDisaster debate, so-called, is that the extreme rhetorical polarization whipped up by the brothers Ford precludes any rational discussion about how to make practical improvements where they are warranted. The Fords couldn\u2019t give a damn about St. Clair \u2014 their target audience mainly lives elsewhere. But you\u2019d think that Cesar Palacio,Continue reading “LORINC: Fixing the St. Clair “disaster””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"featured_media":28161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[246,1174,552,1103,1434,7531,391],"class_list":["post-28159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transit","tag-cesar-palacio","tag-ford","tag-joe-mihevc","tag-joe-pantalone","tag-local-councillor","tag-sean-marshall","tag-usd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLORINC: Fixing the St. Clair "disaster" - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2012\/04\/10\/lorinc-fixing-the-st-clair-disaster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LORINC: Fixing the St. Clair "disaster" - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The problem with the #StClairDisaster debate, so-called, is that the extreme rhetorical polarization whipped up by the brothers Ford precludes any rational discussion about how to make practical improvements where they are warranted. 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