Riverside Drive residents fear city's plans to slow down 'speeders' may worsen situation
In a move that's angering many residents in the area, the city is going ahead and finalizing plans to redesign Riverside Drive, a street that has been plagued by speeders and reckless drivers for years.
Riverside Drive is a winding street that includes a house once owned by Anne of Green Gables author Lucy Maud Montgomery. It also follows the beginning of the historic Toronto Carrying Place Trail, a trade route revered by local First Nations.
It is slated for redevelopment with construction beginning later this month, including straightening, re-surfacing and the installation of curbs and a sidewalk.
"Year after year, we have been trying to come up with something that would help us to make this a street we can use, that people can walk on, or run and cycle on," said Melissa Warry-Smith, a resident on the street. "The [city] has come up with a plan that will not address our speeding concerns, our safety concerns, our environmental concerns."
Barbara Gray, the city's general manager of Transportation Services, said the city's plan presented Monday evening to the community should address the speeding and safety concerns residents have. The plan includes narrowing the roadway and elevated intersections.
"We've taken the spirit of what they've put forward and I believe that's reflected in the final design."
Another resident, Sydney Reimer, disagrees. She says the city is planning changes that will make speeding an even bigger problem. Those changes include straightening and widening the road in some sections, filling in cracks and potholes, repaving and installing curbs and a sidewalk.
She said the city isn't doing enough to preserve the character of the roadway.
"It is a heritage route. It's something that means a lot to us and our First Nations and ... the city is urbanizing it," said Sydney Reimer. "We want [the city] to use design options that will slow cars down and that will be compatible with the whole historical character of the street."
A number of incidents in the area have residents demanding action from the city.
Here are some of the stories Reimer and many of her neighbours tell about speeding and reckless drivers, who use the 1.6-km-long street to avoid rush hour traffic on the adjacent South Kingsway:
- Reimer says her cleaning lady's car has been hit while parked on the roadside three times.
- Vera Bobson says she's had three different vehicles side-swiped in separate incidents over the years.
- A car belonging to Bobson's next door neighbour was hit so hard it was a write-off, she says.
- Another neighbour placed a huge stone block at the corner of his property to intercept out-of-control cars after a driver crashed through his front door.
Coun. Sarah Doucette, who represents the neighbourhood, acknowledges that the street has speeding issues but feels that the city has done enough to listen to residents.
"I appreciate that some residents feel they haven't been listened to because their ideas aren't incorporated," she said. "I'm sorry, it is a fact of life that the engineers are the ones that have to do the designs but I will say the city has gone way beyond what they normally do for reconstruction to listen to residents' concerns."
Construction on Riverside Drive is scheduled to wrap up at the end of the year. The city says it will evaluate the success of the anti-speeding designs six to 12 months after it is done.