Walkers to be safer at Dawes and Vic. Park

[attach]1983[/attach]The Dawes Road and Victoria Park Avenue intersection will be reconfigured to make it safer for pedestrians.

The project is part of a wider revitalization plan for Dawes Road, which also includes adding trees and plants to the boulevards,
installing public art at the Dawes Road and Victoria Park intersection, and creating bike lanes from Danforth Avenue to Victoria Park.

“It’ll make it a more appealing neighbourhood,” said Ward 31 councillor Janet Davis. “It needs to have some new vitality brought back to it to encourage more vibrant businesses. And I think it’ll just bring a greater sense of pride in the neighbourhood.”

The plan is currently in the design stage, which the city hopes to finish by the end of the summer or early in the fall. The target date for the start of construction is around summer 2011, with final completion projected for late fall of that year.

The city held a public meeting on May 17 to discuss the preliminary plans with the community.
Davis said residents voiced their concerns about pedestrian safety at the Dawes Road and Victoria Park Avenue intersection, the site of many accidents.

“It’s an unusual configuration,” she said. “There’s a southbound lane that diverts traffic off Victoria Park onto Dawes Roads. And there’s no stop, so cars speed down there.”

Davis said the revitalization will make crossing the street safer by squaring off the intersection to give it a more traditional layout.

The intersection will also be turned into a ‘green gateway’ with public art. The city will hold a competition residents can get involved in to help design the space.

The asphalt boulevards along Dawes Road will also be replaced with trees and plants.

Greenery will not only beautify the area and add some shade, it will also help alleviate the city’s storm water problem, Davis said.

“We’re trying to replace hard surfaces with permeable materials and naturally absorbing surfaces, like grass and landscaping.”

The other major project is the installation of bike lanes. Davis said a lot of people in the neighbourhood cycle. Many of them use the bike path but they told her they would start riding along Dawes if lanes are put in, she said.

The bikes lanes will also help reduce speeding along Dawes, as lanes tend to slow down traffic, Davis said. Since the street is a bus route, the city can’t put in speed bumps.