Counting the collisions
[attach]1429[/attach]Jennifer Long saw something she knew wasn’t right and has been fighting to get it fixed ever since.
Her concern is the traffic in Leaside along Eglinton Avenue. She lives on the street and frequently witnesses or hears fender benders, and it’s no surprise. According to the city’s Transportation Services department, crashes happen here at a rate of one every other day.
Following a tragic collision involving a teen last November, Long decided to get out and investigate the situation herself.
Upon requesting traffic accident statistics for the area she received an email reply from councillor John Parker’s executive assistant Vanessa Rose. The email contained the following:
“We have been advised that there has not been a motor vehicle collision between Bayview Avenue and Brentcliffe in the last few years…”
According to Parker the information came from traffic sergeant Dale Carter, who wasn’t available for comment as of press time, but it stands in contrast to figures provided to Long by Robert Decleir of Transportation Services.
Perturbed by this error, Long started a Facebook group called Leaside Traffic Calming Initiative where she posts photos of and details about the accidents collected by her neighbours and herself. A visit to the Facebook group reveals 38 photos of crunched fenders, overturned cars and acrobatic skid marks, all collected since November of last year.
“I work from home, so I’ll hear a collision and I’ll go downstairs, get my camera, walk outside and photograph it,” Long said. “I started photographing them to let people know that there’s a problem here.”
In addition to creating the Facebook page, Long has been hitting the streets, gathering information and campaigning for changes.
She collected 118 signatures on a petition calling for the addition of speed and school zone signage as well as increased police presence along Eglinton. She hand-delivered the petition to Parker who worked with Carter and Transportation Services to make it happen.
“You can credit Jennifer with that,” said Parker. “She brought the request to me and I acted on it.”
Recently Parker also successfully appealed to Transportation Services to shorten the crosswalk signal response time near Leaside High School, the site of last November’s near-fatal pedestrian collision.
But Long says it’s not enough.
“(Toronto Police’s) 53 Division is here about every two weeks. They have been sending officers now in response to our complaints. As soon as they leave (the speed) is back up,” she said, adding that she’s had police tell her that speeds of 70 and 80 km/h are common along this stretch.
“We need dedicated speed traps in the short term,” she said. “Without that we’re just not making a dent,” she said.
Parker said that the idea isn’t likely to fly in the heavily residential area.
“Where you find speed traps and where they pull cars over in great numbers is where you have a wide-open stretch of roadway and a place for the cop to hide,” he said.
In this part of Leaside there are several schools and Long said she’d like to see a school safety zone introduced similar to the one on Avenue Road just north of Eglinton. There, signs with flashing lights lower speeds to 40 km/h during peak school hours.
“I spoke to the principal at Marshall Mcluhan and she said that it has been just fantastic,” said Long. “It works. The community on and off the main artery are happy with the traffic calming there.
“If Forest Hill can do it so can we.”
While Long has done her research and has had many of her ideas implemented she’ll have to convince the experts about her proposed solutions if she wants further changes.
“There’s political pressure, but from an analytical standpoint none of the professionals have recommended we do anything that hasn’t already been implemented. We’ve done everything that policy allows us to do along Eglinton,” said Parker.
In the meantime, Long said she and her neighbours will keep shooting.
