On Thursday, Feb. 11 at 12:30 p.m., Mirror Staff Reporter Joanna Lavoie accompanied local resident and business owner, Scott Torrance, on a short walkabout of the Broadview-Danforth intersection.
Southeast corner
The sun is shining brightly on this crisp winter day.
Dozens of the 2,500 students from the nearby City Adult Learning Centre at 1 Danforth Ave. are out and about on their lunch break as are people who live and work in the area.
Vehicular traffic is fairly heavy from all directions.
Torrance points out his first concern: sidewalks that aren't wide enough to accommodate all of the pedestrians waiting to cross the street.
"There's not a lot of room here," he gestures, adding that the advance green light for motorists is especially problematic when this occurs. "Ideally, (the city) should re-prioritize this corner. It's heavily used by pedestrians."
Southwest corner
"For a major intersection like this, look how narrow this space is. It's just about 10 feet," Torrance immediately pipes in upon arrival at the irregular intersection's southwest corner.
He notes the especially poor sightlines for vehicles turning right from Danforth Avenue, many of which are having difficulty seeing pedestrians crossing the street.
"Ideally, they should widen the sidewalk. A short turning radius allows cars to turn quickly but if there's a bigger sidewalk it slows down turning traffic," he explained, adding that a pedestrian scramble, like the ones at Yonge and Bloor and Yonge and Dundas streets, could also work for this intersection.
"It's a lively area and that's what's great about it. Think about all the cars people don't have to take to get here."
A short distance away is the heavily used exit ramp onto the northbound Don Valley Parkway. Without even blinking an eye a very brave student proceeds to jaywalk in between a large lineup of cars lining up eastbound on the Prince Edward Viaduct.
Northwest corner
Another busy corner of the Danforth-Broadview intersection where more pedestrians than the sidewalk can hold are waiting to cross the street. Some are forced to spill out onto the busy roadway.
"They shouldn't have to do that," Torrance said, adding he encourages his staff members to avoid jaywalking when walking in this busy area.
In this case, the sightlines for vehicles are fairly good but, again, it's still irregular because the sidewalk is so shallow.
"You do have to be careful around here," he said.
Northeast corner
After a brief pause to survey the sun-drenched intersection, Torrance says he's seen a circa 1920 photograph of the intersection taken at this exact corner with the still-standing Playter Society Building at 95 Danforth Ave. in the background.
"Traffic was a lot different then when it was just a muddy road with a few horses," he said before pointing to the corner's highly inadequate sidewalk, which he estimates is only about two-and-a-half metres wide.
"There has to be room to wait but also room for people to walk by. Zebra stripes would help here."
In this case, Torrance said he feels a "bulb out", essentially a traffic calming curb extension, would be beneficial.