Broadview-Danforth fatality sparks local safety audit, pedestrian count.
Danforth business owner Scott Torrance stands on the northwest corner of Broadview and Danforth. The Riverdale resident approached Councillor Paula Fletcher in an effort to make the intersection safer for both pedestrians and motorists.
Staff photo/JOANNA LAVOIE
The Jan. 22 death of a 57-year-old male pedestrian near Danforth and Broadview avenues was especially difficult for life-long Riverdale resident Scott Torrance.
Ironically just days before Chen Chung Shao was fatally struck by a dump truck at the irregular intersection, Torrance had served as a member of a design panel put together by the Toronto Walking Strategy, a plan to make Toronto a great walking city.
"(That man's death) was extremely shocking, disturbing and tragic. It really affected me," said the father of three young children, recalling how he stepped out for lunch the day of the accident minutes after it happened.
"Hopefully that won't happen again at this intersection."
So moved by the accident, Torrance approached his local councillor, Paula Fletcher, about the possibility of taking a closer look at traffic and pedestrian safety in the area.
Within a week or so, he was invited to sit down with the Ward 30 (Toronto-Danforth) representative as well as Dylan Reid of the city's pedestrian committee and Elyse Parker of the Public Realm Unit.
Torrance presented them with images and information about four local intersections he felt were unsafe: Broadview and Danforth, Carlaw and Riverdale, Pape and Riverdale, and Logan and Danforth.
"Broadview and Danforth is especially bad. There's so much happening at that intersection," he said during a recent interview at his Danforth Avenue office, pointing to street cars, vehicular traffic, bike lanes, the nearby subway station, heavy pedestrian traffic, and a busy DVP on-ramp, not to mention a thriving local business community.
"It requires a unique solution."
The owner of his own landscape architecture business since 2004, Torrance said some of the ways to make the area safer for both pedestrians as well as motorists could include painting large zebra stripes at pedestrian crossings, prohibiting right turns on red lights, reducing speed limits, and changing the timing of traffic signals to give pedestrians ample time to cross the street.
"Our streets should be safe. There are a lot of strategies to try and make these intersections safer," he said, adding that everyone wants safe, walkable neighbourhoods.
"Our roads are well engineered for cars but our sidewalks aren't well engineered for people. I think we can do both well."
Fletcher agreed with Torrance's concerns and requested the city's transportation services undertake a safety audit and pedestrian count for the Broadview-Danforth intersection as well as for Broadview Avenue to Gerrard Street East, another extremely busy area that's home to East Toronto Chinatown and the soon-to-be-redeveloped Bridgepoint Health hospital.
That request, which was endorsed by the city's pedestrian committee, was recently granted.
Jacqueline White, manager of traffic operations for the south district (east), said her team is now working to determine the scope of the study.
"The city wants all intersections to be safe and we are taking a much closer look at the (Broadview-Danforth) intersection to see if there are any safety improvements we can make. We're also working with the local police to have their input on any concerns."
White said transportation services would spend the next month or so exploring the scope of the study and conducting preliminary reviews.
"Then we'll determine how much deeper we'll need to go," she said, adding shortly after the Jan. 22 fatality the city did a review of the intersection to see if there were any immediate safety issues that needed addressing.
Fletcher vowed she'd keep a close eye on the process.
"I want to make sure it's done right. This tragedy at the corner of Broadview and Danforth is terrible. We need to make the area much more pedestrian friendly," she said, sharing her elation that the city's first major pedestrian-focused audit is being done in her ward.
"I'm very, very happy this response came so quickly. This is going to be very exciting."
Torrance just wishes the safety audit and pedestrian count had happened before a man lost his life at the Broadview and Danforth intersection.
"Unfortunately, it takes something as tragic as what's been happening this year to initiate these changes," he said, pointing to the 13 pedestrian deaths on Toronto's streets since the start of 2010.
"After all, it is a good first step by the city."