A report by the Director General of Transportation Services, released Wednesday, looked at the closure of Lake Shore Boulevard West as part of ActiveTO, a program launched in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the report, which will be discussed at the city council on Wednesday, Transport Services staff recommends that the program be continued on a limited basis, noting that road closures have caused significant traffic delays and hampered other weekend events. In its first year, the program saw up to 36,000 cyclists and thousands of pedestrians access the area on the lake shore, between Windemere Avenue and Stadium Road. “With most leisure facilities closed due to indoor concentration restrictions and high demand in city parks, there was a significant need for additional outdoor recreation area where people could walk, bike, run or skate while they maintained a social distance “, the report states.
The Mayor hopes to achieve a “balance” after complaints
But as public health measures are gradually lifted and traffic volumes have begun to return to pre-pandemic levels with the return of public events, the report says the closure adds pressure to the “available road network”. Staff have said they have since received hundreds of complaints seeking to reopen roads for motor vehicles due to traffic disruptions and limited access caused by the program. Given business and attraction access concerns, staff are proposing an approach that “allows a limited number of ActiveTO closures”, although it is unclear how many will occur each year. (Robert Krbavac / CBC) On Saturday, Toronto Mayor John Tori said he hoped City Council could find a “balance” on the issue after Toronto Blue Jays CEO Mark Shapiro called on the council to lift the Active TO closure on Lake Shore. Boulevard West. In an open letter to the city, Shapiro said the closure makes it more difficult for baseball fans to access the Rogers Center on weekends. From May 15 to September 26, 2021, the average travel time east on the Gardiner Expressway from Highway 427 to York Street was 14.5 minutes, without ActiveTO closing, according to the report. By comparison, the average travel time was 33.6 minutes per day with ActiveTO closing.
Staff to consider other facts when deciding to close
Given business and attraction access concerns, staff are proposing an approach that “allows a limited number of ActiveTO closures,” the report says – although it is unclear how many will occur each year. According to the report, staff will consider other scheduled weekend events, construction on side streets, access to local sites and traffic impacts, when choosing closing dates. In addition, the report recommends continuing to close ActiveTO on Bayview Avenue and Meadoway. So far this year, ActiveTO roads were closed on May 23 and May 29. The Victorian Day weekend was attended by 17,000 cyclists and 4,000 pedestrians. In 2021, proponents of cycling and Torontonians in favor of the program called on the city to make the program permanent earlier, after a 2020 city survey found that more than 90 percent of respondents said they wanted the roadblocks to continue during duration and after the pandemic.
