traffic Safety

Traffic Safety in the Republic

The Rathnelly Area Residents Association (RARA) has been working since 2016 with officials from the City of Toronto, Toronto Police Service, Parking Enforcement, and Councillor Josh Matlow’s office to advance our campaign to improve traffic safety in the Republic.  So far, we have had some luck with improving signage, and three enforcement blitzes targeting speeding, wrong way driving, and drivers who don’t stop at stop signs (which nabbed a few residents as well as outsiders).  We are chasing open items related to the following:

• Revised parking schedule for Poplar Plains Crescent

• Adding a stop sign at Poplar Plains Crescent and Poplar Plains Road (criteria for the addition of a crosswalk were not met for this site)

• Requesting a crossing guard at Cottingham Street and Poplar Plains Road

• Adding a bump-out at McPherson Avenue and Rathnelly Avenue to prevent wrong way driving, which we were successful in securing

• Ongoing enforcement blitzes to target speeding, wrong way driving, and not stopping at the stop signs

• Line painting refresh

We will continue to work with officials to make progress on these issues and post updates on this page.

For more detailed background information on steps that have been taken to address the issue of traffic in the neighbourhood, you can review the documents linked below:

• Petition about dangerous vehicular traffic and parking on Poplar Plains Crescent (November 2016)

• Summary of meeting with City and Police officials (December 2016)

• Summary of meeting with City and Police officials (April 2017)

Traffic Safety on Avenue Road

Since RARA began our efforts to address traffic concerns in our neighbourhood, a separate broader traffic safety effort has emerged related to traffic on Avenue Road between St. Clair and Davenport and the dangers associated with congestion, speeding, and drivers running red lights.  There are multiple residents' and school parents' associations working together - including RARA, South Hill, Annex, Brown School Parents, Cottingham School Parents, and De La Salle Parents. 

In September 2017, the City of Toronto commissioned a corridor safety review for Avenue Road, the results and recommendations from which were frustratingly inadequate.  A small group of dedicated neighbours secured a deferral to ensure that all interested parties could convene and come back with a shared set of recommendations.  Our recommendations are outlined in a letter sent to our City Councillors on January 12, 2018.