And the 10 most traffic-addled streets in Toronto are…
Sheppard Avenue commuters now have the dubious honour of spending hours on one of the most congested streets in one of the most gridlocked cities in the world. Toronto’s public works department released a list of its top 10 traffic trouble spots, and it leans heavily towards the north end—in fact, only two of the stretches on it were downtown (York Street from Front to the Gardiner Expressway, and Lakeshore Boulevard from York to Bathurst). Sheppard appears on the list five times, and the intersection of Sheppard and Bayview Avenue is officially the city’s worst place to be a driver. It’s interesting to note that none of the problem areas on the list have a streetcar line, which doesn’t bode well for Rob Ford’s characterization of streetcars (and LRTs) as traffic-snarling forces of destruction.
The Top 10 spots for congestion in the city:
1. Bayview Avenue and Sheppard Avenue East intersection
2. Yonge Street from Highway 401 to Sheppard Avenue
3. York Street from Front Street to the Gardiner Expressway
4. Sheppard Avenue West and Allen Road
5. Leslie Street from Highway 401 to Sheppard Avenue East
6. Lakeshore Boulevard from York Street to Bathurst Street
7. Kennedy Road from Highway 401 to Sheppard Avenue East
8. Markham Road from Highway 401 to Progress Avenue
9. Dufferin Street and Finch Avenue West intersection
10. Black Creek Drive and Lawrence Avenue West intersection
• Toronto’s 10 worst streets for traffic gridlock [Toronto Star]
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Sheppard Avenue commuters now have the dubious honour of spending hours on one of the most congested streets in one of the most gridlocked cities in the world. Toronto’s public works department released a list of its top 10 traffic trouble spots, and it leans heavily towards the north end—in fact, only two of the stretches on it were downtown (York Street from Front to the Gardiner Expressway, and Lakeshore Boulevard from York to Bathurst). Sheppard appears on the list five times, and the intersection of Sheppard and Bayview Avenue is officially the city’s worst place to be a driver. It’s interesting to note that none of the problem areas on the list have a streetcar line, which doesn’t bode well for Rob Ford’s characterization of streetcars (and LRTs) as traffic-snarling forces of destruction.
The Top 10 spots for congestion in the city:
1. Bayview Avenue and Sheppard Avenue East intersection
2. Yonge Street from Highway 401 to Sheppard Avenue
3. York Street from Front Street to the Gardiner Expressway
4. Sheppard Avenue West and Allen Road
5. Leslie Street from Highway 401 to Sheppard Avenue East
6. Lakeshore Boulevard from York Street to Bathurst Street
7. Kennedy Road from Highway 401 to Sheppard Avenue East
8. Markham Road from Highway 401 to Progress Avenue
9. Dufferin Street and Finch Avenue West intersection
10. Black Creek Drive and Lawrence Avenue West intersection
• Toronto’s 10 worst streets for traffic gridlock [Toronto Star]){kind=link}
Odd that the top two are on the Subway. Most of them are also near the 401.
Not really odd… If you live in the GTA, you should easily understand…
People from Markham, Richmond Hill, Newmarket, Thornhill, Vaughan, Ajax, Mississauga, Burlington, Oakville, Brampton… to name a few of the MANY, have to either drive to the subway stations, or drive to work because there is no other reasonable alternative.
e.g. I live in Scarborough, work in Mississauga, it doesn’t make sense to take the transit, pay just over $10 bucks a day in fares and spend over 2 hours on transit versus driving 30 minutes, on $10 bucks a day on gas.
People who live outside of TTC access have it worse. Until they decide to integrate our transit systems properly with one universal fare, or for TTC not to be greedy, and build subway stations closer to bordering municipalities (e.g. subway to Steeles or beyond) it will only get worse…
I forgot to mention the 2 hour 30 minute transit minimum transit ride is only one way!
It takes me 30 minutes to drive to work in the morning, and 1 hour to get home in the afternoon, so while it sucks, it isn’t too bad.
BTW, Sheppard was a bad location for the subway, Finch would probably have done better…
Considering we’ve ALREADY built the sheppard subway, might as well finish it…
People complain no one is using them… What do you expect from such a short line lol… Only recently it has been heavily developed, and soon you’ll have the #’s
Why they don’t make light rail vehicles compatible with subways doesn’t make sense! We should lay out subway tracks (cost wouldn’t even differentiate much to lay out tracks and build stations) Use light rail that can use subway rail, and in the future we swap for subway cars…
Bottom line is that the in-traffic LRT lines that City Council approved will not improve this situation one iota. The issue is speed… and in-traffic LRTs, even in their own right of way, do not qualify as rapid transit.
That’s right, RealityCheck. Don’t know why the TTC wants to run those streetcars in traffic either – shouldn’t they put it on a right of way at least, so the streetcar can cruise past traffic to the next light.
Idiot bearcats.
LRT lines are NOT going to be in-traffic, neither are the Spadina and St. Clair streetcars. They all have their own dedicated lanes, so I’m not sure what you are talking about. They do qualify as rapid transit (notice the St. Clair one often speeding by lined up cars), the same way most of the western world characterizes them as rapid transit, just because Ford and his supporters don’t actually know what they are we shouldn’t be writing them off. Those of you who live in the 905 do not deserve subway stations/lines. Density is far too low there to support the most expensive form of public transit. Those who think subways belong in the land of 2 car garages, big box stores with even bigger parking lots and precious few buildings taller than 6 storeys don’t seem to know much about urban planning. Here’s a thought…how about living somewhat close to your place of work? Scarborough to Mississauga everyday and it’s somehow public transit’s fault? Give me a break. Voting in a transit ignorant mayor seems to have given rise to so many snap armchair urban planners shooting from the hip. Sorry, we aren’t going to drop billions on a subway line just because you reckon it’ll do some good.