For those of you in Seaton Village, or whose children go to school there, this missive from Councillor Adam Vaughan might interest you:
"Seaton Village Traffic Update
Over a year ago, local residents contacted my office to express concerns about the safety of the streets around Palmerston Avenue Public School. A petition soon followed in addition to a letter from the Palmerston Avenue Daycare and Public School Committee. Barton Avenue later emerged as a particular concern as parents feared for the safety of their children walking to and from school.
One of the solutions that was proposed was a left-hand turn restriction from Christie Street to Barton Avenue. It was suggested that restricting left hand turns from Christie to Barton between 7 am and 7 pm would help reduce traffic on this well-used street.
I agreed that this is an idea was worth testing. However, because changes to one street often affect others close by, the plan was to study how the no-turn restriction would affect other streets over the course of the next year. Based on what was found, we could then make adjustments as the neighbourhood sees fit.
On September 15, the Toronto and East York Community Council supported the community’s request to test this idea by approving the restriction.
Since the turn restriction was approved, I have heard from a number of residents who are concerned about the effect that it could have on the safety of their streets. In response to these concerns, a traffic committee made up of representatives from different neighbourhood streets -- including those who supported the turn restriction on Barton and those who opposed it -- formed to further engage the community in a discussion on how to reach out goal of safe streets. This committee and other residents in the community asked that we take a second look at the left turn restriction proposal in the context of these concerns before moving forward.
I have asked Transportation Services to hold off on installing the left turn restriction from Christie to Barton until further community consultation can take place. On February 3, I would like to hold a public meeting in partnership with the Seaton Village Residents Association in order to gather broader community feedback on this issue.
Seaton Village residents are invited to a community meeting to discuss concerns that have been expressed about the safety of Barton Avenue, particularly for children. This meeting is scheduled to take place in early February. The date and location will be confirmed and sent out to Seaton Village residents shortly. Details of the meeting will also be posted on the Seaton Village Residents’ Association website at
http://seatonvillage.ca/.
Vanessa
