thecravinglife
New Member
Sure, streets like Ossington, Gerrard, etc are 40 km zones with parking on both sides, but the demographics and overall makeup of those neighbourhoods are quite different from East Liberty. When you enter Liberty Village off of Strachan on East Liberty, it is strictly a residential area of the Village. Tall condo buildings on the south side, townhouses on the right side, and then more condos on the north side the further you get. There is no commerce in this area, it's strictly residential. You don't hit the commercial area until you're down the hill between the Liberty Market Building on the south and Metro, et al, on the north.
The other major difference in my opinion is that other 40k streets in the City have many other streets running perpendicular to them. While they may be minor streets, there's still an option to exit/enter from more than one street. And most of the surrounding side streets simply don't have the density that East Liberty does. East Liberty is the only easterly exit from the Village given the Village is locked in from the train tracks in the north, and tracks in the south. There are simply no other options to get in or out. Same goes for the west side of the Village at Dufferin. If indeed there were additional east-west streets allowing entrance/exit from the Village, then I think the situation would be very different, and the sheer volume of traffic on East Liberty would be reduced.
I know that there is a proposal into the city to create a new east-west street in Liberty Village to help with traffic flow. It's meant to be built along the south side of the Village running parallel to the train tracks. When I walk to the end of all of the north-south roads in the Village it's not clear to me where exactly the City will get the land to build this road, but the idea is appealing. There was recently an open house to review the details of this proposal however I wasn't able to attend. Does anyone else have any further information on this development?
If indeed the City will not put in a stop light at this intersection until 2015 due to the MetroLinx work going on, I do wonder why there isn't a single pedestrian crossing on the east side of the Village. In addition to a lack of pedestrian crossings, standard road markings should be made asap along East Liberty: yellow middle line, white lines/pedestrian crossings at stop signs, a line which would create a left and right turn lane at the East Liberty/Strachan intersection when exiting the Village, and proper signage showing where cars can and cannot park. Most importantly for pedestrians and cyclists, at least 2 pedestrian crossings on Strachan between King and Fleet Street. I believe all of these actions would help the situation, but I haven't heard about any plans as of yet to improve the overall safety.
The other major difference in my opinion is that other 40k streets in the City have many other streets running perpendicular to them. While they may be minor streets, there's still an option to exit/enter from more than one street. And most of the surrounding side streets simply don't have the density that East Liberty does. East Liberty is the only easterly exit from the Village given the Village is locked in from the train tracks in the north, and tracks in the south. There are simply no other options to get in or out. Same goes for the west side of the Village at Dufferin. If indeed there were additional east-west streets allowing entrance/exit from the Village, then I think the situation would be very different, and the sheer volume of traffic on East Liberty would be reduced.
I know that there is a proposal into the city to create a new east-west street in Liberty Village to help with traffic flow. It's meant to be built along the south side of the Village running parallel to the train tracks. When I walk to the end of all of the north-south roads in the Village it's not clear to me where exactly the City will get the land to build this road, but the idea is appealing. There was recently an open house to review the details of this proposal however I wasn't able to attend. Does anyone else have any further information on this development?
If indeed the City will not put in a stop light at this intersection until 2015 due to the MetroLinx work going on, I do wonder why there isn't a single pedestrian crossing on the east side of the Village. In addition to a lack of pedestrian crossings, standard road markings should be made asap along East Liberty: yellow middle line, white lines/pedestrian crossings at stop signs, a line which would create a left and right turn lane at the East Liberty/Strachan intersection when exiting the Village, and proper signage showing where cars can and cannot park. Most importantly for pedestrians and cyclists, at least 2 pedestrian crossings on Strachan between King and Fleet Street. I believe all of these actions would help the situation, but I haven't heard about any plans as of yet to improve the overall safety.
