Stats come as redesign of Kingston Road is in the works
Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration; not a photograph of the reported event.
Councillor Paul Ainslie said his constituents were unhappy with the Scarborough Golf Club Road redesign
There were 10 fatal motorcycle crashes so far to date in the city of Toronto and 8 happened on Scarborough streets.
According to police statistics, 42 Division in Scarborough is also leading in the number of total road fatalities with seven: two people were killed in car crashes, four in motorcycle accidents and one pedestrian also died.
These statistics highlight the ongoing road safety debate in Scarborough that has led to the recently completed, though controversial, reconstruction of Scarborough Golf Club Road and the upcoming redesign of Kingston Road, which is scheduled for next year.
In 2023, Toronto city council voted to approve the “Road Safety Improvements Project on Scarborough Golf Club Road.” These “improvements” included separated bike lanes on both sides of Scarborough Golf Club Road, new protected intersections at Ellesmere, Bremerton and Lawrence, wider sidewalks, raised crosswalks, two new signalized intersections, new “bioretention” planters and “green gutters” to capture stormwater runoff.
Upon completion of this project in September, many members of the public came forward to the media to express their displeasure with the design and doubts about the improvement to public safety.
Local Councillor Paul Ainslie also told the media that many of his constituents were unhappy and that the design was based on the input of only the 80 members of the public who participated in the public consultations.
According to the city, between 2010 and 2021, 15 people were either killed or seriously injured on that stretch of Scarborough Golf Club Road. The city hopes the redesign will force drivers to slow down.
A similar redesign is also in the works for Kingston Road from Cliffside Drive to Scarborough Golf Club Road. While the number of vehicle lanes will not change, physically protected cycle tracks and bike lanes will be added. Speed limits will be reduced between Brimley Road South and Scarborough Golf Club Road from 60km/hr to 50km/hr, green space in the existing centre medians will be expanded north of St. Clair along Kingston Road, some intersections will see narrowed side streets to shorten pedestrian crossing distances an on-street parking will be maintained close to businesses, with 22 additional on-street parking spots added to the Cliffside village area.
Over the last fivf years there were at least four serious motorcycle crashes on Kingston Road. From this year’s statistics, most of the motorcycle crashes in Scarborough occurred in intersections with a left-turning vehicle.
