Preville on Politics
The Eglinton Avenue East death trap
Posted on May 14, 2008 by Philip Preville
When I interviewed Councillor Adrian Heaps, who heads the city’s cycling committee, for my column in the current issue of Toronto Life, I asked him if there was anywhere in the city where he thought bike lanes would not work. His answer: Eglinton East, where the cars move so fast at such high volumes that the street might as well be a highway. “I would not put them there right now,” he told me. This morning’s news (“2 dead, 8 hurt”) shows us why. Incidentally, that’s the second median-jumping multi-vehicle crash along that stretch in less than a month (the first didn’t result in any deaths, despite involving multiple cars).
How ironic is it that this stretch of Eglinton features a row of car dealerships? I bought my car there two years ago. I have never gone back, not even for servicing. The road struck me as the most aggressive I’ve ever driven on. Heaps mentioned that the TTC’s Transit City Plan will completely overhaul the street’s design, and the light-rail transit lines will serve as a de facto traffic-calming device. But that’s years away. In the meantime, city hall and the cops might want to pay closer attention to a road that appears to be spiralling out of control.
Philip Preville
Veteran freelance writer Philip Preville lived much of his life in Montreal and Edmonton before he was lured, like so many Torontonians before him, by the promise of more work and a better living. A National Magazine Award winner and former Canadian Journalism Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Massey College, Preville writes Toronto Life’s politics column. He lives with his wife and one-year-old son in Riverdale, just close enough to the Don Valley Parkway that he can hear it when he steps outside his house—but just far enough away that it doesn’t keep him awake at night. On his office wall hangs a 1938–39 press pass belonging to his grandfather, Elias Gannon, who wrote for the Montreal Star.
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Comments
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Torontolifer May 14, 2008 at 11:15 a.m.
I've driven on this stretch quite often, and I have found it .. not great, but par for the course in Toronto. There are quite a few lanes, four in some areas I think, and in rush hour, people can move quickly down there and make up for lost time.
I think the comments are a little silly, I mean, there are aggressive drivers, and apparently the guy was drunk. I mean, an aggressive, drunk driver is a major tragedy waiting to happen Eglinton East or Charles Street.
And the whole article about bike lanes seemed out of touch, and was making use of an isolated incident more than two years ago. I mean, every information source in the article seemed to be dated 2006 — how is this relevant to toronto in 2008? The author mentioned something like "all the cyclists I spoke with" expressed some similar opinion, but none seemed ot be quoted in the article. Can't you try and do some real research and find some more current situations? Whenever you have pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists you have conflict.
There are far more road rage incidents involving two car drivers than with cyclists, despite all the talk about militants. And many of those end in beatings and shootings. I mean, just look at the one right in the lower village at spadina and lonsdale where two dumb ass drivers duked it out at midday. And, yes, one driver was, again, drunk.
Cars are the problem. Period. that's what people are scared of accepting.
Anyway, end of rant. thanks for the opportunity.
Reader May 15, 2008 at 11:52 a.m.
Did the Sun ask your permission to reprint this post in today's paper? They credit you but I know they've done this to other bloggers and have had to pay them for the content when pressed. Seems even worse to do it to you since you actually make a living off this writing thing.