North Leasiders got their chance to vent about traffic on Apr. 18.
The North Leaside Traffic Commission held a town hall at Leaside Memorial Gardens, the third meeting the commission has had on the issue.
Ward 26 councillor Jon Burnside and NLTC chair John Gaitanakis chaired the meeting attended by about 70 Leasiders.
Gaitanakis announced that temporary cul-de-sacs could be implemented at Glenvale Boulevard, Broadway Avenue and Craig Crescent at their intersections with Bayview Avenue.
The idea of cul-de-sacs came from a survey issued by the NLTC, in which 69 per cent of respondents favoured the solution of putting temporary cul-de-sacs in some of the residential streets along Bayview for one year.
Glenvale Avenue could have a cul-de-sac after a voting period that starts on May 1. (ELLEN SAMEK/TORONTO OBSERVER)
A community vote starting on May 1 will determine whether or not the cul-de-sacs will be implemented. North Leasiders 18 years and older are eligible to vote.
“This is a gift,” said Gaitanakis. “Cities don’t usually work like this.”
During the Q and A, North and South Leasiders alike expressed their opinions on local traffic.
The perspectives ranged from annoyance and displeasure to anger.
Some attendees who live on Bayview said that they couldn’t get in or out of their driveways during rush hour. Others living on sidestreets off Bayview said commuters speed dangerously through their streets to avoid traffic jams due to construction.
Many were unimpressed with the temporary solution proposed by Gaitanakis.
Urban growth and residential developments in Leaside was also discussed.
“Our earlier predictions were a growth in Leaside by about 1,500, it turns out we weren’t aggressive enough in our predictions,” said Gaitanakis during the presentation. “It actually looks like a 20,000 person increase with all the development.”
Many in the audience new apartment buildings and the addition of big retailers like Walmart and Costco would only make traffic worse than it already is.