Beltline Trail Summary Report

Cycle Toronto - Beltline Trail Summary Report Submitted September 17, 2012 Prepared by: Cycle Toronto in Ward 22 Authors: John Taranu, Michael Black, Ken Brown Web: cycleto.ca/ward/22 Email: [email protected] This document is a summary review of our major recommendations for the Beltline Trail. We will also be submitting a much longer detailed review of the Beltline Trail looking at these issues in more detail. Beltline Petition and Community Support Our group has created a petition to gauge the level of community support for our suggested improvements: We, the undersigned, are in favour of improving the Beltline Trail for all users, including: ● Safe signalized crossings at major intersections of the Beltline (Avenue Rd, Bathurst St, and Oriole Parkway) ● Pathway lighting along the entire trail ● Winter maintenance ● Better drainage ● Connection to the proposed Chaplin LRT station Cycle Toronto volunteers set up a table on the Beltline Trail at Avenue Rd to canvass users on the trail itself. In only 5 hours of tabling, we gathered over 210 signatures on our petition, from a broad cross-section of users - people jogging, cycling, and walking with friends, children, or with their dogs. This is in addition to an original petition drive in late 2010, asking only for safe road crossings, for which we gathered 40 signatures. In our tabling to date we have encountered only 3 people on the Beltline opposed to our recommendations. The map below shows the distribution of the 203 petitioners who gave their postal codes of the petitioners. 22 of the petitioners live outside the map boundary! The map shows that the trail is used heavily by the surrounding community, as well as people farther away. This distribution makes sense considering the various uses of the trail. Real estate postings as far as 2km away tout the trail as a major selling point. It is a true community asset, and has helped increase property values in the entire surrounding neighbourhood. Safe Road Crossings Challenge The Beltline Trail is a 9km-long linear park, but currently functions as separate, disconnected sections, with very few direct, safe crossings between the segments. Where the trail crosses major roads, like Avenue and Bathurst, most trail users typically cross mid-block, waiting for gaps in the fast-moving auto traffic. Map of major and minor road crossings1 Oriole Parkway, Avenue Road, Bathurst Street, and Mt. Pleasant (at David Balfour Park) are all busy roads with high traffic volumes, and they are unsafe to cross in their current states. At Avenue Rd, northbound traffic does not stop when turning right from Oxton Ave to the south, and on Bathurst and David Balfour Park the crossing is at the bottom of a valley in both directions, so auto traffic is travelling at or over the speed limit. However, pedestrians and cyclists are still choose to cross the trail directly hundreds of times a day, and it is only a matter of time before there is a serious injury or death. At the Bathurst, Avenue and Oriole crossings, a signalized intersection is available to the north. However, most users do not walk or cycle the extra distance to the lights. At Bathurst, for example, students frequently cross directly on their way to and from Forest Hill Collegiate and the nearby recreation facilities. Due to the lack of curb cuts, most cyclists either hop off the curb or ride a short detour to the nearest curb cuts, typically at building 1 See this map online at http://goo.gl/maps/0qFHc driveways or where sidewalks meet the street. Many wheelchair users use the curb cuts and cross mid-block, which is more dangerous than going straight across. City officials often recommend that cyclists make a “quick jog” to the existing stoplights to the north and cross safely there. Detouring can be problematic for eastbound cyclists, as riding to stoplights on the narrow sidewalk or wrong-way on the street is both dangerous and illegal. The very rare cyclist who dismounts can end up walking a total of over ¾ of a km at a succession of intersections on the Beltline. Beltline Trail crossings at Avenue (left) and Bathurst (right), showing direct crossing route Recommendation We strongly recommend that safe, signalized crossings be installed at the Bathurst, Avenue, Oriole and David Balfour Park crossings. The first three crossings can be be synchronized with the nearby traffic signals to the north. The crossings should be direct, with no detour to nearby stoplights, and should have curb cuts to facilitate access access by cyclists, strollers, wheelchairs, and other mobility devices. Clear, high-visibility signage should be installed at all signals, and the crossing pavement should be painted in zebra-stripes. In order not to disrupt auto traffic flow, the trail crossing signals should be synchronized with the nearby traffic signals, so that a green phase can be maintained on both signals for the north-south street. The Oriole and Avenue trail crossings are approximately 65m from the Chaplin Crescent traffic signal, and the Bathurst trail crossing is 45m from the Roselawn Ave/Elm Ridge Dr signal. The trail signals should turn green when the cross street signals are green (Chaplin or Roselawn/Elm Ridge). Examples of similar synchronized signals placed closely together exist throughout Toronto, notably on Queen St south of Eaton Centre 2,3,4. Another similar installation exists where the recently constructed Leaside rail trail crosses Lawrence Ave East just east of Leslie5. Crossings over quieter residential streets, such as Lascelles, Moore, and Old Park, as well as the western exit of the Kay Gardner Beltline at Elm Ridge, do not require full signalization. In these cases, traffic volumes are reasonable and stop signs exist nearby. We recommend installing curb cuts, zebra hatching on the crossing, and appropriate signage. Although the York Beltline Trail is not part of this current study, many cyclists use streets to connect the two for a longer ride. We recommend improving the crossings at Caledonia Rd and Ronald Ave with similar solutions as the other Beltline crossings. Caledonia Rd in particular sees a high amount of heavy truck traffic, and would be a good candidate for synchronized signals. 2 Crossing on St. George Street, 105m north of College Ave: http://goo.gl/maps/RqS39 3 Crossing on Yonge St at the Eaton Centre, 70m north of Shuter Ave: http://goo.gl/maps/8W9eb 4 Crossing on Queen St at the Eaton Centre, 45m west of Yonge St: http://goo.gl/maps/cYKiu 5 Video of Leaside Trail crossing synchronized with Leslie intersection: http://youtu.be/lSVHY7O7UWQ Lighting Challenge The Kay Gardner Beltline Trail is currently lit from its endpoint at Mt Pleasant Rd to Lascelles Blvd. Several parkettes along the trail, including the Forest Hill Rd and Robert Bateman parkettes, are also lit. The remainder of the Beltline, from Lascelles Blvd to Allen Rd, and the entire trail from Moore Ave to David Balfour Park, does not have lighting. Thickly forested, the trail becomes dark well before dusk. At night, the trail is pitch black, with virtually no users. This is especially a problem in the autumn and winter when the trail becomes dark around 4- 5PM. Trail users working 9-5 jobs cannot use the Beltline after coming home from work. Beltline Trail lighting east of Lascelles Ave (left) and west (right), at same exposure levels To discourage break-ins, the local police division (53 Division) has in previous years utilized a “Light the Night” initiative asking homeowners to leave their lights on all night. Many homeowners and landlords have installed significant security systems, and many homes have decorative exterior lights. Recommendation We recommend that the Beltline Trail should be lit along its entirety, to permit the trail to be used at dusk and beyond, especially in the fall and winter months. Lighting used should be attractive, using special bulbs and angled toward the trail so that they illuminate the path and little else. If the wattage and height of lamps are low, they should not create unnecessary light pollution. Lighting is an important public safety element, and many apartment buildings have exterior lighting for this very reason. The lights from Mt Pleasant to Lascelles were installed primarily for public safety reasons. That section presently sees pedestrian traffic at all times of day and night, especially dog walkers, even in the coldest days of winter. Not only are more people on the trail a strong deterrent to crime, functioning as “eyes on the street”, but the dogs are an additional deterrent factor. Lighting can also help deter illegal dumping. Passers-by can help identify and report illegal dumping on the trail at night, helping protect the natural borders of the trail. Winter Maintenance Challenge Depending on the snowfall, portions of the trail can become a solid sheet of ice for months in the winter. Snowfall accumulation on the trail is compacted by trail users, and freeze/thaw cycles turn the snow into solid ice, which is dangerous to anyone who ventures onto the trail, especially joggers and cyclists. The bridge over Yonge St, in particular, is a key pedestrian network link, and when it is covered in ice a 500m detour is needed. Recommendation We recommend that winter maintenance be undertaken along the trail. This would encourage use for recreation and also allow teenagers to use it to get to school and commuters to get to transit. Connection to Chaplin LRT Station Challenge The preliminary station plans for the Chaplin LRT station6 include a third entrance on the south side of Eglinton Ave at street level, well above the trail. Beltline users would have to climb stairs to street level before descending within the station to platform level.

Load more