Pedestrian and cylist priority at Hydro Corridor

From "Lets Talk Traffic Willowdale"

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Currently the Hydro Corridor at Maxome prioritizes vehicle traffic on the road over pedestrians and cyclists on the trail. This isn't a very busy street, and it should be easy enough to reverse this, so that drivers need to yield to more vulnerable users. Even the current situation isn't made terribly clear to trail users, as there is no real signage coming from the east, and from the west the yield sign is hidden by greenery, so there may be a natural assumption that the crosswalk gives them priority.

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Profile of Nathan Gomes

Posted by:Nathan Gomes

2 months ago

The existing hydro-corridor trail crossing should not be characterized as a location where cyclists inherently have priority over Maxome Avenue. There are currently no STOP controls requiring Maxome Avenue traffic to stop at the trail crossing. Any proposal to introduce “cycling priority” would therefore represent a substantive change in traffic control and right-of-way, not simply improved signage. Such a change should be supported by the appropriate Ontario Traffic Manual analysis. OTM Book 15 addresses the selection of pedestrian crossing treatments, Book 18 addresses cycling facilities and intersection/crossing design, while Book 5 governs the regulatory signs used to establish and communicate traffic-control requirements. These manuals should be applied together rather than assuming that cycling priority automatically takes precedence over the existing function of the roadway. Maxome is a designated collector road. If, as the available Vision Zero information indicates, there is no demonstrated collision history at this crossing (https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/road-safety/vision-zero/safety-measures-and-mapping/), the City should identify the specific safety, volume or operational evidence supporting a change in right-of-way before requiring collector-road traffic to yield or stop. The analysis should also consider pedestrian and cycling volumes, motor-vehicle volumes, sightlines, crossing geometry and whether the applicable Book 15/18 criteria support the proposed treatment.