Pedestrians outraged by cars given priority at downtown Toronto intersection

People are speaking out about cars being given priority treatment over foot traffic at a busy downtown Toronto intersection in the latest spat between motorists and pedestrians.

Few places in Toronto are better representative of this rivalry of the ages than the intersection of York Street and Lake Shore Boulevard, where a Gardiner Expressway onramp is known to back traffic up for blocks and clog local streets with brutal gridlock.

Pedestrians are taking to social media to complain about recent cases of police halting foot traffic attempting to cross the York and Lake Shore intersection — with time left on countdown clocks — in an apparent attempt to keep vehicle traffic flowing onto the Gardiner.

Why are police at York & Lakeshore stopping pedestrians, while they still have a valid walk countdown, to allow vehicles to turn right onto the Gardiner ramp?! Pedestrians have the RoW, but that is being overridden. #WalkTO pic.twitter.com/yJJ9tlpNnT

— Ally MacLellan (@maclellanally) June 29, 2023

Twitter user Ally MacLellan noted the irony of the police officer directing traffic wearing a Vision Zero patch, an oft-criticized City of Toronto program ostensibly designed to cut down on pedestrian and cyclist fatalities.

I work right there and always cross on the other side because of this, they prioritize car traffic over the dozens of people crossing.

— Tim Per (@Tim_Per21) June 30, 2023

In practice, the program has instead been characterized as a crackdown on foot and cycle traffic.

police serve the cars

— Walter Spicer 🇨🇦 (ウォルタースパイサー） (@Walterverse) June 30, 2023

MacLennan's tweet drew considerable debate since being posted Thursday. Among the commenters, former City of Toronto Chief Planner and runner-up in the 2018 mayoral election Jennifer Keesmaat shared her thoughts on the photo of an off-duty police officer halting pedestrian traffic to let cars through.

"I experienced this last week," said Keesmaat, adding that an "Officer wearing a Vision Zero badge held back about 25 people despite the walk signal, to allow 2 cars to make a left hand turn."

"This garbage approach is not #VisionZero," fumed Keesmaat, continuing, "This garbage approach prioritizing cars over people is...garbage."

Because Caronto

— Pizza Steve (blue check) (@SteveBilicki) July 1, 2023

But not everyone agrees with this assessment, and many have come out defending the practice as perfectly legal and necessary to ease congestion in the area.

"If you're not crossing when the numbers start counting down you can't enter the crosswalk," reads one reply, adding that "there is a fine for this, $150 fine under the Traffic Act for disobeying a pedestrian signal."

Even people who agree that pedestrians should be given priority until the countdown clock expires admit that, legally, there is little recourse for frustrated foot travellers.

Are they stopping them when the walk signal is up or when the countdown has started? Unfortunately our laws are that you can’t start to cross when the countdown has started. I disagree with that law but that’s what it is here.

— Greg Lehman (@GregLehman) June 30, 2023

While many vent frustrations and argue, others propose solutions for the issue that would benefit both cars and pedestrians.

Also that on-ramp is already full. The lights should meter traffic being added to the system and allow the cars already on the Gardiner to flow, it is often gridlocked at this spot.

— Cheryl White (@LadyScorcher) June 30, 2023

Regardless of which side of the debate they fall on, motorists and pedestrians seem to at least agree that Toronto's traffic signals are part of the problem.