Traffic Issues: Road Widening Not a Solution
Natalie Helferty has organized a Letter Campaign to express public opposition to the planned widening of Bayview Avenue and to pressure Ontario Environment Minister, Laurel Broten, into re-evaluating the project through a Part II Individual Environmental Assessment. The letter catalogs a host of reasons why road-widening has a negative effect on traffic, business, health and community. Natalie also provides a list of practical recommendations to foster smart commuting and more efficient public transit. Please visit the Letter Campaign page if you would like to encourage greener, healthier development in Richmond Hill.
- Studies show that road widening will increase gridlock, not decrease it
- Wider roads encourage more car use
- Wider roads reduce the friendliness of the community
- Wider roads encourage speeding and street racing
- Wider roads increase speed, but discourage stopping in at local businesses
- Larger parking lots needed if more car use, so removes retail from street living
- Wider roads discourage walking short distances to improve your health
- Wider roads add to air pollution
Possible ways to improve transportation system and alleviate gridlock:
- Access to transit and walking through improved design and infrastructure
- Encouragement of bus use improved through better services and programs
Design:
- Sheltered, heated bus terminals needed close to street
- Local café and convenience store part of bus terminals
- Daycare centres located at major bus terminals
- Dedicated Bus and Car-pool lanes during rush-hour
- Alternating lanes possible to improve rush-hour traffic flow (like Jarvis St downtown)
- Bike-lanes to connect across and along major routes
- All new offices to include bus loop and car-pool lots (e.g., Honda Canada)
- Car-pool parking at Hwy 404 & Major Mackenzie Drive (Provincially owned land)
- Street trees to shade bikers and walkers
Services:
- Encourage daycare centres in offices to reduce in-town travel
- Extended rush-hour bus frequency as takes 1 hour+ to get here from Toronto
- VIVA service up Bayview Avenue
- Secure bike lockers at bus terminals, businesses and offices
- All new offices to include showers and lockers; encourage existing to add them
- Car-pool Web-matching of neighbours (Community Carpooling)
- Car-pool incentive for all office workers in Richmond Hill
- Free local bus service on weekends and late at night to encourage ‘trying it out’
- Paid parking at new offices; Car-pool parking free; subsidy for bus use