Parkside Drive is a major arterial road that serves as the eastern boundary of High Park and provides multi-modal connections to key destinations in the city with residential frontage on the east side. As directed by Council in November 2021, the Parkside Drive Study was initiated to explore possible design changes that could improve safety and mobility along the corridor with a focus on people walking, cycling and other vulnerable road users, as a companion to the High Park Movement Strategy. Over the last three years several improvements have been made to the roadway to manage vehicle speeds and improve road user safety. The Parkside Drive Study builds on community advocacy for improved road safety. In the last ten years there were seven collisions that resulted in five serious injuries and three fatalities. All seven collisions involved vulnerable road users. Narrow and missing sidewalks, lack of bikeways, excessive vehicular speeds and aggressive driving, and a history of collisions resulting in fatality or serious injury are frequently heard concerns. The Parkside Drive Study recommendations support the City's Vision Zero Road Safety Plan efforts to implement changes that would prevent serious injuries and fatalities on our streets. This report summarizes the findings from the Parkside Drive Study and seeks City Council endorsement in principle of the study recommendations to implement a road safety focused redesign project. Preliminary design and consultation for the road safety project on Parkside Drive have been completed, and installation is targeted for the near-term (2025 - 2027). The Parkside Drive road safety changes would add 3.8 lane kilometres (1.9 centreline kilometres) of new bikeways, reconstruct the Lake Shore Boulevard West intersection and improve vulnerable road user connections to the Martin Goodman Trail and include design changes to decrease motor vehicle speeds.
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