‘They see our neighborhood as an obstacle course’: Drivers reportedly speeding in residential areas to avoid Eglinton Crosstown work

A frustrated Toronto father is urging the city to address speeding vehicles cutting through his west-end neighbourhood due to the ongoing construction on the Eglinton Crosstown light rail line as well as the installation of a new storm sewer.

“I've seen cars driving backward down my street. I've seen road rage on my street, I've seen screeching tires, fast moving traffic and (the) local councillor's office and police will do nothing,” James, who didn’t want to provide his last name due to privacy concerns, told CP24.com.

James and his family moved into a home on Rochdale Avenue, in the city’s Caledonia-Fairbanks area, in 2016.

Ever since, he says there have been non-stop speeding vehicles and traffic violations due to cars diverting onto his street to bypass LRT construction nearby at Eglinton Avenue and Dufferin Street.

“...They just see our neighborhood as an obstacle course, not where people live, not where kids play, not where there are schools, not where there's a nursery, but just a place to get through as quickly as they can because they want to get to Dufferin or they want to get to Eglinton,” James said.

The area has been in a state of construction chaos for years due to work on the underground Fairbank station for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, a massive 19-kilometre subway line being built with 25 stops from east to west Toronto.

Drivers are reportedly speeding in a west-end neighbourhood to avoid nearby construction for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. (Courtesy: James)

James said drivers are restricted from making certain turns in the area and therefore are rerouting onto his street and surrounding roadways, but are not obeying 40 km/hr speed limits.

“They take Keele, they take Caledonia… if you stand there during rush hour you're taking your life into your hands because you got like super fast moving traffic headed in both directions,” he said.

In addition to the LRT construction, the city is installing new storm sewers in his neighbourhood to manage stormwater flow and prevent basement flooding.

James said this has further exacerbated the issues in the Fairbank community.

“This has shut down some streets in my neighborhood, like mainly Harvey Ave. and Kitchener, two streets that have borne the brunt of all this like excess traffic that's resulted from the surrounding LRT construction,” he said.

Frustrated and concerned with the numerous speeding and reckless drivers, James said he has reached out to his local area Councillor Ana Bailão.

He would like for the city to create a plan to mitigate traffic flow issues, install speed bumps and for police to provide traffic enforcement in his area.

“Innumerable complaints to the local councillor and to 13 Division have resulted in zero measurable efforts on either count. To be fair, the folks at 13 Division, they visited my street a total of three times a few months ago…and they still ended up issuing tickets for all kinds of stuff, speeding, driving the wrong way down a one-way street, all of that,” James said.

A Toronto father is raising concerns about speeding and reckless drivers in his west-end community. (Courtesy: James)

Bailão’s chief of staff, Deyan Kostovski, told CP24.com in an Oct. 5 email that her office has received concerns about the traffic issues and has visited the area on “multiple occasions,” including within the last week, to review and make observations.

He said in order to install speed bumps in the area a petition would have to be signed by affected households with a strong majority in favor of installing the bumps.

“A 50%+1 benchmark is consistent with city policy regarding changes in a neighbourhood. In exceptional cases, the councillor can exercise some discretion and can initiate an investigation or immediately move a motion at Community Council to install,” Kostovski wrote.

“Requests for more robust measures like chicanes are typically considered following an investigation and as part of a road reconstruction. There is no planned work on Rochdale Avenue at this time,” he added.

Kostovski said feedback from area residents was provided to the city’s Transportation Services department back in May, along with a request to conduct a new round of traffic counts.

“We also outlined the process for creating a traffic management committee, which enlists street representatives to help generate community support for a more comprehensive area transportation study,” he wrote.

As for speeding and non-compliant vehicles zooming along James’ street, Kostovski said that is a police matter which Bailão’s office has raised with 13 Division.

James said he has reached out to 13 Division multiple times and was told there are not enough officers to provide consistent traffic enforcement in the area.

“I don't want to make this a quarrel with the police. But if they don't have the resources to do their job, that's a problem.”

CP24.com has reached out to police about this matter but has yet to receive a comment.

Last month, Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency overseeing the LRT construction, announced it would not be able to meet a previously set soft target of September for substantially completing the project.

Metrolinx did not provide a new target date.

Meanwhile, storm sewer installation in the Fairbank community is slated to be finished in 2026.