Worst Intersection in Toronto: Bloor and Symington
August 6, 2010 - 3:05pm — Irmina
The Globe and Mail published this article on Monday, August 02, 2010. It is about our local intersection at Bloor and Symington.
Here's an excerpt:
Reported by: John Lorinc
The elongated traffic signal zone at that point of Bloor stretches from Sterling and Symington, and is frequently clogged with drivers who, despite signs exhorting vehicles not to block the intersection, end up stopping in no-man’s land nonetheless.
You can read the full story at The Globe and Mail's web site.
Bloor and Sterling Dead Body Found
Woman’s Body Found In West End Laneway
http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/local/article/90226--woman-s...
Police are investigating after a grim discovery in a west end alley early Wednesday.
A woman’s body was found just after midnight in a laneway at Bloor Street West and Sterling Avenue, just west of Lansdowne.
The woman hasn’t yet been identified and there’s no indication from police there’s any trauma to the body.
There’s no word yet when an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
The alleyway is on NORTH Perth
I think the media is getting the address wrong. The alleyway shown on the CityTV website, is actually the alleyway on NORTH Perth, behind the 3-Jit Variety store.
Images from Google Maps:
Alleyway on NORTH Perth (matches photo on CityTV website):
View Larger Map
Alleyway on SOUTH Perth (totally different look):
View Larger Map
Regardless of which alleyway, it's still very disturbing news to hear. :-(
Intersection repair
Sounds like something for our next councillor to add to his/her TODO list. :) Or sooner...
I would also nominate the north side of the Bloor-Perth intersection for a bit of a fix-up: Re-paint the stop line and crosswalk (maybe zebra-stripe it?), and maybe even go so far as enforcing the stop sign once in a while.
I AGREE WITH YOU VIC ,MAYBE A
I AGREE WITH YOU VIC ,MAYBE A BIG FLASHING RED LIGHT WERE THE SIGN SAYS TO STOP HERE AT RED LIGHT WOULD HELP AS WELL .
ZEBRA STRIPS WOULD MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE I THINK AND TO MAKE THE CROSSWALK ITS OWN RIGHT OF WAY. HOW MANY TIMES DO I SEE CLOSE CALLS, IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL SOMEONE GET REALLY HURT OR GOD FORBID KILLED.
I CANN'T TELL YOU HOW MANY
I CANN'T TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE PHONED GIAMBRONE'S OFFICE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS INTERSECTION. MAYBE IF WE STAND TOGETHER SOMETHING WILL GET DONE ASAP.
This intersection is a
This intersection is a complicated setup and I am not sure what the solution is. I use it a lot and generally don't have any issues with it but I do agree that non-locals, especially drivers, are often confused by it. As a word of warning, when I lived in Parkdale people complained about Queen and Lansdowne for 20 years. They added a two phase light and now everybody is complaining again because things traffic is way slower and people are still getting stuck in between the two lights. Queen and Roncy is also confusing for many people but they just cant come up a solution that works. Its easy to say just call the Councillors office but making changes to a main arterial road is not easy to do and sometimes has unforeseen results. I agree with Vic and would like to see the left part of Sterling physically blocked to stop people from parking or making illegal right turns. Other than that I don't really know what else one could change.
When people shout "get something done", what exactly do you want done ?
The Sign Is Useless
That sign showing people how to proceed into the intersection from Sterling is useless. First it was twisted so it wasn't visible from Sterling, and now that it's twisted back to face Bloor, the diagram is so small as to require binoculars (or maybe I need a new set of contacts). What this intersection needs is some new paint, clear signage, and better lights (similar to Lansdowne and Queen, so we know the City knows how to do it). And there's no reason pedestrians can't cross Sterling when Symington has a green light!
In the 70's it was worse as
In the 70's it was worse as there was no light or any controls. Citizens rallied for a light after a child was killed crossing bloor at that corner.
Bloor / Symington / Sterling mess
Yeah, so much goes wrong at that intersection. A few of my own observations: