‘The most exacerbating factor’: Construction largely to blame for Toronto traffic, report says

Heavy traffic leaves the downtown core in Toronto on Thursday January 14, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Population growth, an increase in vehicle registrations, and a “constrained” network of existing roads are all factors contributing to Toronto traffic, but a new staff report shows that construction is the biggest driver of bumper-to-bumper congestion in the city.

In an update to the city’s congestion management plan that was adopted by the infrastructure and environment committee on Wednesday with amendments, staff note that Toronto is the busiest city in North America for construction and at its peak last summer, travel times more than doubled due to the temporary closure of 24 per cent of all roads.

Toronto’s population grew by more than 125,000 people between 2022 and 2023 and vehicle registrations since 2014 have gone up by 26 per cent, according to the report dated March 27.

At the same time, the report states that Toronto’s existing 5,600 kilometres of roadway haven’t been expanded in “decades.”

However, despite those challenges in the context of Toronto’s existing traffic infrastructure, the report said that construction “continues to be the most exacerbating factor towards congestion in the city.”

The report lists five recommendations to help break up the traffic in Toronto, which has made headlines in recent years and was once ranked as the worst city in North America for traffic.Those recommendations include:

• Using technology to help move people more efficiently and as safely possible
• Assisting transit to move riders faster and more reliably
• Using on-the-ground traffic management and enforcement support at major intersections
• Enhancing the city’s traffic management strategy for major special events
• Active planning and coordination of city-wide construction projects

On the transit front, the report recommends scaling up its existing signal priority system infrastructure to reduce wait times for TTC vehicles at intersections. The report says that since the mid-1990s, the city has installed the technology at 420 signalized cross streets and plans to add or upgrade 50 more locations by the end of the year.

In terms of traffic management, the report said the city currently has 22 traffic agents and an additional 45 members in training, which will bring the total number of active agents to 67 by the summer.

With a goal of having 100 agents by the end of 2025, the report said the additional human resources will allow the city to expand its coverage to 16 busy city corridors over the existing three.

Mayor Olivia Chow -- who has said congestion costs Toronto $11 billion annually -- addressed the report before committee on Wednesday. She said she was stuck in traffic herself on the way to city hall, not due to construction, but because two vehicles were stopped in the intersection on a green light.

“It was infuriating,” she said, referring to the infraction known as “blocking the box,” which carries a recently-increased fine of $450 at most intersections.

“And I said, ‘Hey, where are the traffic agents?‘” Chow added, noting that the city could crack down on the common traffic infraction further if it receives approval from the provincial government to automate enforcement.

Chow previously called the traffic agents the city’s “secret weapon” in fighting congestion and noted that they’ve helped to move streetcars along King Street three times faster. The report also recommends the city consider increasing the fees associated with private construction that results in blocking a road.

As of April 1, companies must pay a $76.51 to submit an application to occupy a roadway due to construction and $40.71 for every 50 metres, per lane, per day.

Chow said that, back in 2022, a utility contractor closed down two lanes of Lake Shore Boulevard for almost an entire month and the cost of the closure to the unnamed company was only $5,000.

“Under our new system, every day this company closes down the Lake Shore, they will pay more. The faster they do the work, the less they pay. And if it takes the entire month for two lanes of traffic on Lake Shore, it will cost them right now, $287,000,” she said.

The proposal was adopted with two amendments put forward by Coun. Dianne Saxe, who directed the city to work with the TTC and Toronto Police Service to “significantly reduce” the number of streetcar delays due to improperly parked vehicles by way of higher fines and options for increased enforcement.

She also recommended developing a strategy with the TTC to expand the city’s existing transit signal priority system to all high ridership corridors.

‘There is no magic bullet, that’s for damn sure’: Deputy Mayor

Deputy Mayor Mike Colle, who introduced the motion to adopt the recommendations, was also at the Wednesday morning news conference and said he too was stuck in traffic on the way to city hall.

“We’re trying to make it better. And there is no magic bullet, that’s for damn sure. But we all got to do our part, and that’s why, if we all pitch in together, with our traffic agents, with our companies that are in construction, with the citizens in Toronto, we just all got to be part of the solution,” he said.

It’s worth noting that Chow said the city’s recent measures to tackle traffic are working.

She pointed to traffic agent deployment on King Street and Lake Shore Boulevard in Jan. 2024 which the staff report shows reduced transit times by 20 minutes. As well, the Aug. 2024 decision to allow drivers to turn left from Lake Shore Boulevard onto Spadina Avenue reduced travel times on the Gardiner Expressway by 10 minutes, according to the report.