Mayoral candidate Olivia Chow unveiled a plan to ease traffic congestion in the city Thursday, promising to crack down on those who clog up streets unnecessarily.
Speaking with reporters Thursday morning, Chow said she would take a number of steps to make sure traffic runs more smoothly if elected mayor.
“At intersections and lanes that are closed because of construction, but there is no construction going on, companies should be fined,” Chow said.
She cited River Street north of Gerrard Street as an example of a spot where motorists have been frustrated by ongoing lane closures for months, despite the fact that construction work is not always visible.
She said developers should also have to pay more to shut down lanes of traffic for construction.
“Because there’s a flat fee, there’s no financial incentives for companies to make construction go faster,” Chow said. “We should reward good performance.”
She noted that Toronto charges a flat fee of roughly $3,500 per month to shut down a lane of traffic. By comparison, Chicago charges that much to shut down a lane for a day and also increases its fees after 18 months, Chow said.
“The longer you block it (roads), the more you should pay,” Chow said.
She also said the city could reduce the number of pot holes that disfigure city streets by checking that good patchwork is done by companies that are permitted to tear up city streets for whatever reason.
Other points of Chow’s plan include an expansion of smart traffic light technology; creating a “traffic liaison” position in the mayor’s office to coordinate traffic flow; and better notification to residents and businesses when road closures are occurring.
Chow said the expanded smart traffic light technology would be paid for through fines on developers who block roads for lengthy periods.
Chow has previously said that she would ease road congestion by increasing bus capacity on city streets, though she hasn’t said how she would pay for the measure.
Responding to Chow’s plan Thursday, rival candidate John Tory said neither Chow nor Ford will have any luck unclogging city streets because neither will be able to muster votes at city council.
“If you can’t even go and get the coalition of councillors you need to get things done… you’re done. And Rob Ford is done. He can’t work with the council anymore,” Tory told Stephen LeDrew in a live interview on CP24 Thursday.
Tory said he would be better at making consensus than Chow as well, calling her “a polarizing figure.”
Earlier in the day, Tory unveiled his own platform to combat congestion.
His ideas included keeping the Gardiner Expressway, adding queue-jumping bus lanes to key intersections outside of downtown and exploring using Lake Ontario waterways for commuting.
Responding to his plan Thursday, Chow called Tory’s ideas “out of touch.”
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