Mayor John Tory is waging his latest traffic congestion battle all along Queen Street.

During a news conference near Trinity Bellwoods Park on Friday morning, Tory provided details of the city’s new six-week Queen Street towing pilot project.

Starting Monday, vehicles that are illegally parked on Queen Street between Fallingbrook Road and Roncesvalles Avenue will be relocated to a nearby side street.

The pilot, which will cost the city $80,000, runs only during the afternoon rush hour.

“Part of the problem has been over time that when we’ve had this blitz… the towing vehicles have to take the vehicle to a far-away pound,” Tory said Friday.

It can take up to 90 minutes for tow truck drivers to tow one vehicle to police impound lots, which are located outside of the core, and then return downtown, the city says.

Taking the vehicles to nearby streets will free up tow truck drivers to tow more vehicles that are illegally parked.

Drivers whose vehicles are towed during the pilot will be issued a parking violation notice but the tow fee will be waived. Motorists can find their car by calling the city’s non-emergency line.

Tory said that the aim of the pilot is to get traffic moving faster along Queen Street. The pilot will help emergency vehicles get to where they are going in a more timely fashion and remove more vehicles that obstruct bike lanes, Tory said.

“Traffic congestion that is caused by illegal parked vehicles is dangerous, it’s frustrating, and I think that we hope to show … that it’s preventable by moving these cars and making the traffic flow better,” he added.

In 2018, the city says almost 11,000 parking/stopping violations were issued and approximately 2,400 vehicles were towed during rush hour on Queen Street.

The mayor noted that Bluetooth technology installed on all major downtown streets to measure the flow of traffic will help the city better understand the impact of the pilot.

“That will allow us to make better decisions after these six weeks are over,” Tory said.

The mayor said the pilot will compliment other traffic and transit initiatives the city has undertaken, including the King Street Transit Priority Corridor.

“I think that when you take into account the number of people who are travelling on a street like Queen Street on the transit vehicles, then it seems suitable for us to try something like this on this particular street so that the combination of cars and transit vehicles can move better,” he said.