From the Globe:
Will faded Jarvis get an upgrade?
Jeff Gray
Globe and Mail
Apr 7, 2008 A10
The city is drawing up plans to narrow and beautify Jarvis Street - a favourite thruway to downtown for those in Rosedale, among other places - in an effort to recapture at least some of the faded strip's 19th-century grandeur.
The proposal, discussed at a public meeting last month, would see Jarvis from Bloor to Queen Streets reduced to four lanes from five. This would mean the end of its unusual shared middle lane, which reverses direction from southbound to northbound in the afternoon rush hour.
Not surprisingly, Councillor Kyle Rae, who represents that area and Rosedale to the north, says he is getting calls from angry motorists who fear their easy route downtown will be slowed.
But he points to a 2005 traffic study, conducted by outside consultants, that concluded taking away a lane on Jarvis would result in a "modest" increase in delays for cars. A four-lane Jarvis would divert small amounts of traffic (about 300 cars an hour in the morning rush of the 1,300 headed south on Jarvis now) onto Church and Sherbourne Streets, the study predicts, but not onto streets in nearby residential neighbourhoods north of Bloor.
"We've had calls from people who say it takes us six-and-a-half minutes to get from Rosedale to King Street. ... Now it's going to take them seven minutes," Mr. Rae said, acknowledging the proposal could be in for a fight as public consultations continue.
The traffic study concludes a four-lane Jarvis would mean only "minor impacts" on traffic, but does point to a possible 5- to 25-per-cent increase in car emissions and an increase in travel times on Sherbourne Street of up to 22 seconds over two kilometres.
The aim of the street narrowing is to allow for larger boulevards and sidewalks, some bike lanes, greenery and public art, to turn grim old Jarvis into a place to go, instead of just go through. It's not clear if all of these elements will fit onto the new-look street, when a final proposal comes to council in the fall.
If approved, it would be the latest of a series of narrowings of a handful of city streets aimed at creating bike lanes or better street-level environments for pedestrians, such as Dundas Street East and Lansdowne Avenue. Each one is a battle, but in this case, the city's aim to revive a drab street combines with its goal to make the city more hospitable to people without four wheels.
Jarvis' once-grand mansions, many serving as bed and breakfasts and a handful of restaurants, line a route now better known for street prostitution. The street was widened to five lanes in the 1940s, and ever since, it has been an uninviting and hazardous route for pedestrians and cyclists, with speeding cars and narrow lanes and sidewalks.
With the new National Ballet School, and a good deal of new residential high-rises, Jarvis's character is already changing, Mr. Rae said. Improving the street to make it more inviting, and to recognize its historical status, will help this process along, he argues.
Penelope Palmer, the city's project manager for the Jarvis Street environmental assessment process, acknowledges that a four-lane Jarvis will result in some increase in congestion for cars. "But that delay and congestion is going to occur anyway," she said, "because of background growth of traffic in the city."
The project will also mean saying farewell to Jarvis's strange shared lane, which dates to at least 1963, and, Ms. Palmer said, is not a safety concern. Outside of the afternoon rush hour, the middle lane is for southbound traffic. But from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., those drivers are told with an overhead glowing red X that their lane is now for use by northbound traffic, which sees a green arrow.
The city's field observations suggest that some drivers avoid this lane, but Ms. Palmer said Jarvis's real safety hazard is sideswiping collisions likely caused by its substandard narrow lanes, something narrowing the road may actually reduce.
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