Fines headed up for drivers, builders who snarl Toronto traffic

Drivers blocking live lanes of traffic and builders taking up space in roadways will face increased fines after city council greenlit new measures to fight gridlock on Toronto's streets.

The changes are part of the latest version of the city's congestion management plan. Councillors approved the suite of measures this week, including new steps to speed up construction on major streets, better coordination of road closures and increased enforcement against drivers who violate the rules. 

Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie touted the measures as part of an evolving plan to improve commute times as the city deals with a massive amount of growth.

"We do a billion dollars in state of good repair construction every year," she said. "We have $30 billion of construction on transit underway, and we have more than 200 cranes out there building housing, and that's great. But it creates congestion, and that's why it's important that we are working very hard to manage it." 

The changes come just weeks after Toronto stepped up fines for drivers blocking intersections.

City to publish dashboard of congestion measures

The plan will see a new congestion levy charged to builders who block lanes of traffic while they do their work. The idea is to provide an incentive for the companies to clear the lanes as quickly as possible. 

It also calls for increased fines for drivers who block live lanes of traffic. Those will jump from $190 to $300. 

Coun. Josh Matlow said he supports cracking down "curb hogs," who block those lanes during rush hour and added the new fines will act as a deterrent.

"They put on their blinkers, they go grab a Starbucks, they grab their dry cleaning … that's not acceptable," he said. "What we realized intuitively is that if they don't care about anybody else, they might care about their own wallet." 

The plan adopted by council will also see the city better coordinate construction activities on right-of-ways, enhance its traffic agent program to help problem intersections and provide new scrutiny to special event permits, which could contribute to congestion.

McKelvie said an important part of the plan will be providing residents with a clear view of what the city is doing to fight congestion and track progress. Under the changes, city staff will publish an online dashboard of the congestion measures to chart how and where they've been implemented.

"(City residents) can see those actions we have underway, and they can hold us accountable for what we said we were going to do," McKelvie said.

Councillors spar over congestion reduction

Support for the measures wasn't unanimous, however.

Coun. Stephen Holyday pushed his colleagues to rethink their view of the problem itself. To him, the idea shouldn't be just to manage congestion, the city should be actively trying to reduce it.

Holyday said that should first start with renaming the city's congestion management plan a congestion reduction plan.

"When we make decisions at council, let's pay attention to congestion. And the only reason why I ask that is because that is what is top of mind and forefront for so many residents in this city," he said. 

Coun. Gord Perks groaned loudly in frustration, burying his head in his arms in the council chambers as Holyday introduced a series motions asking the city to commit to reducing congestion. 

During his remarks a short time later, Perks stressed that Holyday's motions missed the point. Some congestion is a sign that Toronto's strong economy and the city doesn't want its streets to be empty, he said.

"Congestion is not an indicator of failure," he said. "It's, in many instances, an indicator of success."

In the end, Holyday's motion to rename the plan failed, but council did adopt a broad resolution he proposed, which was amended by Councillor Jamaal Myers, that the city should commit to "reducing travel times between origin and destination for everyone."

That passed by a vote of 17-7, with Perks and Mayor Olivia Chow among the council members who voted against the motion.