City of Toronto takes on rule-breaking King Street drivers

Traffic agents have been deployed along King Street to improve congestion during rush hour. Faiza Amin speaks one-on-one with Mayor Olivia Chow on how the city is responding to a downtown dilemma that has drivers breaking the rules.

[MrAlene]

Theres definitely some people who need their tickets and cars tow, the traffic they cause when parking in a busy intersection because they think they're the only drivers that matter is ridiculous. Enforce, ticket, enforce .

[ergosteur]

Way to go mayor Chow. Addressing the issue head on and speaking openly.

[tantrumcreative]

This makes me so happy. A mayor that actually cares about transit. Priority corridors need to expand across the system. KING is actually a special route because at the height of this transit corridor's success approx 80k+ people were using the line every day. That is close to the ridership level of Chicago's most used subway line - the CTA RED LINE at 95k riders. All that to say, the KING Streetcar does some heavy lifting - and Chow makes a good point. More people on the KING car.. the better the drive for everyone downtown. Nice to see some good news for a change.

[watchdog]

Protesters shouldn't be braking laws, obstructing traffic on roads even sidewalks is illegal

[adam]

Most major cities that are.. well, smart, are basically cutting off the downtown core from most car traffic and only allowing a few lanes that snake outside of the center anywhere near it. Build parking lots outside the city center and attach them to better public transit, bike lanes you actually maintain during the winter and more people will walk/ride and take trams. Traffic only occurs when you *allow* it to. The most obvious way to reduce traffic is to reduce the availability of roads to go down.. and not temporarily either.

[randomname]

I'm surprised to think that Olivia Chow is actually doing a decent job. I wouldn't have voted for her but she's doing great.

[Abinyah]

Also, Apple Maps and some direction apps tell you to drive on King. Those need to be enforced as well.

[menguardingtheirownwallets]

The problem is 'Information overload'. Drivers who are from outside of the city, don't know the fact that you CANNOT drive straight through those traffic lights. If those posted signs that say "no driving straight through the lights" simply had flashing red lights surrounding them to get the driver's attention, then that would stop 90% of the drivers who break the laws accidentally. There also needs to be police officers standing in the middle of the road, stopping violators and telling them to turn around or get a $500 ticket if they refuse to turn around.

[rbesfe]

I'm so glad Toronto finally has a sensible mayor who goes after the issues that everyone cares about. It's a shame we lost Jack so early, imagine if he beat Trudeau

[Unionmaniac]

This law is RIDICULOUS! I turned left from Simcoe st going east on King, I was behind a streetcar (couldn't see any signs). I had no idea you couldn't go straight on (some portions) of King street. I have only been in Toronto 3 times in the past 7 years. I was pulled over and given a $110 ticket and my 1st moving violation in 25 years. This is not fair, I'm 57 and have never seen a street (in my life) that allows you on it and then forces you to turn right only and only on some sections. We all drive with the flow of traffic when going straight. It's not like a no left turn sign, we all know and expect those. If you're not from the area you would NEVER know this rule/law.

[HughDillion]

How's diversity with a driver license working out

[caribeanqt]

CityNews, please tell the whole story. Adelaide was blacked off sending traffic to Queen or King. Queen is blocked due to the building of the new transit line. The Gardner bridge is torn down over the Don River causing congestion on Lakeshore. This is why drivers are resorting to King Street.

[harpcourt]

the signage downtown is a cluster fk, im a native torontonian and drive downtown quite frequently, the got like 5, 6 signs on king with all different times of when people can and cannot drive and what lane they can turn...when your driving you got like a couple seconds to read all this.

[HeadcheeseSmoothie]

City News. Learn how to pan your audio to centre! Horrible audio.

[djw]

Perhaps Bay St next? Those “reserved” lanes are almost always filled with cars

[watchdog]

Geat to see Chow clean up the city hopefully bedbug capital of Canada Toronto, Canada's sin city, will get bed bugs under control next on TTC libraries schools apartments, something John Tory ignored making Toronto number 1 most infected for bed bugs in Canada.

[dwpol]

Maybe one way streets can move vehicles and transit traffic better in Toronto. For example. You're 4 lane roadway. Far left side. One way bike lane (since the driver is on the left side of the vehicle). Lane 1 (left side) for vehicles to drive thru. Lane 2, LRT and vehicle traffic. Lane 3 (right side) passenger pick up or drop off, commercial pick up or deliveries.

[lominiski]

Lots of weird drivers on the streets of Toronto

[boredca]

You want more people to take transit, lower the fares and improve the service first.

[TTC]

Oh about the right turn arrow on King St. West at University Ave taking vehicles northbound? It should light up if the advance green arrow lights up at University Ave. taking vehicles to go eastbound on King St. West