Toronto – High Park Engineer

Accessibility, Inclusion, Parkdale - High Park, Public infrastructure, Toronto

High Park must be inclusive for all

November 18, 2021 highparkengr

The agreement where the Howard family deeded the land that would become High Park states that it would be a:

“Public Park for the free use benefit and enjoyment of the citizens of the City of Toronto forever.”

Yet, not everyone can benefit or enjoy High Park. Since even today the nearest subway station to High Park (the largest park in T.O.) is not accessible. Nor is its skating rink. People using walkers, wheelchairs, and strollers must use a separate entrance to enter the chess club, swimming pool, stage, and the tennis courts, which is contrary to the principles of universal design, where everyone should be able to use the main entrance.

To play wheelchair tennis at High Park one can only use the back entrance

None of the crosswalks near or in High Park are raised. So, when it rains or snows it becomes slippery and unsafe to cross the street due to ponding. Raised crosswalks prevent ponding of water and snow, and as an added benefit act as speed bumps that encourage drivers to follow the speed limit.

One would think having an Accessible Parking Pass might help seniors, for example, visit the park by car and go for a swim until one realizes there are no accessible parking spots near the pool.

There are no accessible parking spots near the High Park swimming pool

The original deed also required the park to be kept in a natural state. So, why is there a road and a large parking lot in the middle of High Park? For some people, the only practical way to visit the park is by car. So, accessibility and inclusion are good arguments in favour of parking spaces inside the park. However, in that case, to be fair the percentage of accessible parking spots must substantially increase for High Park to be truly inclusive.

On a positive note, the Wading Pool, Splashpad and Playground at High Park do follow principles of universal design. For example, its main entrance is accessible and the four parking spots near the entrance are accessible. Nonetheless, High Park as a whole needs major improvements in this area. And every park in T.O. should be inclusive for all.

The Wading Pool, Splashpad and Playground at High Park follow universal design principles

Further reading

Universal Design 101 by Sonia Woodward

https://www.rickhansen.com/news-stories/blog/universal-design-101

Bloor West Village, Parkdale - High Park, Public health, Public infrastructure, public washrooms, Toronto, Ward 4

Bloor – Jane needs a public washroom

November 3, 2021November 3, 2021 highparkengr

Public washroom in the Woodbine Beach parking lot. Bloor – Jane needs one.

There aren’t sufficient public washrooms in our City. If we specifically look at Bloor West Village as a case study, it could be said at least Runnymede Library and High Park have public washrooms. However, one significant gap is Bloor – Jane a major intersection with a busy TTC subway station and with no public washrooms in the vicinity.

But what about the Coffee Time? It’s closed. Hoping that another coffee shop with a washroom replaces the Coffee Time in Bloor – Jane is not a strategy. Also, constantly relying on businesses to provide accessible washrooms to the public is an abdication of municipal responsibility.

In an ideal world, the TTC would have built a public washroom in Jane Station. However, the TTC board has not exactly prioritized the construction of public washrooms, to put it mildly. So, what can the City do to solve this problem?

Public washrooms can be built on parking lots. A perfect example is the public washroom in the Woodbine Beach parking lot, which takes up approximately the space of three parking spots. The parking lot at Armadale Ave near Bloor – Jane is never full. Consequently, this could be a potential location for a new public washroom.

The pandemic has exposed not only the lack of public washrooms in T.O. it has also exposed the unwillingness of the City Council to invest in public health. Because investing in infrastructure, such as public washrooms, is an investment into the health and safety of our community. Let’s not accept excuses for inaction from the City.

Please sign and share this petition for more public washrooms in T.O. thank you.

https://chng.it/jM8r2vjh

The parking lot at Armadale Ave a potential location for a new public washroom in Bloor – Jane.

bike lanes, Parkdale - High Park, Public health, Public infrastructure, Public safety, Safe streets, Toronto, Vision zero, Ward 4

Unsafe bus stops at Parkside Drive

October 19, 2021October 21, 2021 highparkengr

A vigil for Fatima and Valdemar Avila will be held tonight, Tuesday, Oct. 19, from 4:30 to 5 p.m. at the corner of Parkside Dr and Spring Rd.

The Southbound bus stop at Parkside near Geoffrey St is such an infamous example of poor infrastructure design it should win some type of award for bad planning. There’s no sidewalk or crosswalk with street signals near it. It’s not near any High Park entrance. So, it would seem it was designed to encourage jaywalking in a major artery.

Of course, all these problems could be solved by building a sidewalk and a crosswalk with street signals, but you know the status quo is so deeply entrenched in city hall that raising this issue will result in the usual pretexts for inaction. It takes real talent to come up with the excuses we frequently hear from the City of Toronto.

It gets worse. The intersection of Parkside and Algonquin Ave has what looks like a former or half-built bus stop on the Westside. What happened? Did the TTC get rid of a potential bus stop because the city didn’t want to build a crosswalk with street signals? No wonder TTC riders and pedestrians often feel an afterthought in T.O. a car-centric city by design.

And when you thought it couldn’t possibly get worse. The Southbound bus stop on Parkside just North of the Queensway has a “sidewalk” a dirt path where Google maps captured a Kodak moment of a pedestrian unsafely walking along with a dog. Imagine how much more treacherous this path gets during rain or winter.

Dude, where’s our sidewalk? ©2021 Google

Parkside needs a complete rethink, and I am not sure the folks currently in Council have the vision and initiative to undertake this work without public pressure. Often, they focus their energy on defending the status quo not on improving public safety. Otherwise, we would have seen action a long time ago.

Here are the typical status quo excuses and ways to counter them:

But Parkside is classified as a major artery and we cannot change this. Classifications can change or exemptions made to improve safety.
But infrastructure costs money. Infrastructure is an investment in safety, health, and creates jobs.
Enforcement should solve the problem. Temporarily maybe but not long term e.g., speedbumps are less expensive and more effective than constant policing.
But new sidewalks will remove parkland and affect the ecology. Not if we replace the rightmost Southbound car lane with bike lanes and a real sidewalk. Also, let’s not pretend the status quo protects the fauna frequently killed by vehicle collisions all along Parkside.
But more crosswalks with traffic signals will slow down traffic. When the 50km/hr. limit is not being respected, it is perfectly reasonable to build new safety infrastructure.

However, despite the excuses for inaction, I believe this time in consequence of recent fatal and serious collisions the pressure for change from the community is so strong we will see a safer Parkside. Parkside has been so unsafe it’s likely discouraged walking, taking the bus, and cycling. And now even drivers feel it’s unsafe. With adequate infrastructure (such as sidewalks, raised crosswalks with street signals, and bike lanes) we will see safety improvements for all, and more public transit users, pedestrians, and cyclists. Build it and they will come.

Parkside Drive needs more (raised) crosswalks with traffic signals

October 14, 2021October 21, 2021 highparkengr

Without traffic it only takes 4 minutes to drive along Parkside, from Bloor to Lakeshore.

A prediction from residents that one day there would be a fatal car collision on Parkside Drive became a tragic reality a few days ago. Joanna Lavoie’s excellent article documents many of the facts regarding this crash, and recommendations to make Parkside safer. So, rather than repeating this information kindly refer to this very informative article:

https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10496599-parkside-drive-residents-predicted-a-fatal-crash-on-their-speed-prone-street-now-two-people-are-dead/

It’s been said on social media that some drivers treat Parkside as an on-ramp to Lakeshore Blvd as if Lakeshore was a speedway. As someone who drives along Parkside once a week to visit my parents in Scarborough I must sadly agree. Furthermore, many pedestrians and cyclists have stated how unsafe it is to cross Parkside to get to High Park.

Consequently, a recommendation that should be strongly considered is the implementation of more crosswalks (preferably raised) with traffic signals along Parkside. Since more red lights mean less jaywalking, and less chance for vehicles to accelerate beyond the speed limit.

Parkside stretches almost 2 kilometers and only has four pedestrian crosswalks with traffic signals at Indian Valley Cres, Howard Park Ave, High Park Blvd, and Spring Rd. Without traffic, it takes only 4 minutes to drive along Parkside from Bloor to Lakeshore. No wonder many drivers treat it as a main artery. It’s time we put safety first and demand more crosswalks with traffic signals along Parkside, and other safety measures. Two lives were lost, and we have a moral obligation to try our best to prevent further injuries and deaths.

Of course, there are also many other good suggestions to improve safety in Lavoie’s article. More crosswalks with traffic signals are one idea. Finally, please consider contacting Councillor Gord Perks about this very critical local issue that has affected our community: https://gordperks.ca/contact-us/

Update: you may have heard the argument that Parkside is already classified by the City of T.O. as a major artery, as a pretext to justify the status quo. This argument fails to note that classifications can change, and having Parkside which is next to High Park (one of the largest public parks in the city) classified as a major artery was an incredibly bad decision in the first place. So, perhaps, it is time to reclassify Parkside as a minor artery. Finally, many in social media have recommended raised crosswalks which protect pedestrians by acting as speed bumps. This is an excellent idea.

Covid-19, Parkdale - High Park, Public health, public washrooms, Toronto, Ward 4

Few public washrooms in Parkdale – High Park

May 26, 2021November 2, 2021 highparkengr

Dude, where’s our accesible public washroom?

Last week, I saw a person behind Runnymede Station urinating in a corner. Before rushing to judgment, let me tell you a fact: there are zero public washrooms open right now in Bloor West Village. As per the link below from the City of T.O. the nearest public washroom would be in High Park. Furthermore, the washrooms in nearby Runnymede Library are closed. And it is not reasonable these days to expect anyone to try to find a private washroom to use in a restaurant, since these washrooms are generally closed due to the pandemic. Finally, there are no public washrooms in Runnymede Station, and the nearest TTC public washroom would be in Kipling station.

This blog post could easily have been titled “Few public washrooms in T.O.”. However, I wanted to focus on my neighbourhood as an example, since there are no public washrooms right now open in the Junction, Roncesvalles, and Baby Point. There are only a couple of public washrooms open in Swansea and one public washroom open in Parkdale. Several of the public washrooms that are open in our neighbourhood are concentrated in one place: High Park.

Even before the pandemic, it has always been a challenge to find public washrooms in this city. Only if you are a customer (i.e. going to a movie, eating out at a restaurant, shopping at a mall, or buying gasoline) do you have access to a nearby washroom. We have accepted this reality although it is unfair.

Unfair, because if you were to travel to other countries like France or Taiwan it is easy to find public washrooms on the street or the subway. In these countries, you do not have to be a customer to conveniently find a nearby public washroom.

If we are to build back better and work towards a more inclusive and fairer T.O., we need to address the lack of public washrooms in our neighbourhood and throughout the entire city.

For a map of the public washrooms in Parkdale – High Park visit the following City of Toronto link: https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/recreation/recreation-community-facilities/winter-washrooms-in-parks/#location=&lat=43.645786&lng=-79.483165

Affordable Housing, Covid-19, Healthy Homes, Mental health, Public health, Public safety, Toronto

German city supports tiny shelters while T.O. takes legal action against them

February 23, 2021February 23, 2021 highparkengr

The City of Ulm has embraced an innovation created by its residents: sleep pods for the homeless.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/55778733

Meanwhile in T.O. a similar project “Toronto Tiny Shelters” is facing legal action from the City.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ont-homeless-encampments-1.5920822

In both Ulm and T.O. these projects originated thanks to very creative people who have a passion to assist others. The key difference is that the City of Ulm supported this project while our Mayor and Council not only did not support this visionary solution, they believe that taking to court someone who has made a positive difference in people’s lives during this pandemic is a good idea.

Click to access 932f-CVNOACityKSEIVWRIGHT.pdf

If you do not believe that, ask yourselves which Councillor right now is tweeting their support for Khaleel Seivwright the brilliant person behind this wonderful design? Also, which Councillor is going on record stating that this legal action should stop and instead the City should collaborate with the Toronto Tiny Shelters project? No one is and that is very disappointing.

The argument that Tiny Shelters are unsafe because they are made of wood is weak, since they are equipped with flame resistant materials, smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. Also, many homes in T.O. are made of wood. And Ulm’s sleep pods are also made of wood. Furthermore, the contention that Toronto Tiny Shelters is not following requirements is just as feeble. Governments can always make exemptions to bylaws and regulations when it is in the interest of the public, such as providing emergency shelter for the homeless during a pandemic. To those that argue that Tiny Shelters are not the answer to the complicated problem of homelessness take note that there is no one answer to this issue and Tiny Shelters as an emergency measure can save lives. The actual problem is we do not have leaders in Council who accept that often the best solutions to our problems come from members of the public, like Khaleel Seivwright.

To manage a crisis such as a pandemic both leadership and vision are required. By not supporting Toronto Tiny Shelters this Council has shown a lack of both. However, to end on a positive note Khaleel Seivwright and his team deserve our support. Please visit their website, thank you, and stay safe.

https://www.torontotinyshelter.org/

Ask Mayor Tory and your Councillor to support Toronto Tiny Shelters

Covid-19, Ontario, Public health, Public safety, Toronto

Blaming international travelers

January 8, 2021February 16, 2021 highparkengr

Not every Canadian who gets on a plane is like Rod Phillips, the minister who went on a Caribbean vacation to only find himself upon his return like Luca Brasi in The Godfather: “swimming with the fishes”. The reality is that few countries are currently allowing international travelers into their borders. Several countries around the globe are only allowing their citizens to return or visit family. Consequently, airports around the world look like ghost towns, flights are rescheduled or cancelled daily. Pearson airport has never looked lonelier.

Some countries were starting to reopen their borders when suddenly the “it’s mutated” scene from the 2011 film Contagion became reality, and new more contagious strains of Covid started appearing around the globe. The new strains will likely put a stop to these reopening plans.

Yet, Premier Ford created a fictional enemy “the irresponsible partying international traveler” that is bringing new Covid strains to Canada. Several airlines already required all passengers to provide negative Covid test results before boarding, even before Minister Garneau announced requirements to provide negative tests. And several countries either test and or quarantine passengers upon arrival. And unlike Canada, they send people to quarantine facilities for three weeks with a tracking wristband, not their homes for two weeks with the ArriveCAN app. And now with the new strains, there probably will be more stringent testing requirements and longer quarantine periods for travelers worldwide. It seems that one of the only “partying international travelers” was his former Finance Minister.

While it makes sense to test passengers upon arrival and perhaps even consider longer quarantine periods for travelers, let’s not lose sight of the fact, that the main problem we have in Ontario is still local transmission. Shutting down Pearson will not address the root cause. Pearson is a ghost town these days anyway.

Hardly anyone is flying, so why blame international travelers?

Covid Alert, Covid-19, Ontario, Public health, Toronto

Moving from aspirational to effective contact tracing

December 29, 2020 highparkengr

How many times have we heard the tune “Shoppers Drug Mart employee test positive for Covid-19 in the Junction”? What are we supposed to do with this information other than sharing it on Facebook hoping your friends who shop at that location are notified. But even if they are informed questions are raised. Which employee tested positive? Because if it was an employee solely moving boxes in storage the clients may not have much to worry about, but if it was someone working as cashier many clients would have been exposed. In summary, the problem with this scenario is that it is aspirational contact tracing. And it fails to answer a key question: how did that employee contract the virus?

https://dailyhive.com/toronto/shoppers-drug-mart-covid-19-december-18

Ideally, everyone who was in the building between the hours the employee worked should be notified of potential exposure. The Covid Alert app could help, but it would require that the employee who tested positive and those exposed have the app running on their smartphones. And since its adoption is voluntary and requires a newer smartphone not everyone has it. Hence this remarkable app should be seen as one of many ways to combat the pandemic and not a silver bullet.

As a Canadian who grew up abroad and has backpacked around our beautiful globe, I tend to ask myself: what else are other countries doing to solve this problem, which by now has affected every corner of the earth.

Quick Response (QR) codes are effectively being used for contact tracing by businesses in Asia, Europe, and Oceania:

https://esnetwork.ca/briefings/qr-codes-as-an-approach-to-contact-tracing-for-covid-19/

On the local scene, a Canadian company has developed a QR code contact tracing solution to help businesses:

New app developed in Durham Region aims to help business owners with contact tracing

Based on the above study, QR code contact tracing solutions work best when managed by service providers for a specific transaction, for example, a movie night. So when you enter the theatre you would present your tickets and scan a QR code with your smartphone. Cineplex will not get your contact details, all they will see is a randomly generated identification code e.g. UserElVez has entered the theatre. Employees would scan the QR code when their shift begins. So, If Employee007 who later tests positive was working when UserElVez was in the theatre UserElVez would be automatically and confidentially notified of potential exposure. Naturally, all clients and employees who were in the theatre at the same time as Employee007 would also be notified. Since the movie is 2 hours long the system would automatically know when UserElVez left the building.

Finding out how Employee007 contracted Covid might be best left to contact tracing professionals working for local public health units. However, notifying who may have been exposed by Employee007 at work to Covid can be automatically done by QR code systems, thus allowing contact tracers who are already overworked to focus on other critical matters.

QR code contact tracing is far superior to pen and paper which restaurants in T.O. were using in the summer for contact tracing since pen and paper can easily lead to privacy breaches. It is positive to see many local businesses adopt QR code solutions, but to be truly effective widespread adoption is needed. Here is a situation where local governments can take the lead and encourage the use of QR code contact tracing.

QR code contact tracing is more effective and secure than pen and pencil.

Covid-19, Ontario, Public health, Public safety, Toronto

Ontario needs paid pandemic leave

December 21, 2020 highparkengr

More than 7,600 workers in Ontario have contracted Covid in their workplace.

Reference: https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10293646-thousands-of-workers-got-covid-19-on-the-job-but-the-ministry-of-labour-has-fined-just-one-employer/

These numbers build a strong case that current sick leave policies are woefully inadequate especially during a pandemic. Certainly, having only 3 unpaid job-protected sick days (the Ontario minimum) is not sufficient in times of Covid, because behavioural psychology demonstrates that we are good at fooling ourselves into thinking that potential Covid symptoms might be just the start of a cold if the alternative is no pay or worse job loss. There is always pressure to work while sick.

Reference: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20161013-the-psychology-behind-the-subtle-pressure-to-work-when-sick

On the positive side, Ontario has effective parental leave policies that ensure employees are paid and their jobs are protected. Parental leave works well because the government covers the cost through employment insurance. A new paid pandemic leave programme could be modelled after parental leave policies. If we have parental leave why not pandemic leave?

Reference: https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/pregnancy-and-parental-leave

To effectively reduce contagion in the workplace Ontario should implement a pandemic leave program that pays employees and protects their jobs when:

They test positive for Covid,
They are exposed to someone who tested positive for Covid or they have Covid symptoms and they are in isolation awaiting test results, or
They need to stay home to take care of their children during school closures due to the pandemic.

Ontario needs paid pandemic leave, anything less, and sick employees will go to work, and contagion will continue. Some will argue that paid pandemic leave will be costly. My answer is that nobody argued that D-day was costly or that liberating Holland would burden us Canadians with debt. Despite all that is wrong we should remain hopeful that just like our foreparents overcame great obstacles, we will too.

Covid-19, Ontario, Public health, Toronto

Close schools to end the second wave

December 19, 2020 highparkengr

In T.O. 70% of Covid cases cannot be traced. Ultimately, it is our governments who will be held accountable for this disastrous situation.

Reference: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-tam-calls-for-stricter-covid-19-lockdown-measures-in-hard-hit/

Without adequate testing, tracing, and hospitals in crisis we are left with no alternative but stronger restrictions. However, before pondering what additional restrictions must be implemented, we have to step back and ask ourselves, why didn’t the current restrictions mitigate the second wave?

This is a complicated question to answer since we do not have all the data on how contagion spreads in Toronto. Nonetheless, we do know that several businesses have either:

Potentially broken the law by remaining open, or

Have bent the law by finding creative ways to brand themselves as essential.

Reference: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-cities-crack-down-on-businesses-breaking-covid-rules-in-ontario/

The law of unintended consequences teaches us that if we close all stores, except those that sell food, hardware, and PPE, eventually every store in T.O. will be selling bananas, hammers, and face masks in an effort to stay in business. So there must be more effective ways to encourage people to stay home than the 50 shades of grey “lockdown”.

Voluntary measures, such as encouraging people to work from home were not particularly effective in the first wave. Mandatory restrictions did not stop a second wave. But what did work well were the school closures that helped put an end to the first wave. Not only because having people spend significant time indoors in classrooms presents a Covid outbreak risk, but because closing schools also force parents to stay home. The moment children don’t go to school, parents are forced to have a conversation with their employers to either work from home or go on leave to take care of them, especially if they have younger children. I realize that some unethical employers will simply lay-off their workers, but frankly, maybe these employers should not be receiving government assistance and the focus of governments should be to bail out our workers.

Closing schools may be the most effective way to encourage people to stay home. So, close schools to make parents stay home, keep our children and educators safe, and potentially put an end to this deadly second wave. Let’s buy some time and save lives now that vaccines are on their way.