Ms. Barbara Gray,
General Manager
City of Toronto, Transportation Services
City Hall, 24th Floor, East Tower
100 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
December 17, 2019
Dear Ms. Gray,
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) welcomes the launch of the City of Toronto’s Construction Hub Coordination Pilot project at Yonge and Eglinton as the TDSB has four schools located within or just on the periphery of the Hub area: Eglinton Junior Public School, John Fisher Junior Public School, North Toronto Collegiate Institute and Northern Secondary School.
As you know, mid-town Toronto is experiencing unprecedented growth, development and intensification, and some of our schools are directly impacted by large and long-term public projects such as the Eglinton Crosstown.
The TDSB has a Charter for Active, Safe and Sustainable Transportation in place which encourages active travel to and from school, such as walking and wheeling, wherever possible. In addition, the TDSB works with partners such as the City of Toronto’s Transportation Services, Toronto Public Health and Green Communities Canada on different initiatives with the aim to improve road safety in close proximity to our schools.
However, despite our joint efforts, there has been one pedestrian fatality in the vicinity of a TDSB elementary school in mid-town Toronto in recent months.
Based on all of the above, we are requesting that local principals and trustees, and Toronto Lands Corporation and Board staff be invited to participate in the pilot project as stakeholders. It is important that we work together and bring different perspectives to the table to help improve road safety.
We hope that you will accept our request to be part of this important project, which will help
protect vulnerable road users, including young children.
Sincerely,