With the support of Walk Toronto, I have created a map of all serious injuries and deaths suffered by pedestrians and cyclists in motor vehicle collisions within the City of Toronto, between September 15, 2023 and September 15, 2026. This data comes from the City of Toronto’s open data portal, and includes all collisions on city streets and roadways, including sidewalks and paths. (It does not include crash data on provincial highways or on private property.)
A Vision Zero philosophy, adopted by the City of Toronto, is based on the premise that any serious traffic injury or death is preventable, and not inevitable. Vision Zero recognizes that humans make mistakes, and the road network should be designed to mitigate the results of those errors. The goal of any Vision Zero program should be no deaths or injuries on our streets. With over 500 pedestrians and cyclists seriously injured or killed over a three year period (including 83 deaths), Toronto has a long way to go.
For now, this map remains a work in progress, but is now at a point where it’s ready to be shared for discussion and for feedback. Please feel free to contact me with your suggestions.
GO train at Stratford Station, October 18, 2026, just before 11:30
Ten years ago, I wrote about travelling to Stratford, Ontario by train, lamenting the slow ride and the limited schedule. Now that limited GO train service has returned to Festival City, I thought I’d go for another ride, on Sunday October 18. I also took the opportunity to ride on country roads between Stratford and St. Marys and back while the weather was still good.
Earlier this year, GO Transit introduced one daily train between Stratford and Toronto, a partial restoration of an ill-fated train that went all the way to London. On weekdays, one of the peak express trains to and from Kitchener was extended to Stratford. On weekends and holidays, a new train departs Union Station at 8:49 AM; the return trip departs Stratford at 6:07 PM.
The weekend GO train has operated sporadically throughout the summer and fall of 2026; the Kitchener Corridor is partially closed on certain weekends between Union and Mount Dennis and between Mount Pleasant and Kitchener/Stratford for construction work at the new Stockyards Station, improvements at Guelph Station, construction at the Grand River bridge near Kitchener, and other track work. Though Stratford’s tourism office promotes the service, it can take some thoughtful planning to actually take advantage of the ride.
Advertising for Stratford via GO, featuring the late Victorian city hall
GO previously called at Stratford as part of a two-year pilot extension to London between October 2021 and October 2023. The problems with that service were two-fold. The track conditions west of Kitchener makes for a very slow ride, taking over four hours between Toronto and London, while VIA trains through Aldershot and Brantford could do the trip in almost half the time. By 2021, there were new bus operators between Toronto and London, competing on price and schedule, typically a 2-3 hour ride between the two cities.
The London departure time of 5:20 AM was very early in the morning, even for commuters to Kitchener-Waterloo. The scheduled arrival at Union at 9:13 AM was too late for many office workers. A four hour ride on a GO train is just too long with quad seating intended for much shorter 30-60 minute rides. For Stratford commuters, however, the 6:43 departure made for a more attractive option.
Toronto-bound VIA train arriving at Stratford at 11:39 AM
Despite GO’s return to Stratford, VIA still stops here once a day. Until 1990, VIA offered five trains between Stratford and Toronto, that was cut to just two after the devastating cuts that year. The second train (mornings westbound and evenings eastbound) disappeared during the pandemic and never returned. A few dozen people were waiting for the 11:20 eastbound midmorning train, which had to wait for the GO train to get out of the way, departing Stratford at 11:41.
Despite the loss of one of the two VIA trains, Stratford has more travel options in 2026 than it has in many years. There is a daily Flixbus run between Toronto, Stratford, and London. PC Connect‘s routes link Stratford with Kitchener/Waterloo, St. Marys, and London six days a week. There’s still the Festival shuttle for ticketholders. And now there’s the GO train.
Despite the resumption of GO service, there are still some issues that will have to be addressed. After Metrolinx acquired the Georgetown-Kitchener section of track from CN, it made several improvements including a new passing siding east of Kitchener and improving speeds through Downtown Guelph, up to 45 MPH from 10 MPH (railways in Canada still use miles instead of kilometres). West of Kitchener, the track continues to be owned by CN (which took over operations from the Goderich-Exeter short line several years ago) but remains in fair or poor condition, with bolted rail and multiple permanent slow orders. Through western Kitchener, the train crawled at 16 km/h (10 MPH), before increasing somewhat to 45-48 km/h in Wilmot Township. West of New Hamburg, the train reached speeds of just over 90 km/h. The Kitchener-Stratford section took just over an hour, despite a distance of just 42 kilometres. The screenshots from a GPS app on my phone below depict the speeds along this part.
15.8 km after departing Kitchener48.6 km through New Hamburg, Wilmot Township93.3 km/h near Shakespeare
For a weekend excursion train, the added delays from these slow zones (an additional 10 minutes) do not really matter but they have been causing trouble in the morning peak, with the late departures causing delays and overcrowding at the Brampton stations. On Monday, October 26, the departures and arrivals at Stratford were adjusted to account for this.
As GO Transit’s Stratford service is not yet a permanent, long-term commitment, there are no Presto or fare vending machines at Stratford; customers must purchase their fares on their smartphones. On weekends, GO still offers a $10 day pass, otherwise the fare is $25 one-way. The weekend trains are just six cars long, with only the cab car and the accessible car opening at the short Stratford platform. Bringing a bike on or off can be a challenge if the two spots in the cab car are taken — it will mean getting it up and down the stairs and between the coaches, as I had to on my return trip — to get to the next bike-permitted area.
Only two of the six cars open at Stratford
Unfortunately, the PC Connect bus service may be cut back, as the Town of St. Marys is no longer interested in helping to subsidize it. Instead, St. Marys is more interested in a local service, likely an on-demand system, rather than the limited fixed-route. That might mean the end of the London connection, if not the entire service. Though there is still Flixbus and GO, it might make it harder for students and commuters to get to universities and colleges in neighbouring cities, or for residents to get to work, health services, or social connections.
If the provincial government is committed to the Stratford service, it should either pay CN to upgrade the track to at least the standard it was in the 1980s, when VIA trains were consistently travelling at 70 MPH (110 km/h), or purchase the corridor outright, as it did east of Kitchener. In the meantime, it should ensure the continued operation of PC Connect, perhaps with better integration with the GO services in Kitchener-Waterloo. Metrolinx, as it continues to expand far beyond the Toronto/Hamilton area, should also consider different car configurations for longer trips for passenger comfort, especially as it takes over markets previously served by VIA.
Furthermore, Stratford should be a minihub for Midwestern Ontario, with connecting buses to places like Clinton and Goderich on Highway 8 and up to Listowel, Wingham on Highway 86, even as far as Kincardine.
Ride to St. Marys
St. Marys from the Rotary Trail bridge
St. Marys is about 20 kilometres from Stratford, easily bikeable by way of mostly flat country roads parallel to Highway 7. Though the ride to St. Marys was made difficult by a strong, cold wind from the southwest, the ride back to Stratford was very pleasant. Traffic on Perth South Road 122 was light, with every passing motorist courteous and giving lots of space. Short sections of the ride were on unpaved roads, however.
A short section of unpaved road near St. Marys
St. Marys was once the junction between the Grand Trunk Railway’s 1850s Toronto-Sarnia mainline and a branch south to London. After the Grand Trunk merged with the Great Western, whose southern Ontario mainline passed through Hamilton and London, the old Sarnia route, which served communities such as Forest and Lucan, became a branch line, eventually abandoned in the 1980s. Happily, the bridge over the North Thames River remained in place and was later converted to a short trail within town.
The old railway bridge now a popular active transportation route
The historic stone St. Marys Junction station, abandoned and fenced off for years, recently became an independent brewery. Despite being a bit of a way from St. Marys’ downtown, the place was busy, and worth the stop on the way back to Stratford.
The busy Broken Rail brewery on a Sunday afternoon. Note the federal historic plaque in front.
Bloor Street West, near Islington Avenue, October 14 2026 as dozens of police officers confront cyclists blocking workers from removing the cycling lane
In the so-called “War on the Car,” it feels like the provincial government is the one leading the charge.
In the last few years, the Ontario PC government, led by Doug Ford, has pulled out all the Stops (pun intended) in favouring motorists. Though the province is funding major transit expansion in the Greater Toronto Area, it has also accelerated the construction of new highways in the suburban “905 Belt” including the Bradford Bypass (Highway 425) and Highway 413 between Milton and Vaughan. It eliminated tolls on the provincially-owned sections of Highway 407 in Durham Region. The province also raised most provincial freeway speed limits to 110 kilometres per hour, even on congested sections of Highway 401 in Toronto. It eliminated the automobile licence plate renewal fee, and reduced fuel taxes soon after getting elected. Premier Ford has also pushed for a tunnel under Highway 401 that will never get built, but will waste time and resources for a study.
Along with these pro-driver policy decisions, the Ford government has struck back against local measures that were designed to promote walking and cycling and protect road users — especially pedestrians and cyclists — from injury and death.
In 2025, the province, once again weaponizing its constitutional authority to override municipalities, forced the removal of speed enforcement cameras. Traffic speeds, predictably, went up. In 2024, the government used its majority to pass Bill 212, the “Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act” which prohibits municipalities from installing cycling infrastructure that would take away from general traffic lanes without ministerial approval. The legislation also gave the government authority to override Toronto City Council decisions, by removing city-installed cycling lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue/Queen’s Park Circle. All three of these routes have subways underneath and parallel other multilane routes such as Jarvis Street/Mount Pleasant Road and the Gardiner Expressway. In 2025, Bill 212 was followed by Bill 60, the “Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act” which outright banned the removal of traffic lanes for bike lanes (or any other prescribed purpose).
It didn’t matter that the municipalities are responsible for their own streets. It didn’t matter that the people of Toronto elected their councils with the mandate to make these local decisions. It didn’t matter that experts and even senior civil servants in the Ministry of Transportation pushed back, as the Toronto Star reports. And it didn’t matter that a majority of Toronto voters rejected the PC government, even tossing out a PC MPP in Etobicoke-Lakeshore in the Winter 2025 snap election.
Several suburban municipalities have used the province’s direction as an excuse to remove some of their cycling infrastructure. The enactment of Bill 60 was cited in the resolution by Brampton City Council earlier this year to remove bike lanes on Charolais Boulevard in the city’s southwest, restoring four driving lanes on a street that never needed them.
Bike lanes on suburban collector roads including Howden Boulevard in Brampton and Aquitaine Avenue in Mississauga (pictured) have also disappearedin 2025-2026. Photo taken on a weekday afternoon.
Make no mistake, this is a culture war, manufactured to pit cyclists that the Ford Brothers have long vilified versus the Ford Nation base of middle class suburbanites and affluent voters. Not only is it a convenient distraction from education scandals, allegations of corruption, and a teetering health system, it’s a great fundraising tool. The PCs don’t need their supporters to chip in to fight the war for the car — they’ll do it with or without your $25 donation — but they’ll sure take your money.
😔 The transportation minister assures me I’m next though
After winning an appeal in August of a lower court decision that had blocked the removal of lanes (in that earlier decision, the judge found that the province had no evidence that cycling infrastructure causes congestion), Ford’s government wasted no time dismantling a 1.1 km section of the Bloor Street bike lanes in Etobicoke, between Clissold Road (just west of Islington) and Royal York Road. Though Bloor Street is a municipal road, the province took it upon itself to begin removal work, overriding the city.
On this section of Bloor, the City of Toronto installed short concrete curbs augmented with plastic flexiposts to separate the bike lanes from parked cars and general traffic, often an interim measure before major road construction allows for more permanent infrastructure. This was a relatively easy bike lane to remove, at least without active opposition from cyclists and safe street activists.
Workers removing flexiposts from small concrete curbs that would later be removed, Wednesday October 14
Work was scheduled to begin the evening of Tuesday, October 13, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. The work was originally intended to only occur after 6PM, to minimize effects on traffic. But after hundreds showed up that evening to block removal work, it was quickly rescheduled for the next day, with work slated to begin by 11 AM. Still, several dozen showed up, and after blocking the work yet again, dozens of police from all over the city came out to put an end to that. The resistance was peaceful, and there was just one arrest of a cyclist refusing to get on the sidewalk that day (a second was arrested in the evening).
Near Etobicoke and Islington on Wednesday morning, before police arrived
One also noticed that the untendered contractor — Verdi Alliance — was not proud of its work on behalf of the province. It covered up the logos on its vehicles with paperboard and duct tape. Logos on its temporary conditions road signage (the orange signs in construction areas) were also covered in tape. One could feel some sympathy for the workers on site, who faced several days of being yelled at, as they are usually assigned for legitimate road work, perhaps installing cycling infrastructure elsewhere.
Workers placing a “bike lane closed” sign on Bloor Street near Roya York with the Verdi Alliance logo at top right taped overVerdi Alliance truck at Bloor and Royal York with logos covered up on Thursday, October 15
To me, the piles of removed concrete curbs in the abandoned bike lane made me think of the piles of old wooden ties from disused railways being ripped up. I had a similar feeling of melancholy when I saw railways like the Orangeville-Brampton line disappear.
Piled concrete curbs and metal anchors in the Bloor Street bike lane in Etobicoke made me thing of railway ties and spikes as an abandoned railway is torn upThe Orangeville-Brampton Railway being torn up in early 2022
While visiting the Kingsway neighbourhood, I could not help but notice how affluent and conservative the Bloor-Royal York area is. In the last weeks of a municipal election, Brad Bradford’s signs dominated over incumbent Olivia Chow’s on large residential lawns. There were many luxury SUVs, such as BMWs, Porsches, and Land Rovers, being driven or parked on the side streets. Teenagers exiting Royal York Station wore the uniforms of prominent Rosedale and Forest Hill private schools. Cycling infrastructure was probably always going to be a hard sell here, where the older urban city meets the postwar suburbs.
Off of Bloor Street, most residential streets are made of large houses on roadways without sidewalks. Of the election signs I saw, most were for right-wing mayoral candidate Brad Bradford and council candidate Ted Opitz, who previously represented the neighbouring riding as a Conservative MP.
Pedestrians walk north on Brentwood Road, a residential side street without sidewalks, despite a nearby Toronto Public Library branch.
But my sadness and anger became a white hot rage after crossing in a marked crosswalk at Bloor and Brentwood: I was nearly nailed by a driver in a Land Rover SUV who violated the HTA by failing to stop at the stop sign and solid stop line protecting the crosswalk and bike lane. This turned out to be a very common occurrence at this intersection, as I sat on a bench and recorded drivers blowing through.
Clearly, drivers here do not care about the safety of anyone else. And the province is catering to them above all others. If pedestrians or cyclists are injured or killed by aggressive, distracted, or speeding motorists, that’s just the cost of living in Doug Ford’s Toronto.
Most drivers at Brentwood Street at Bloor Street West don’t stop at the stop line and roll through the crosswalk
Correction: I amended the information about Bills 60 and 212 to be more accurate.
On Sunday, September 27, I took the GO train to Hamilton with my bike to experience Open Streets Hamilton, an annual event that shuts down just over three kilometres of King Street East between John Street and Gage Street from 10AM to 4PM. An official program of the City of Hamilton, pedestrians and cyclists get to enjoy a car-free experience, with five activation hubs, with live music, play spaces, and booths set up by city-affiliated agencies like the Hamilton Street Railway and Hamilton Public Library as well as local non-profit and activist organizations. Businesses along King Street were welcomed to take their business outside with displays and tables for passers-by to browse.
The Hamilton Public Library’s bookmobile near King and ShermanDrum band at King and Victoria
Hamilton’s Open Streets was a delight. A pleasant, sunny day certainly helped, but it was nice to see so many people sharing the space, all at a gentle pace. Cyclists taking advantage of the car-free King Street were respectful of pedestrians having the whole right-of-way and especially careful around the five hubs. Cyclists looking for a faster route could easily go just two blocks north to Cannon Street, which has a continuous two-way cycletrack as far east as Sherman Avenue.
King Street narrows between John and Wellington Streets through the tree-lined International Village BIA
By extending Open Streets into the later afternoon, Hamilton helped to encourage businesses to participate and to get a wide variety of participants through the day. Though Open Streets in Toronto was supported by the Downtown Yonge BIA, there was limited commercial activity along the routes, likely due to the short hours.
King at Barnesdale, towards the east end of the Open Streets. Note the café on the block put out seating and shade canopies.
In 2026, Toronto only had two blocks of temporary pedestrian activation — Church Street between Alexander and Wellesley Streets in the Village. Happily, that experiment ran for over six weeks, and restaurants and bars took advantage of the extra space. It worked well, despite nearby road construction and concerns about safety and traffic congestion. But it was just a taste of what Toronto can and should do.
Hamilton shows that open streets are popular and Toronto needs to bring them back. Hopefully the mayor and council elected later this month will have the courage and ambition to get Torontonians outside and on the streets.
My bike at Mile 15.7 of the Meaford Subdivision, New Lowell
Just before the new Fall 2026 GO Transit schedules kicked in, I decided to take a ride between Barrie and Collingwood, travelling on Ontario’s newest section of rail trail, an extension of the Barrie-Collingwood trail between Stayner and Angus. My ride on September 3 was pleasant and mostly uneventful, taking my bike to the shores of Lake Huron for the first time. Despite a successful 55 kilometre one-way ride, getting a bus ride back to Barrie, both the trail and the transit connections could be significantly improved.
The Barrie-Collingwood Rail Trail is named for the Barrie-Collingwood Railway (BCRY), a short line freight operation that took over from CN in the 1990s. The route through Barrie and Collingwood was built by the Ontario, Simcoe, and Huron Railway between 1853 and 1855, the province’s first rail line. Soon renaming itself the Northern Railway of Canada, the company expanded to Meaford, Orillia, and Gravenhurst before becoming part of the Grand Trunk Railway network. CN, which took over the Grand Trunk in 1923, ended passenger service to Collingwood in 1960.
After CN threatened abandonment of the railway, the town of Collingwood and the City of Barrie established the Barrie-Collingwood Railway (BCRY) in 1998. BCRY ensured continued rail service to several industries in the area. Though BCRY remains active in the Barrie area, including a spur into Innisfil (a remnant of the CN Beeton Sub), service into Collingwood was discontinued in 2011. The active track now ends at Utopia, east of Angus, where BCRY interchanges with the CPKC mainline. The discontinuance of railway service in western Simcoe County allowed for a rail trail to be developed along the line.
Off the GO train at Allandale Waterfront Station
I started my ride on a Thursday morning, taking the 9:54 Barrie Line train from Union all the way to the end at Allandale Waterfront Station, arriving at 11:37. Unfortunately, the hourly Simcoe County Linx bus to Wasaga Beach — Route 2 — leaves the adjacent Allandale Bus Terminal thirty minutes past the hour, forcing a 50 minute wait to if I wanted to continue by transit. I elected to begin my bike ride here instead.
The new Allandale bus terminal, serving Barrie Transit and Simcoe County Linx
The ride between Allandale and the beginning of the rail trail in Angus is very direct, following Tiffin Street in Barrie to County Road 90. Tiffin Street is mostly a two lane collector road with intermittent painted bike lanes that disappeared approaching signalized intersections to make room for left turn lanes. The bike lane also disappeared before crossing under Highway 400. But since it’s a straight, flat road with a moderate amount of traffic, it was certainly a better experience than my last ride through Barrie earlier this summer.
Bike lane on Tiffin Street…… That ends before every signalized intersection…… and under Highway 400
Simcoe County 90, a former provincial highway connecting Barrie, Angus, and CFB Borden, was widened from a two-lane road to a five-lane highway, including a centre turn lane. The posted speed limit is 80 km/h. However, there are decent paved shoulders along the entire stretch between the end of Tiffin Street and just before entering Angus. While County Road 90 was not the most pleasant riding experience because of traffic noise, it felt safe enough for a casual, yet confident, cyclist such as myself, and should be the minimum expectation in Ontario for rural cycling routes. But it would not be the place for a family ride.
Paved shoulder on Highway 90 towards Angus
Though I ended up following County Road 90 all the way into Angus, one may choose to turn south onto Essa 5th Line and connect to the beginning of the rail trail there.
Entering the Barrie-Collingwood Rail Trail at Angus. Note the old railway crossing signal box at left.
Once reaching the Barrie-Collingwood Rail Trail, the cyclist is treated to a pristine, shaded corridor all the way to New Lowell. On this section, the crushed gravel surface is well groomed and there are benches at regular intervals. The p-gates at each intersection are just far enough apart to be easily passable at a slow speed, and wayfinding is excellent.
Between Angus and New Lowell, the trail is smooth, straight, and shady
Unfortunately, between New Lowell and Stayner, the trail could use some grooming, with looser gravel that made for a slower and slipperier ride (I am not the first cyclist to complain about this). This was also a much less shaded section of trail, and I felt myself slowly losing energy before a change to stop in town for a break and to refresh my water bottle.
Main Street, StaynerCrossing of Main Street (Highway 26) at Stayner
At Stayner, the trail crosses busy Highway 26 twice: the first time at Main Street, adjacent to the town centre, and again at Airport Road. Both have signalized pedestrian crossings where railway signals once stood. Stayner is also where the trail shifts to being on the old railway right-of-way to being immediately beside it.
West of Stayner, where an older section of rail trail follows the derelict rails towards Collingwood
The older section of trail between Stayner and Collingwood was constructed as part of a watermain project connecting Clearview Township (which includes Stayner) with Georgian Bay at Collingwood in the mid 2010s, not long after the last train left Collingwood. It appears that, at the time, there was thought to retaining the railway should it ever be required again; notably old rail bridges at Stayner and Batteaux have not been converted for trail use. However, the intact rails have been completely overgrown with vegetation and most crossings have been removed or paved over. With the track completely gone between Angus and Stayner, there’s almost no chance rail service of any kind will ever return to the 170-year-old corridor.
The section of trail between Stayner and Poplar Sideroad — Collingwood’s town limit) is smooth and straight except for a short detour on country road at Batteaux. However, there are no benches or rest areas along this 10 kilometre stretch. But once within Collingwood, the trail becomes part of the town’s recreational network, which connects the entire community. At the very end is the reconstructed Collingwood Station, which replaced an older building erected by the Northern Railway of Canada (the successor to the pioneering Ontario, Simcoe and Huron) and is home to a local museum.
Replica Northern Railway station, CollingwoodPlaque commemorating the history of the Ontario, Simcoe, and Huron / Northern Railway Co. in Collingwood
I had just enough time to get a snack and beverage before getting the 6:00 PM Simcoe County Linx bus to Wasaga Beach and then to the 6:30 PM bus back to Barrie, the last trip of the day.
Simcoe County Linx bus (Aug. 2021 photo). All Simcoe County buses are equipped with bike racks.
Needed improvements
This ride from Barrie to Collingwood, through mostly pleasant, highlights the need for improvements to both transit and trail access in Simcoe County, though many of these suggestions should not be particularly challenging to implement.
The first issue is Simcoe County Linx’s schedules, which are not timed to meet arriving GO trains at Allandale, nor do they facilitate weekend excursions. Though there is a Flixbus route between Toronto, Barrie, Collingwood, and Owen Sound, it only operates five days a week outside of the busy summer period, where it ran twice daily in 2026.
Simcoe County is to be commended for expanding hourly public transit throughout the county (with two more routes planned). But except for the short Route 4 between Collingwood and Wasaga Beach, there is no evening, weekend, or holiday service. The 6:30 PM departure of Route 2 from Allandale Waterfront is too early for most rush hour trains to arrive; the last possible connection is a tight 4 minutes between the arrival of the 4:38 PM train departure from Union Station which is scheduled to get into Allandale at 6:26. A recommended 7:30 PM departure, would give enough time for two additional evening trains to arrive.
Furthermore, there are no connections from Allandale Station north on Routes 1 and 3, which serve Midland and Orillia; they depart from Georgian College/Royal Victoria Hospital on the north end of Barrie and require paying an additional Barrie Transit fare. Allandale Waterfront could function as a hub serving all of Simcoe County and points beyond (including Muskoka and Grey County) but there are missing links and a need for schedule and fare integration between GO, Simcoe County, and Barrie Transit.
Though there is the occasional call for restoring passenger rail to Collingwood to serve the area’s resorts and the year-round population, the rail corridor is pretty much lost. Buses, connecting with GO trains from Toronto, can certainly fill the need of serving visitors to Wasaga Beach, Collingwood, and cottage country, as long as the connections are easy and the buses take passengers where they want to go. This requires GO, Simcoe County, the local municipalities and the resort operators to work together.
As for the trail, there are a few things Simcoe County and the City of Barrie can do to improve cycling in the region. Though wayfinding along the trails themselves is very good, there’s nothing to guide cyclists between them. Cycling routes can be better posted, with wide paved shoulders prioritized on roads like Veteran’s Drive/5th Sideroad, between Tottenham and Beeton, and to the south end of the North Simcoe trail towards Penetanguishene.
Long term, a better off-road cycling facility could connect Angus and Barrie (and the North Simcoe Rail Trail) without having to use a busy highway, paralleling the still-active BCRY corridor.
Finally, the condition of the county’s rail trails should be monitored and maintained for safe and comfortable cycling conditions, with attention paid to the trail surface and providing ample rest areas.
With some key transit and road improvements, Simcoe County has the potential for being Ontario’s rail trail capital, providing a safe, sustainable, and active tourism option that will benefit locals and visitors alike.
A Simcoe County Linx bus with my bicycle on the rack at Bradford GO Station
Within Southern Ontario, there are some excellent places to go for a bike ride, without needing a car to hit the trails or quiet country roads. GO Transit’s bus and rail network extends all the way to places like Hamilton, Niagara Falls, Peterborough, Brantford, and Kitchener, where great cycling routes can be found. One can make a one-way trip and get a bus or train back, and there are routes of many possible lengths, levels of difficulty, and comfort levels.
A while back, I wrote about a ride between Georgetown and Newmarket following the Caledon Trailway from Terra Cotta to Tottenham, then following country roads east to the Nokiidaa Trail between Holland Landing and Newmarket. A decade later, I decided to try to finish riding the former CN Beeton Subdivision to Barrie’s waterfront.
Between Tottenham and Beeton, the Allandale Sub still sees train service
As the section of the former CN branch line between Tottenham — where I was on a previous ride — and Beeton remains in use by the South Simcoe Railway steam train operation, I started the ride in Beeton, at the north end of the remaining track. Beeton is also a stop on Simcoe County Linx’s Route 5 between Bradford GO Station and Alliston, which runs every hour during weekday daytime hours, making it an easy place to get to without a car.
Downtown Beeton, with a Simcoe County Linx bus stop in the foreground
At Beeton, the SSR track comes to an end and the rail trail picks back up for a short bit. Unfortunately, there is no easy, safe cycling connection between Tottenham and Beeton; County Road 10 is a busy road without paved shoulders, and 4th Line, which leads east from Tottenham towards a quieter alternative route, is narrow, poorly maintained, and hilly, unsuitable for a casual cyclist or walker. Hence, the decision to skip the Tottenham-Beeton section.
The SSR crossing in Beeton
From Beeton’s Main Street, either Dayfoot or Centre Street provide quiet, low-traffic routes north to Line 9 (Lily Street) to a section of trail as far as Line 10. From there, pedestrians and cyclists must detour to 10th Side Road for 1.5 kilometres at Allimil due to a missing bridge over a small stream and a potato processing plant partly on the old right of way. Allimil was also once known as Beeton Junction as this was where a branch line split off the busier Hamilton-Allandale route to serve Alliston, Creemore, and Collingwood. That other branch line’s right-of-way, unfortunately, was not preserved.
10th Sideroad is relatively busy, and there are no paved shoulders, but the traffic I encountered was generally respectful. That said, I was grateful to get back on the trail.
10th Sideroad, New Tecumseth, where pedestrians and cyclists using the rail trail must divert north of BeetonRe-entering the Trans-Canada Trail at 10th Sideroad. The quality of the ride between here and Innisfil was quite good.Note the Trans Canada Trail marker on the p-gate.
From this point as far as 5th Sideroad in Innisfil (and just south of Barrie), the trail is in great shape, with a consistent smooth gravel surface. The section between Allimil and Cookstown only opened less than a decade ago; where one property owner on Line 13 took over the old railbed, the trail properly detours around the farm without any hassle. A replacement bridge over Cookstown Creek is accompanied by photographs of the old wooden bridge.
A new rail trail bridge installed in 2021. Nearby, an interpretive plaque displays images of the former structure this replaced.
Southern Simcoe County is famous for vegetable production, including the Holland Marsh and the potato fields of New Tecumseh, Adjala-Tosorontio, and West Gwillimbury. The trail runs right through these lands, revealing how Ontarians get much of their food. Along the route, I spotted several dozen farm workers sporting nón lá to protect themselves from the sun while tending to leafy vegetables.
Farm workers tending to vegetables near the rail trailWhy did the turkey cross the trail?
At Cookstown and at Thornton, signalized active transportation crossings allow pedestrians and cyclists to easily get across busy roadways. Benches and shade are plentiful, and there were a few pleasant surprises as well. If the trip from Beeton to Barrie had only the short diversion at Allimil, this would be an easy 40-45 kilometre ride. But then I encountered a very stressful ride into Barrie itself.
Northeast of Thornton towards Barrie, where old railway telegraph poles betray the trail’s former use
At 10th Sideroad, near the Georgian Downs Racetrack and Casino, the trail came to a sudden end, with no direction on how to continue onwards. The trailhead features a large parking lot, which makes it clear what type of recreational trail user is expected here.
5th Side Road in Innisfil, at the end of the Cookstown-Thornton trail, part of the Trans Canada Trail
5th Side Road is a terribly busy traffic corridor as it parallels nearby Highway 400 and turns into Veterans Drive as it crosses into the City of Barrie. It’s a two lane road, with rough gravel shoulders, which means either dealing with heavy traffic while taking the lane (not recommended), riding in the grit, or walking the bike. At one point, I had to opt for the latter, coming up a hill on the Veterans Drive section in Barrie. The video below shows the conditions on this portion.
Video showing conditions on 5th Side Road in Innisfil and Veterans Drive in Barrie, part of the signed Trans Canada Trail
Ironically, 5th Side Road and Veterans Drive are part of the designated Trans Canada Trail, along with the Caledon Trailway (along with the Tottenham extension) and the Beeton-Innisfil route. I spotted several TCT signs along 5th Side Road and Veterans Drive despite the dangerous conditions present.
Finally, at Salem Road, Veterans Drive widens from two narrow lanes to an urban four-lane road, complete with painted bike lanes. At this point, I could comfortably ride, following Veterans Road and crossing Highway 400 on the Harvie Road overpass, a much safer ride than the official TCT route via Mapleview Drive. From there, it was an easy downhill ride into Allandale and to Barrie’s waterfront. I had dinner in Downtown Barrie, then took the evening GO train back to Toronto.
The mandatory city name sign on the downtown waterfront means I made it to Barrie
As I found out the hard way, once again, the Trans Canada Trail remains more of an aspiration than a reality. As much of the trail remains incomplete, the online map shows many yellow sections, which indicate on-road sections, usually without any cycling infrastructure. Furthermore, there are many sections that can not be walked or biked at all, but requires a kayak, canoe, or other watercraft, even in Southern Ontario, where active transportation infrastructure is dependant on municipal and provincial initiatives to build those quality, multiuse trails.
Excerpt from the Trans Canada Trail online map showing Simcoe County. Yellow indicates on-road portions of trail; green represents off-road portions (i.e., rail trails and park paths) and the blue section on Lake Couchiching north of Orillia tells you to pack a kayak to use that section.
On June 30, 2026, the Toronto Starfeatured a story about the City of Oshawa’s “lofty plan” to build a new urban aerial gondola system above Simcoe Street, that community’s main north-south corridor. While the technology is novel, it is a fundamentally bad idea for what the regional government proposes it for. Simcoe Street is currently served by the busiest bus route in Durham Region – Route 901 Pulse – as well as several GO Transit buses (routes 52, 56, and 92).
Gondolas have their place in the urban transit toolbox and they have several advantages. They can be inexpensive to build, as they require minimal right-of-way acquisition and do not require tunnelling. They are adept for climbing steep hills and can offer very frequent service with low operating costs. Gondolas can operate in all sorts of weather conditions, from tropical cities to mountain ski resorts. Modern gondola or cable lift operations allow each car to slow or stop at each station to allow passengers to comfortably board and alight, unlike older, traditional ski lifts. The technology is popular in Latin American cities such as Medellín, Colombia (where the Metrocable system feeds that city’s metro), and La Paz, Bolivia, where a network of Mi Teleférico lines makes up the backbone of the transit service.
But in those hilly cities in developing countries, the gondolas cover short distances (only between two and five stations per line) and have limited capacity (Mexico City’s Mexicable line has an hourly capacity of just 3,000 per hour). In the United States, the only transit-based aerial cable cars are the Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York and the Portland Aerial Tram, which charges a very high $9 round-trip fare to the general public. In Canada, the most serious gondola proposal would connect Simon Fraser University with the Skytrain in Burnaby, BC and be part of the Translink network. That proposal – though stalled – is logical as it involves just two stations and allows passengers to easily access the university campus located at the top of Burnaby Mountain, reducing the number of buses that have to climb that long, winding access road.
In contrast, the idea of a gondola running over Simcoe Street in Oshawa makes very little sense, and it seems that the concept will not get beyond a consultant’s report. There are far more reasonable alternatives that merit a closer look, including simple painted bus lanes and other “BRT-lite” measures that can benefit both Durham Region Transit (DRT) and GO Transit passengers.
Oshawa’s transit past and future
Simcoe Street, Oshawa’s backbone, has always been the key to Oshawa’s development as an industrial centre; its future opportunities also line the corridor; good transit is essential.
Established as a small village at the crossroads of Kingston Road and Simcoe Street (an early “colonialization road” that connected Lake Ontario with Lake Scugog), Oshawa grew as an industrial centre starting in the 1870s, when Robert McLaughlin’s carriage works moved to expanded facilities in Oshawa to be nearer the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) and Oshawa Harbour. As more industries followed, a streetcar line, the first component of the Oshawa Railway Company (OR) was built on Simcoe Street in 1895 to connect the burgeoning downtown with the GTR station and harbour to the south. The original Simcoe Street line was built with several freight spurs to allow shippers direct rail access to their properties. Residents could take the streetcar down to Lakeview Park to relax or to beat the summer heat.
As industry grew (the McLaughlin Carriage Works moved into automobile manufacturing starting in 1907, eventually becoming the founding component of General Motors Canada) OR built a new freight-only electric line east of Simcoe Street with direct freight yard connections with the GTR. When the Canadian Pacific and Canadian Northern Railways built new lines through the Oshawa area, the OR connected with those as well. The incomplete Toronto Eastern Railway, a failed interurban line along Kingston Road, provided some use to OR as it provided access to several customers along the TER’s completed section of track.
Though buses replaced passenger service on the single-track Simcoe Street streetcar line in 1940, OR’s freight operations remained busy until the 1960s, with the last electric locomotive withdrawn in 1964. Oshawa’s bus service was taken over by Durham Region Transit in 2006.
When GM opened a modern assembly complex south of the new Highway 401 in 1950, it slowly abandoned its older plants north and west of the downtown core. Its new property had direct CN and CP rail connections and no longer relied on the OR. Meanwhile, other factories such as A.G. Simpson, Duplate/Pittsburgh Plate Glass, Fittings Limited, Ontario Malleable Iron, and Pedlar People, either closed or stopped relying on rail shipments. The old OR tracks, operated by CN diesels in the last few decades, disappeared in the 1990s, replaced by the Michael Starr multi-use trail north of Highway 401. The last remnant of the Oshawa Railway, a Highway 401 overpass built in the late 1930s, was demolished in 2011.
After OR removed its remaining downtown trackage in the 1960s, a one-way road system was implemented in Downtown Oshawa. Simcoe Street became northbound-only between Brock and Elm Streets with Centre Street taking on southbound traffic. King Street was twinned with Bond Street, which followed the disused Toronto Eastern Railway tracks. This helped to speed traffic through the downtown core.
Many of the older industrial lands saw new uses: Most of the old GM North Plant properties are now home to apartment buildings, the Durham Regional Courthouse, and a big box retail complex anchored by Costco Wholesale. The Pedlar People plant was demolished to become a Zellers-anchored plaza on Simcoe Street South. The Ontario Malleable Iron factory became a Knob Hill Farms supermarket which operated between 1981 and 2000. That plant, now mostly demolished, is to be the site of a new GO Transit station; surrounding property, including the old PPG plant, is designated for future development.
Facade of the old Ontario Malleable Iron factory, later Knob Hill Farms
The construction of Highway 401 and changes to intercity rail also changed Oshawa considerably. As Toronto grew and GM’s influence began to decline, Oshawa became part of the metropolitan commutershed. CN closed the old GTR station off Simcoe Street and built a new modern station between Oshawa and Whitby in 1967, consolidating passenger service for those two communities at a single location with space for commuter parking. Though GO Transit was also established that year, its trains only went as far east as Pickering; GO bus service via Highway 401 and via Highway 2 extended the provincial agency’s reach to Oshawa until 1995, when the Lakeshore East line was fully extended to Oshawa.
Map of Oshawa’s transit past and possible future, highlighting the old Oshawa Railway streetcar and freight tracks, connecting railways, and major Oshawa institutions. The proposed route of the gondola along Simcoe Street is highlighted in green. Click image for full size.
With the decline of General Motors’ Canadian operations along with many of its feeder plants, Oshawa’s economy shifted towards education and government services while becoming more of a Toronto suburb rather than an independent industrial centre. The downtown hockey arena/entertainment venue, which opened as the General Motors Centre, is now named for Tribute Communities, a residential developer. Durham College’s campus, on the north end of the city, has grown and now includes Ontario Tech University. Between the campus and downtown is the main Lakeridge Health campus, which is the largest hospital in Durham Region.
As Oshawa and its postsecondary educations have continued to grow, it is no wonder that Durham Region Transit’s 901 Simcoe Street bus – the successor to the old Oshawa Railway streetcar – is so busy and congested. But a gondola is not the right solution, either.
Why better buses are the answer
Typical traffic on Simcoe Street at Adelaide Avenue, near the famous Parkwood Estate and Lakeridge Hospital
As Metrolinx starts work on the Bowmanville GO Transit expansion – which will extend the Lakeshore East rail corridor into central Oshawa and eastward into Clarington – it is replacing the Simcoe Street bridge over the CPKC tracks, a two-year project that has forced the closure of Oshawa’s main street south of downtown. Most north-south traffic now follows Ritson Road, Park Road, or Stevenson Road. Though traffic is heavier on each of those alternatives (especially on Ritson), Oshawa is coping without experiencing complete gridlock.
Metrolinx construction on the replacement Simcoe Street Bridge
Ideally, when the Simcoe Street bridge reopens in late 2027 or early 2028, two of its lanes could be dedicated to DRT and GO buses. These bus-only lanes can then extend northwards towards Downtown Oshawa, Lakeridge Hospital, and Durham College/Ontario Tech. As some of Oshawa’s most important destinations, such as the Oshawa Centre shopping mall and the Oshawa GO/VIA Rail station, are off Simcoe Street, buses can divert on and off the bus lanes to serve those, and other, trip generators; a gondola would not be able to do so.
As the Bowmanville extension of the Lakeshore East GO service will see limited service (peak-direction train service during rush hours and limited off-peak runs) along with a low-speed diversion from the GO corridor to the CPKC line, many passengers connecting to GO towards Toronto would still choose to transfer at the main GO/VIA station.
As the planned new Oshawa Centre GO Station is located on the old Malleable Iron/Knob Hill site two blocks east of Simcoe Street, a gondola would have to swing over to serve it or force a long walking transfer. Depending on how bus service on Simcoe Street is planned by DRT, buses could either divert to serve it, or a dedicated route could provide that connection.
Furthermore, the former Oshawa Railway lands can be better utilized for active transportation purposes. Though the Michael Starr trail runs all the way from Lviv Boulevard (just north of Highway 401) to Taunton Road, it is treated as a recreational trail, rather than a vital transport link. At most crossings, east-west motor traffic is prioritized over pedestrians and cyclists, with “stop and dismount” signs at many trail crossings. There is also a considerable gap between Bruce Street south of Downtown Oshawa and Adelaide Street to the north, as the OR followed Bruce Street and Ritson Road to serve GM’s north plant.
Creating a high-quality through cycling path using part of the OR/Michael Starr right-of-way and improving the existing bike lanes on Mary Street through Downtown Oshawa and extending it to Durham College/Ontario Tech can divert some DRT passengers between the future GO station, the downtown, the hospital, and the campus, and get at least a few car drivers to switch to active transport modes.
Michael Starr Trail, built on the old OR right-of-way. Note the yellow “stop and dismount” signs.
If built, Oshawa’s 13-kilometre, 16-station gondola line would be the longest urban aerial transit route in the world and while it might allow for the retention of four lanes of traffic on Simcoe Street, land would still be required to build the towers, stations, and maintenance facility. Buildings will still have to be demolished. The gondola’s capacity would be limited. The estimated $1.1 billion spent on gondola towers, stations, and vehicles could be much better spent.
Once better bus and active transportation infrastructure is provided, Oshawa might find that the fears of Simcoe Street gridlock may not come to pass. An expensive median busway is not necessarily the answer either: simple reserved lanes, enhanced bus stops with off-board fare payment and all-door bus boarding, signal priority and queue-jumps at busy intersections could do a lot in the short term. Yes, that would mean inconvenience for drivers, but the Metrolinx construction on Simcoe Street south is already an inconvenience.
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A mess of signs and signals on King Street West at Portland Avenue
On a lovely weekday afternoon in early June, I went for a ride through Downtown Toronto to check out the changes to Portland Street between Richmond Avenue and Front Street. This side street, just west of the downtown core, connects the busy Richmond-Adelaide cycle tracks with the Puente De Luz walking/cycling bridge across the Union Station Rail Corridor to CityPlace and via Dan Leckie Way to the Waterfront.
While the City of Toronto is currently restricted in adding new cycling lanes on major corridors, it continues to piece together alternative routes where possible; Portland Street, which parallels congested Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street, is one of those opportunities. A new two-way cycle track was opened while most of Portland Street itself is now one-way for motorists.
Looking south at the end of Portland Street towards CityPlace and the ramp to the Puente De Luz Bridge (bridge at far left)
At Portland and Wellington Streets, an interesting new traffic alignment diverts motor traffic around the complex intersection while permitting through cyclist and pedestrian movement on all sides, improving safety for all road users. On Portland Street northbound and southbound, drivers are required to turn right onto Wellington maintaining local access while discouraging through drivers. This new layout, complete with Muskoka chairs laid out in the middle of the intersection is unusual for Toronto and is more common in cycling-friendly cities such as Montreal. Emergency vehicles can still pass through, following the cycling paths.
Wellington Street is a designated east-west cycling route connecting the Downtown Core and west end neighbourhoods like Parkdale and Liberty Village and will eventually hookup with an extension of the West Toronto Railpath. Together with increased density in the downtown area, this intersection will only get busier with cyclists and pedestrians in the future.
Portland looking north at Wellington. Motorists must turn in one direction from Wellington or Portland, opening up the middle of the crossing to a four-way cycling intersection, with planters and colourful Muskoka chairs Comfortable places to sit in the middle of an intersection
Despite the very unToronto urban intervention at Portland and Wellington, a very Toronto intervention continues one block north at King Street. Though the King Street Pilot was launched in November 2017, over eight years ago, little has been done since to improve the street for pedestrians or transit users. To discourage motorists from illegally proceeding through intersections (intended to eliminate congestion for streetcars and buses), the curb lanes are blocked with painted Jersey barriers. More recently, additional traffic lights were installed, so there are now signals for transit, cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians.
At Portland, and every other intersection that drivers are not permitted to go straight (taxi drivers are excepted after 10 pm), the traffic signals remain red at all times. A right green arrow appears for 5-10 seconds at the beginning of the cycle, allowing motorists to turn unimpeded. At Portland, however, eastbound motorists on King may not make a right on red because of the two-way cycle track on the west side of the street. Because of all these restrictions, there are seven signs facing eastbound drivers affixed to the traffic pole, along with two transit signals, one traffic signal, two bicycle signals, and one pedestrian signal.
This could have been clearer
The amount of clutter here can be confusing and is also unsightly. First off, there is no need for the “bicycle signal” sign below the two bicycle signal heads and next to the pedestrian signal. The signal aspects are already clearly for bicycles without the sign. Revising the Ontario Traffic Manual (OTM) to allow red arrows on traffic signals could both simplify the yellow traffic signal here and eliminate the need for the “no right turn on red” sign. It would also be clear then that right is the only permitted sign. Speaking of the OTM, dedicated transit signal aspects such as those used in Europe or even several American cities would eliminate the need for the “transit signal” sign and further reduce confusion. If the late night taxi exception was removed, the “no left turn” and “no straight movement” signs could be consolidated as well.
But most of all, the sign clutter makes it even more clear that the King Street Pilot configuration needs to become permanent, with raised curb extensions at the far sides of each intersection, with a level platform for streetcar boarding. Permanent planters and benches would be a visual cue to drivers that King Street is not a throughfare, but a pedestrian and transit-first corridor.
There is a lot less sign clutter along Seventh Avenue in Calgary, which is exclusively a transit and pedestrian corridor
Looking down from the Black Bridge on the Norfolk County Trail to Shadow Lake and Waterford Ponds in May 2026
On a beautiful May Thursday, I met one of my colleagues in the village of Waterford. As he is now living in Port Rowan on Lake Erie, this was an opportunity for us to get some important work done, while also exploring one of Ontario’s great small communities.
Though the local area was settled over 200 years ago, Waterford was established as a thriving village with the arrival of the Canada Southern Railway (CASO) which was eventually incorporated into the giant New York Central system. The route through Canada, with its divisional headquarters in St. Thomas, was the fastest line between Buffalo, Detroit, and Chicago. It was joined by the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo (TH&B), which connected Hamilton and the Canadian Pacific Railway with CASO at Waterford and at Welland. In 1916, the electric Lake Erie & Northern (LE&N) Railway, another Canadian Pacific property, provided regular freight and passenger service between Port Dover, Brantford, and Kitchener. By the 1990s, all three railways were abandoned, but their former rights-of-way remain in active use as part of the local trail network.
Take the Shadow Lake Trail to Downtown Waterford
The large system of ponds around Waterford, popular with birds, boaters, and anglers, are artificial. Shadow Lake was a millpond created by damming Nanticoke Creek. When constructing its railway, CASO found the sand and gravel deposits in this area irresistible for exploitation; the gravel was first used for railway ballast; larger aggregate pits created new ponds to the west.
Map of the Shadow Lake Trailand connecting trails in Waterford, along with the extensive ponds surrounding them
The former Canada Southern Railway Station, which also served the TH&B, still stands, and has recently been home to an artisan market. Sadly, the LE&N station was demolished in the 1970s.
Waterford CASO Station
Despite the loss of the railways and the LE&N station, the railway rights of way are fully intact within the village area and have been converted to trails. Within Waterford, the east-west Shadow Lake Trail follows the former CASO route between the Waterford Conservation Area to the west and Lingwood Park to the east, though it is not part of a continuous trail system across southwestern Ontario. Only short sections within Waterford, Tillsonburg, St. Thomas, and Essex are open to the public; most of the old railway corridor was sold off to local landowners in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Norfolk County Trail sign
However, the north-south LE&N Trail, which connects to the Shadow Lake Trail by way of a gentle paved pathway or a metal staircase, is part of a much longer rail trail corridor that continues north to Brantford (the trail shifts to the TH&B route north of Waterford) and south to Simcoe and Port Dover. At Brantford, it is easy for the ambitious cyclist to continue east to Hamilton or north to Paris, Cambridge, and Kitchener via connecting high-quality rail trails. The Norfolk County Trail is at its scenic best when it crosses over the Waterford area via the Black Bridge.
The Black Bridge crosses over the old CSR and TH&B railways and the Waterford Ponds
One aspect that I especially appreciated was all the interpretive plaques along the trail system that told the story of Waterford, local industry, and the railways. This is how I learned that the ponds were the result of milling and quarrying, rather than truly natural features.
One of several interpretive plaques along the trail system in Waterford
Despite their attractiveness for long-distance cyclists, the trails within the Waterford area are well-used by residents and visitors going for shorter walks. The trail network within Waterford connects well to local streets and to itself by way of the former low-level TH&B wye tracks, which also cross the ponds. A walker can easily do a round trip without backtracking while being surrounded by nature. Wayfinding signage is very good, and benches are plentiful. The ponds are a great spot for bird watching. As we know how good walking is for our physical and mental health, Waterford is blessed with this network and could be a model for other smaller urban centres and rural communities.
In the early afternoon on a Thursday, the Black Bridge was popular with pedestrians and cyclists
Within the little downtown, there are public washrooms for trail users as well as several restaurants, cafes, and a craft brewery located in a former textile plant. There are also several antique dealers, a public library, and other small shops.
Alice Street, Waterford’s main commercial strip, is lined with restaurants, shops, a cafe, and a breweryWaterford Antique Market and Wishbone Brewery, in a renovated textile plant
Despite all that Waterford has to offer, there is one thing that can be improved to make it safer to get around. Alice Street, the main commercial strip in Waterford, meets Old Highway 24 at an unsignalized crossing. Though busy Highway 24 now bypasses Waterford, the old highway is still busy, with drivers exceeding the 40 km/h posted speed limit. The Waterford library branch and northbound bus stop towards Brantford are on the opposite side of the wide T-intersection from the Alice Street businesses; it is surprising that there is no traffic signal here to control auto traffic and provide a safer pedestrian crossing.
The northbound bus stop (note the shelter at right) and library branch are on the opposite side of a busy road from the downtown shops
Though there is a traffic signal 200 metres to the south at Nichol Street, most pedestrians opt to cross at Alice Street instead. According to Google Streetview, there was a signed pedestrian crossing at Alice Street in 2009 but was removed by 2012.
Waterford is under a two hours’ drive from Downtown Toronto, though it is accessible without a car. GO Transit and VIA Rail both serve Downtown Brantford, where on weekdays, one can take a Ride Norfolk minibus south to Waterford. Cyclists from Hamilton or Toronto can take GO Transit buses to Brantford and bike south down the TH&B Rail Trail to Waterford on a relaxed 90-minute ride. From Simcoe, it’s an easy 45-minute ride.
In general, Ontario can do so much better promoting sustainable tourism and travel by way of transit, walking, and cycling, as there are many places like Waterford that are easy to get to and around without a car that are not especially well-known, and there are many opportunities to improve public and active transportation links to other communities throughout the province. Though some communities, like Brantford, Hamilton, and Peterborough are very well connected to multiple trail systems radiating outwards in multiple directions, other cities and towns are not so lucky.
Though St. Marys and St. Thomas, for instance, also have made great use of former rail infrastructure, they are lacking safe, high-quality active transportation connections to nearby cities like London or Stratford. Lindsay, in Kawartha Lakes, is at the nexus of several trails as well, but it lacks any intercity bus connections of its own. A provincial strategy could go a long way.
Slip lane with small pedestrian refuge island at Dupont Street and Ossington Avenue
There are many ways that road design acts to facilitate vehicle drivers yet impede pedestrian mobility. There’s the beg button (traffic engineers prefer the term “pedestrian call button”) that ensures maximum traffic throughput unless a pesky pedestrian or cyclist decides they want to cross the road too when the light turns green. There’s the two-phase pedestrian crossing that guarantees a long wait to cross a wide traffic artery on foot. Wide curb radii at intersections allow drivers to easily turn, yet they intrude into the crosswalk space. And there’s the slip lane, also known as a channelized right turn.
Most slip lanes are designed to allow right-turning motor vehicles to bypass an intersection. Where an intersection may be controlled by a traffic signal or a stop sign, typically, a slip lane is only controlled by a yield sign, reminding motorists to give way to pedestrians crossing and/or oncoming traffic on the roadway being turned into. They are typically built for higher speeds, with turn radii even greater than those afforded by generous curved curbs at many urban intersections. The space left over in the triangular bit of concrete is where pedestrians must wait to cross the main roadways.
Occasionally, slip lanes are used to discourage or prevent certain turning movements. At shopping plaza entrances, for example, slip lanes are used to prevent left turns into or out of the driveway. They may also be used at one-way streets for the same purpose.
Thankfully, slip lanes are not the standard in the City of Toronto. At least forty slip lanes were removed between 2005 and 2025, including Front Street eastbound at Yonge, from Coxwell Avenue southbound at Dundas Street East, and a half dozen on Danforth Road in Scarborough. In the downtown core, there are only three remaining examples that cross pedestrian pathways: from southbound Bay Street to Queen Street West, from eastbound Bloor Street to Parliament Street, and from Mount Pleasant Road to Jarvis Street. There are several other intersections in the city centre that allow some right-turning vehicles to bypass the main intersection, such as Adelaide and Richmond Streets at Jarvis, University at Front, or Parliament at Gerrard, but these still require a full turn at their start or end point, mitigating their danger.
A map of slip lanes in Toronto, and those removed in the last twenty years, is below. This work was assisted my followers on BlueSky for their additions and corrections, and I appreciate their help.
By removing slip lanes, pedestrians and cyclists are better protected, and there can often be new space for seating, public art, or even plant life.
Slip lanes are far more common in suburban neighbourhoods outside the City of Toronto. In Brampton and Mississauga, slip lanes are common on regional roads such as Steeles Avenue, Dixie Road, or Erin Mills Parkway. These six-lane roads are designated as goods movement corridors, and are designed for heavy traffic, including tractor-trailers. Even in Peel, though, slip lanes are being rethought. Several were removed on Bovaird Drive in Brampton two years ago (replaced by signalized crossrides), while others are being repainted to empathize the pedestrian crossing and encourage slower movements. More signage tells motorists to stop for pedestrians.
Modified slip lane at Bovaird Drive and Main Street in Brampton. Further east, slip lanes were removed at three lower-traffic intersections and replaced by multi-use path crossings.
Though the City of Toronto has done some good work eliminating or modifying slip lanes in the name of traffic safety and an improved pedestrian realm, there are many more that still should be examined, such as the one at Ossington and Dupont, where, unusually, pedestrians are instructed to wait for a gap, rather than motorists instructed to yield. These “wait for gap” signs are found at the entrances and exits to expressways, such as the Gardiner Expressway or Highway 401. But these, too, can be changed. At the eastbound ramp to northbound Don Valley Parkway on the Prince Edward Viaduct, a free-flowing on-ramp was changed to a signalized right turn, improving safety and comfort for pedestrians and cyclists.
Crossing the Bay Street on-ramp to the eastbound Gardiner Expressway makes getting to the Waterfront more dangerous and uncomfortable than it should be
Hopefully, City of Toronto staff work to correct the situation at Dupont and Ossington (there’s no reason why pedestrians should be expected to yield to traffic in this revitalizing part of the city) and continue the work to make our streets safer for all.
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