A cure for the Allen Road blues?

Over the past few years, I have noticed that the Allen Road has been changing. North of Sheppard, three new traffic lights have been installed over the years that slow traffic considerably.

The section south of Sheppard and north of Transit Road has been completely changed from an express road to a confusing all-day bottleneck! Two new traffic lights have been added, one of the three north lanes has been “removed” and the lane markings don’t line up on either side of one of the new street lights.  What used to be a relatively speedy route to travel north and south has been turned into a traffic nightmare!

With these changes to the northern section of the Allen Road, it makes little sense to me why there would be a proposal to continue the Allen Road all the way to the Gardiner – in a tunnel, nonetheless (have we learned nothing from Boston’s Big Dig?).

I wasn’t even born when the Allen Road was proposed, but from what I have heard there was quite a bit of opposition and controversy (to put it lightly!) surrounding its development, and that it was ended at Eglinton. I can’t even begin to imagine the opposition and controversy that extending the Allen to the Gardiner would spark if it made its way from just a statement to a studied project!

I think instead of wasting our time looking into extending the Allen Road to the Gardiner, we should be looking at how to make the existing road more safe and efficient to drive on. The current condition of the road makes me feel bad for anyone who lives near (me included) as it appears that more and more cars are using neighborhood streets that were not intended for such use instead of the Allen.

As well, for anyone who has gotten off the Allen at Lawrence or gotten on at Eglinton you have surely seen a “Creeper” (car that butts into line at the last minute, without waiting its turn) making a dangerous move to save themselves a few minutes! Instead of wasting our time talking about extending the Allen, let’s figure out how to prevent the dangerous “Creepers” and how to make the traffic flow better at these points so we pollute less, while  idling getting on and off the Allen Road!

About Adam Zendel

Comments

[Jada]

I drive this road several times per week and, as someone who has travelled and driven in road systems worldwide, I can say that the answer to this problem is very simple. It's a solution in North America that we're often afraid to try for some reason. That solution is the round-about. First, they need to convert the entire end-point intersection at Eglinton into either a single large round-about, or two smaller ones. This would allow a constant flow of cars into and off of the highway, without stopping each direction. Further up the Allen, a combination of round-abouts and ramps could easily be drawn up to handle the flow. We realistically should be using them all over the city, it would dramatically ease gridlock in many places. They work in Europe, they work in Australia, New Zealand and most other places on Earth. Unfortunately, people here are terrified by the round-about... something I just can't figure out, and until we get beyond that, we will struggle with these issues while a tried and tested solution goes ignored.

[Mark Atyeo]

Adam, speaking as a person who was alive when the Allen was proposed and as an individual who lives on Arlington Avenue (adjacent to the old Allen right of way), the siolution to the 'creepers' is to extend the expressway (yes, underground) to the Gardiner as the initial plan for it called for.
Lokk at the CAA study of proposed changes to the Allen. I think you will find it well thought out.

[James Alcock]

I am a transportation planner and I have actually designed a plan to ease the traffic on the Allen. It would involve constructing a roundabout around Eglinton West station, a roundabout at the top of the ramps at Lawrence, new ramps on to the expressway from Transit Road and Wilson Heights Boulevard and a roundabout with ramps at Sheppard Avenue. All of the traffic lights would be removed. We would have an efficient and smoothly-running expressway from Eglinton to Finch. I would not extend the Allen further south. I would also upgrade Black Creek Drive by doing the same thing. Widen it to six lanes, remove all of the traffic lights and build roundabout interchanges at Lawrence and Eglinton. I would consider extending Black Creek south to the Gardiner under the Georgetown rail corridor which is far easier than extending the Allen further south. I have drawings of my proposed improvements available and I plan to forward them to the next Mayor and Council for their consideration. It would solve the whole Allen situation adequately without building an extension.