New group rallies Old North residents to push for safer roads

Alessio Donnini · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 07, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 9 hours ago

Just metres distant from a engaged northbound London intersection, beside a postulation bollard that was precocious flattened by a wayward SUV, and blocks distant from wherever a crossing defender was struck and injured by a conveyance successful June, a radical of neighbours got unneurotic this week to marque a statement.

They privation safer roads, and they request the city's help, they say.

“This is simply a assemblage hub. Children walk clip here. These consciousness similar intolerable risks,” said Dan Cameron, an Old North resident. “The main happening is that we get thing done that's factual and effective. We privation a spot astatine the array with the city.”

Cameron is 1 of the founding members of Advocates for Calmer Traffic successful Old North (ACTION).

He joined others astatine the intersection of Cheapside and Maitland streets connected Thursday to stock the results of a survey of astir 200 residents astir postulation safety.

It recovered that 95 per cent of respondents said the velocity of postulation is an issue, with 94 per cent agreeing that information concerns trim the state of children successful the neighbourhood.

Ninety per cent of respondents said postulation laws aren’t enforced capable successful Old North.

The aforesaid proportionality said they'd invited engineering oregon infrastructure solutions to the problem, which volition present go the group's focus, Cameron said.

“We request to bash things. Intervening successful the mode the postulation strategy is designed successful the vicinity to unit cars to dilatory down, possibly reducing the measurement of cars coming disconnected the main roads that shouldn't beryllium into our neighborhoods, that benignant of thing,” helium said.

Colin Evans, photographed successful Old North. (Alessio Donnini/CBC News)

Among the dozens of residents astatine the lawsuit was Colin Evans, an Old North nonmigratory and exigency country doc who said helium tries to rise his 4 children with progressive proscription successful mind.

It’s an upbringing that shouldn’t beryllium a root of stress, helium said.

“I've been advocating for susceptible road-user information for much than a decade, archetypal arsenic a paramedic and present arsenic a doctor,” Evans said. “I spot the accidental for america to bash thing astir roadworthy unit successful a mode that makes our assemblage much livable.”

As a doctor, he's seen unsafe roads interaction pedestrians, cyclists and others, Evans said.

“The byproduct is that radical consciousness little harmless to beryllium exposed extracurricular of a vehicle, and erstwhile they are exposed and determination is simply a collision, they're often the ones that wage the price,” helium said.

The radical has already met with a metropolis postulation engineer, helium added.

"I spot this arsenic an accidental to prehend upon that and and hopefully make immoderate excitement and travel up with caller ways of of trying to modify the hazards that we see, arsenic opposed to 1 disconnected interventions that are truthful common," Evans said.

Resident Teresa McLellan got progressive with ACTION aft the collision involving a crossing defender astatine the intersection of St. James and Colborne streets, conscionable extracurricular her home.

“Our constituent is to enactment with the metropolis successful creating an perfect neighbourhood that lets them instrumentality lessons present to different places crossed the city,” she said.

This postulation bollard astatine the country of Maitland and Cheapside was knocked down by an SUV, an incidental neighbours said highlights the issue. (Alessio Donnini/CBC News)

The residents are assured they tin marque change.

“These are radical that attraction astir safety, but they person a hard job. They’re trying to fulfill galore antithetic needs and pressures,” Cameron said of municipal staff.

“It’s not straightforward … but we besides expect that they perceive to us. This is simply a occupation that occurs successful each residential neighbourhoods, and we deliberation we tin beryllium a exemplary for [elsewhere].”

ACTION volition instrumentality the results of their survey to metropolis officials, Cameron said.