“I am the only candidate who can stop Olivia Chow and get Toronto moving." - Mark Saunders
Toronto – Mark Saunders is the only candidate who can stop Olivia’s Chow anti-car agenda and deliver a credible plan to fight congestion, including opening up King Street to all traffic while Queen Street is shut down.
“Olivia Chow has no plan to tackle bumper-to-bumper gridlock in our city. All she wants to do is tear down expressways and ram bike lanes onto every major street,” said Saunders. “I will fight congestion and make commute times faster for people.”
Congestion is choking the city. This past weekend, seven TTC stations were closed. There were also road closures on Lakeshore Boulevard, the Queensway, University Avenue, Bloor Street and Queen Street. City departments are not coordinating with each other, with the TTC, or with first responders in advance of these closures, leading to complete gridlock.
On one hand, Olivia Chow has no problem tearing down the Gardiner Expressway or ramming bike lanes down major arterial roads like Yonge Street and Bloor Street, which will make congestion even worse. On the other hand, Saunders will act on Day 1 to cut commute times and get the city moving again.
As Mayor, Saunders will:
Saunders will also create the new position of Traffic Commissioner, reporting directly to the Mayor and the City Manager. The Traffic Commissioner would be charged with the responsibility of coordination of road closure requests and maintenance. The Commissioner would work with City departments, the TTC, and first responders to oversee and manage city-wide traffic flows, including planning around major events like hockey games or concerts.
“We can’t let Olivia Chow clog our streets because her cycling advocates are the loudest voices in the room,” said Saunders. “To stop gridlock, we must stop Chow. To stop Chow, we must unite behind my campaign to end gridlock and restore our streets for use by everyone.”