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Pedestrian shares photo of baffling traffic sign in major city: 'This is terrible planning'

"Absolutely insane that this has been allowed to remain as-is for so long."

"Absolutely insane that this has been allowed to remain as-is for so long."

Photo Credit: iStock

A pedestrian crossing in Toronto drew attention for all the wrong reasons.

A Redditor shared a photo of a downtown sign, between Union Station and the Harborwalk, that read "Pedestrians wait for gap." It was next to a much larger sign for drivers indicating where to get on the Gardiner Expressway.

"Should we provide a signal to help pedestrians cross a literal highway entrance?" the poster wrote. "No, just tell pedestrians they're on their own."

Photo Credit: Reddit

"In theory, if this were a very sparsely populated area with few pedestrians, MAYBE I could understand," the poster continued in the comments. "But this is in the middle of a very busy area with many commuters, residents, and tourists. And STILL they can't provide safe pedestrian infrastructure."



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Another user said: "You're not [alone] if you cross in a herd! But besides that, this is terrible planning. F*** Toronto."

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Commenters, of course, jumped on Canada's most populated city — this was the r/f***cars subreddit, after all.

"Used to live down there and have to cross this frequently enough," one user said. "Infuriating, especially during busy times when there is no 'gap' (not that one should have to wait indefinitely for a gap, anyhow). Absolutely insane that this has been allowed to remain as-is for so long."

Someone else noted many other intersections that were "also bad."

"Having walked and biked in the area many times, I can firmly say that the entire downtown stretch of Lake Shore Blvd E/W is cancer for pedestrians and cyclists," they added. "It is a loud, wide, congested car sewer. The traffic light cycle times are much longer than other city intersections."

Another wrote: "For all the talk Toronto loves to talk about its (pretty mediocre, actually) waterfront the access is shockingly bad for anything other than a motorized vehicle. I've lived downtown for more than a decade and end up getting to the waterfront like a handful of times/year.

"This picture doesn't even begin to capture how poor the pedestrian arrangement is, and it's not only this spot."

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