Initial purpose is to manage construction activity and improve dialogue between contractors and residents, business owners
Toronto will be establishing three more “construction hubs” in the city to enhance driving safety, according to a report.
The new hubs will be located in Toronto’s downtown, Liberty Village and downtown village areas, though their exact location is still to be determined, reported Daily Commercial News, citing Craig Cripps, manager of construction coordination and traffic mitigation with the city’s transportation services department.
The new hubs should be operational by April and project managers for each have been hired, according to the report.
The three new hubs are intended to build on the success of the city’s first-ever Yonge-Eglinton Construction Hub Program, which resulted in improved measures to reduce dust and airborne particles. The city has begun monitoring air quality in partnership with the University of Toronto.
The blaze that happened at a condo building under construction in East Kildonan, Winnipeg in Manitoba highlighted some of the risks involved with construction sites, according to a previous report.
The hub’s purpose is to manage construction activity and improve dialogue between contractors and the area’s residents and business owners, with the goal of reducing the impact of construction on the community, according to the report.
The hub project manager acts as a liaison between contractors, residents and local business owners, as well as with other city departments. City officials and both public and private contractors hold bi-weekly meetings where construction industry representatives are asked to provide two- to three-week “look ahead schedules.”
In addition, there are monthly consultation meetings with residents’ associations and area councillors, as well as regular updates to a construction hub webpage.
There are also ‘traffic agents’ who enforce one-way truck traffic on two side streets which funnel into the Yonge/Eglinton area and lengthening no parking areas.
As reported by COS, the Ontario government is considering recommending changes to working-at-heights training as a result of the inquest.
The first hub was built at the site of a fatality when a pedestrian was killed near a construction site in 2019. Following that death, the city moved fast and established the Yonge-Eglinton Construction Hub.
WorkSafeBC previously penalized four British Columbia construction firms for workplace safety violations.
The scaffolding collapse that happened on Christmas Eve 2009 in Toronto, Ont. was an accident, but measures can be put in place to prevent such tragedies, according to a coroner's jury.
