Four serious crashes in less than a year on Woodbine Avenue, south of Queen Street East, have sparked calls for immediate action to make that stretch of the street safer.

“It’s been getting steadily worse. It’s ridiculous that it’s taken so long to get something done,” said Erika Faulkner, who has lived nearby for 16 years.

“The accidents tend to happen late at night, but I’m worried they could happen any time.”

Faulkner, whose parked vehicle was destroyed during a collision back in May, said she’s concerned someone is going to lose control of their vehicle and hit a pedestrian.

“You should see the speeders in front of our house when it’s not rush hour,” said Faulkner, whose 11-year-old son Tristan created an online petition last week calling on Premier Doug Ford to install rumble strips (raised strips that cause tires to make a warning noise) along the bend on Woodbine Avenue and increase law enforcement in his neighbourhood.

As of Tuesday morning, almost 80 people have signed Tristan’s petition which calls for action “so that police can get these dangerous drivers off of our roads before any tragedies occur.” His goal is to get 100 supporters.

“Nobody’s been hit lately, but eventually if there’s no action somebody could be at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Tristan, a Grade 6 student at Kew Beach Community School.

Over the past decade, two people have been killed along this stretch of road. On Aug. 20, 2010, 17-year-old Beach resident Alex Gillespie died after being struck by a bus. A second person was killed when a vehicle struck their porch and the structure reportedly collapsed on them.

After an initial crash in January, Coun. Brad Bradford (Ward 19, Beaches-East York) contacted Transportation Services about improving road safety in the area, but said he was told it would take nine to 12 months to study the issue and come up with solutions. Bradford said he has yet to see any concrete steps taken to address the problem.

“I appreciate the frustration of the residents. I’m also extremely frustrated,” he said during a recent interview.

“This is without a doubt a hot spot and we need to accelerate safety improvements before somebody gets seriously injured or killed.”

Determined to do something, Bradford brought forward a motion at Toronto City Council to direct Transportation Services to implement road safety improvement like automated speed enforcement equipment, speed humps/rumble strips, additional signage, narrowing traffic lanes, reducing speed limits, roadway reconfiguration, and more barriers to protect pedestrians and homes in the event of an accident. He wants to see viable options presented to Toronto and East York Community Council by early next year.

“When people’s lives are on the line, we need to approach this with a sense of urgency,” said Bradford, who said his top priority in the ward is road safety.

Supt. Reuben Strobel of 55 Division said he has traffic officers “totally dedicated to that area” working to ensure drivers obey the rules of the road.

“We’ve also got extra (patrol) officers in that area and we’ve been setting up radars to get the speed down . . . Our plan is heightened visibility and increased enforcement,” Strobel said.

Eric Holmes of Transportation Services said in an email that the city is taking steps to address the issue.

As of Sept. 25, a 50 km/h speed limit sign and a curve warning sign have been installed, and they’ve replaced four of the existing chevron signs, Holmes said.

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“City staff have also issued a service request for the installation of additional chevrons in two distinct areas near Lake Shore and Woodbine,” he said.

Specifically, Holmes added, chevrons would be placed along the guardrail within the westerly “gradual” curve of Lake Shore Boulevard East (fronting Donald D. Summerville Olympic Pool), and additional closer spaced chevrons would be placed within the “sharper” curve where Lake Shore and Woodbine Avenue intersect.

Holmes also said staff would be deploying large portable digital signs to convey information about the impact of construction before the intersection to “provide positive guidance to traffic to slow down prior to the curve.”

Joanna Lavoie is a reporter with toronto.com. Reach her via email: jlavoie@toronto.com