TORONTO

Mayor Rob Ford will be painting the town red Tuesday — at least one curb of the town anyway.

The City of Toronto is set to roll out a curb painting pilot project in a bid to give drivers a clearer understanding of parking prohibitions by marking the curbs where they can’t stop or stand in bright, red paint.

Ford is set to kick off the project with a press conference on University Ave. at some point Tuesday.

“The city is undertaking a curb painting pilot to assess whether the use of paint will make (a) motorist more aware or better understand the parking/stopping restrictions and ensure that the regulations are respected,” according to a briefing note by the city’s transportation services staff obtained by the Toronto Sun.

During the pilot project, the city will be testing the red curbs in “no stopping,” “no standing,” fire hydrant areas and around pedestrian crossings at nine spots across Toronto.

Drivers will be expected to keep any curb lane painted red “free and clear of any vehicles at all times” and the city is warning any vehicles caught red-handed — stopped along a red curb — will be ticketed with no exception.

“The main objective of the pilot is to assess whether the use of colour paint will influence motorist behaviour and increase compliance with existing parking regulations,” the briefing note states.

Painted curbs as a way to convey parking regulations has been widely used in many U.S. cities including Chicago.

Nine curbs have been selected for Toronto’s painting pilot including two curbs on the north and south side of the crosswalk on Armoury St. — they were already decked out in red paint on Monday.

Other spots set to get painted this month include:

University Ave. — Curbs will be painted on the east side of University Ave., north and south of Armoury St., to highlight the no-parking zone around two fire hydrants that are hard to see from the street.

Spadina Ave. — Curbs will be painted red on the east side of the street between Dundas St. W. and the first lay-by to the north and to the south to mark no stopping zones.

John St. — The curb on the east side of the street north of Wellington St. W. will be painted to try to stop drivers from parking in this accessible loading zone.

St. Clair Ave. and Dufferin Street — The curbs at all four corners of the intersection will be painted red to mark the no-stopping anytime zones. The city has an issue with vehicles stopping in these areas to make deliveries to businesses.

Scarborough Town Centre Court — The city will be painting the curbs red near the civic centre to mark no-stopping, no-standing anytime zones.

North York Blvd. — Curbs will be painted red around the pedestrian crossover just east of Beecroft Rd.

After the curbs are painted, the city will have students watching to see if drivers’ behaviour changes around the curbs.

The effectiveness of the program will be measured over six to eight months.