Hi, Michael. I think this location is in 52 Division. You could contact Toronto Police to ask for traffic enforcement. The contact info is here: http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/d52/neighbourhoods.php

I have contacted them many times... over several years. I have even contacted my city counselor and my community leaders. The police have indicated that they have charged some people... but that doesn't stop the problem... Drivers will continue to do this as long as the road will physically allow them to do it. I have recommended to the city's 311 service that perhaps the directional limitation of the street should be reconsidered since the police have informed me that they do not have the resources to continually enforce this issue.
My interest is the safety of all community members (drivers, pedestrians, cyclists). I am concerned that this issue will continue to be overlooked and a serious but obviously preventable incident will occur.
I welcome any other advice.

Still happening. I now have two HD videos showing several cars all driving the wrong way along St. Joseph St. and proceeding into the intersection. I reported the issue to the police over 2 weeks ago and I have yet to receive any response. They probably just don't care 'cause nobody has been injured... yet.

Here is one of the videos

That's astonishing. I had no idea you meant four or five cars at a time. Is that typical? I noticed there's a public parking lot at 30 St Joseph: are they coming from there?

Have you managed to get a live human to speak with at 52 Division?

I contacted 52 Division in May to report this specific event. They got back to me a month later suggesting they'd look into it. This is the regular cycle of events that occurs... but in the end, according to the police, there is nothing much else they can do. The police are in the enforcement business not the prevention business. Somebody has to take notice that preventative measure need to be applied. I have informed my city counsellor. I have made requests to Toronto 311 and I have also contacted the local Business and Community Association. To date, nothing more than putting up signs has been done. I sincerely hope nobody gets injured or killed as a result of this clearly preventable arrangement.

So, the problem has gotten a little worse over the summer with some of the road closures in the area. I contacted 52 Division several times in August of 2014. Their sergeant responsible for the case investigated and concluded that there is not much that can be done. My city councilor's office is very well aware of the problem as I have been sending them photographs. Toronto 311 has received several service requests from me to address the problem, but nothing more has been done. I requested 52 Division to refer me to someone at the OPP that could assist on the the management and 52 Division sent me a message indicating that the OPP does not enforce the highway traffic act in Toronto. It is clear that 52 Division really has no interest in managing this for the purpose of stopping the problem. It would be very unfortunate if someone was injured or a collision occurred as a result of a preventable issue.

Hi, Michael. Not sure how useful this would be, but you could try contacting Shawn Dartsch at Transportation Services to discuss the problem. Maybe a chicane or pinch point interrupting the left lane just east of the intersection would reduce this behaviour, although the absence of the principal reason for requesting these, to reduce speed, might be an impediment. Maybe Shawn has a better idea. You can reach him at sdartsch@toronto.ca or tel:416-338-5398

Thank you for your advice. I will contact your reference. I agree a physical change to the road would work. My opinion is that this pinch point or chicane could go right on St. Joseph St. at Bay on the North side of the street right at the corner. This would also distinguish parking spaces from driving spaces.

Actually, as I re-read your comment, you indeed have the same suggestion and concept I wrote about. Glad to know that in your independent consideration of this problem you came up with the same idea as me. Maybe this solution actually has some value. I will contact Shawn as you have suggested.

So, 2015 has been an awful year for this problem. I have been in contact with 52 Division on a weekly basis, where they have requested that I submit formal online reports to them every time I see a wrong-way driver. The police have been doing enforcement to the best of their ability; however, they do not have the resources to sit on our street 24/7. We have addressed the issue with our City Councillor, Kristyn Wong-Tam, however, she is reluctant to commit to any permanent infrastructure solution such as an extension of the sidewalk. We are puzzled by this resistance since the wrong-way drivers are doing something categorically illegal and dangerous and the city has every opportunity to implement a structural solution that is in place in other parts of the city. We have determined that St. Joseph St. is the only one-way street in the area that boasts a street width similar to two-way streets. I have made requests to Toronto 311 to address the problem but they have indicated that they have done everything possible. Residents in the area agree that this is a regular occurrence that has been observed but left unaddressed for at least twenty seven (27) years (i.e., since about 1987). The residents also agree, that the city will likely do nothing until somebody is killed. I am trying to prevent that tragedy from occurring. Please, if anyone can suggest something that would help solve this problem, I am open to anything reasonable.
To date we have contacted: 1) the city councillor;
2) 52 Division; 3) Toronto 311; 4) the BCCA (community association); 5) city engineers; 6) city planners; 7) Toronto Police Traffic services. My personal communications now top out at nearly 100 e-mails over the course of 4 years. To date, no functional action has been taken. Our next option it to go directly to the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario to complain about the city's choice to not assist the police in their endeavours to enforce the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario and protect the community.
Any advice... from anyone... this is so dangerous and so preventable!

Here is a video of a recent infraction:

The problem is still happening. We had the city councillor and the police onsite to view the street and while we were discussing the issue everybody witnessed 6 vehicles drive the wrong way on St. Joseph St. in just a matter of minutes. Though appropriate people know that the problem exists, I am not certain that any permanent solution will be implemented to adequately address the problem.

Don't know why they don't just put up 2 big huge DO NOT ENTER signs at the end of the street. Make them neon like those new NO LEFT TURNS they have on King and Queen.

Wonder if the city would ever consider using camera's like they do for red lights. Going down the wrong way on a one way is a ticketable offense no?

I think the camera idea would definitely work, it would save on making physical changes to the road and generate enough initial revenue in tickets to pay for it until ppl get it through their heads its a one-way road. I would definitely be recording the taxi cab numbers and contacting the cab company's head office for them to stop (at least) the cabbies from doing it. i believe they could lose their cab licence for not obeying the city traffic laws at the very least, get fired.

The city does not support making any physical changes to the street or making it a 2-way street. Nevertheless, the problem still persists. Even the other night, we informed a driver that he was going the wrong-way and he said that he knew... that he is a delivery person and he does it all the time. He then threatened to cause problems for me personally if I did anything about my observations. The next morning city officials came to the street to evaluate where better signage could be placed - as that is the only thing the city is willing to consider at this time - and their officials said, signage will not stop drivers who knowingly drive the wrong way. To me that is obvious and that is why I have been pleading with city officials to consider a more permanent effective solution that will maintain safety and not just the appearance of safety.
I am reluctantly posting this on the site because I feel it is worth informing the readers of the site of the current status of this issue.

This problem persists:
I note that on November 21, 2017 after more than 5 years of complaining, 200+ e-mails requesting infrastructure changes and 3 years of directly engaging the local community association the City Councillor's office finally engaged the local residents in a public consultation to discuss changing the street to a 2-way bidirectional street. This idea was overwhelmingly rejected by the local residents. Instead, all of the ideas that have been presented on this forum, including the use of chicanes, bike lanes and narrowing the street were suggested. We noted that we have previously requested these modifications to the street and Traffic Services has systematically denied our request every time. Furthermore, Traffic Service now says it will not make any infrastructure changes to the street for at least 2 years. The residents have indicated that there is extra section 37 money available to place temporary barriers to direct traffic in the correct direction. Residents note that no action has been taken even though the City Councillors office has indicated that action will be taken. Other residents and employees of St. Joseph St. believe that in order for the city to actually make a change to our street a statistic of casualty must occur - that is, someone has to hurt or die in order for the city to take the matter seriously. Finally, I note that this issue of wrong-way drivers on St. Joseph St. has been widely known and observed for more than 31 years. A regular conversation about it wasn't raised publicly to the city until I started complaining about it more than 5 years ago. Any assistance on this by readers is welcomed.

This is a fake one way stree that Toronto is so full of. Particularly in the Annex. Leave the cabbies alone.

So, after more than 6 years of complaining and an extended public meeting, the city finally put up little traffic pins. The recommendation was to turn the street into a 2-way street (so that the street wouldn't be a 'fake' 1-way street as previous reader points out), but so that it would be a legitimate 2-way street. At the public meeting held at City Hall on November 21, 2017 the consensus among residents of St. Joseph St. is that they wanted the street to remain a 1-way street. I pointed out that it doesn't matter what the directionality of the street is, but it matters that the instructions fit the infrastructure. That is: If the street is to remain 1-way, it needs to be narrow so as to suggest 1 lane of traffic in 1 direction; if the street is to remain wide with 4-car widths of lanes, then the street should be 2-way. Transportation Services indicated they would not make any changes to the street for at least 2 years while they do a traffic study on all downtown streets intersecting with Yonge St. The traffic pins are the compromise we have accepted while Transportation Services does its thing. Simply put: A wide street suggests 2-way traffic; a narrow street suggest 1-way traffic. Transportation Services was unwilling to accept the merit of this concept while acknowledging the will of the street residents. Hopefully, their temporary solution will at least give motorist and pedestrians pause to think about negotiating traffic on the street.
I welcome comments.

residents on a street should not get to decided this issue. everyone pays taxis ad since you guys have blocked yonge and bloor and no turn on to bay street.stop the war on car traffic