Results tagged “pedestrians”

Streets are a big problem in Toronto lately, and not just because they're so riddled with potholes that they rate among the worst in the province. Beyond simple maintenance issues, they've become the battleground in an increasingly divisive struggle to define how their space is allocated and used: are streets primarily for cars to get from A to B unimpeded, or are they for the use of people, whether in cars or not? It's a worthwhile discussion, but ultimately, it's counterproductive to have the discussion every single time paint is laid to asphalt. Jarvis, Queens Quay, Bloor, Annette, The Kingsway, St. Clair, Cherry, Lawrence, Roncesvalles—these are just some of the roads where the same questions have been asked over and over and over again: should we accommodate bikes, should we have nice sidewalks, should we prioritize transit. But during any road rebuilding or redesign, the question shouldn't be whether we're going to accommodate any of the above, it should be how we're going to accommodate all of them. Enter complete streets, the idea that roadways should be designed "for everyone, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker or wheelchair user, bus rider or shopkeeper."

The next time somebody tells us that Toronto is in the midst of a war on cars we are going to buy them a plane ticket to Copenhagen. Or possibly Bogotá. New York if they want something closer to home. We will send them to one of the growing number of cities that are actually demonstrating the nerve to redefine their planning priorities in favour of liveability and environmental sustainability and dare the auto-obsessed malcontents to say that they aren't all the better for it. For all the recent controversies over Toronto's Bike Plan and Walking Strategy, over our notions of just talking about taking down one portion of one disastrous highway, and converting one traffic lane on a road that is not used to capacity [PDF] to allow five times the number of people to use it on their bikes, Toronto's initiatives are piddling, tentative, nibbling-around-the-edges sorts of things when compared with what is happening elsewhere in the world.

City Council is wrapping up its monthly meeting (extended to a third day to accommodate a full agenda and some election-laced rhetoric), one which has been particularly action packed. In addition to banning new bars and restaurants on Ossington for a one year "cooling off" period, and passing a precedent-setting green roof requirement (the first in North America), Council has considered several proposals for addressing the balance—or redressing the imbalance—between the different modes of transit on our city streets. The Jarvis lane reallocation grabbed Monday's headlines, and today Council has voted to install sidewalk, transit, and cycling improvements on Roncesvalles, and also passed a comprehensive Walking Strategy which will (among many other excellent measures that have garnered almost no press) introduce pilot no-right-turn-on-red restrictions on ten especially pedestrian-heavy intersections. Given that the city has approximately 2,100 signalized intersections, this represents the smallest foray, an experiment really, in redistributing roadway space.

Score one for the cycling community. After an intense and late-breaking campaign, and with a crucial assist from Councillor Kyle Rae, bicycle advocates have successfully introduced bike lanes into a major redevelopment plan for Jarvis Street. Yesterday afternoon the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) voted to remove the centre, reversible-direction lane of traffic, and use the freed-up space to install bicycle lanes in both directions from Bloor to Queen.

As we reported on Friday, this weekend was the annual extravaganza of pedestrian urban love known as Jane's Walk. With dozens of walks exploring every corner of Toronto (and many more in cities across the continent), there was a glorious medley of tours to choose from. We were there (well, not everywhere), and though we couldn't begin to do a comprehensive survey of the walks on offer we did manage to log dozens of kilometres, and pick up a good number of fun tidbits along the way. Behold some of our favourite finds...

"Streets in cities serve many purposes besides carrying vehicles, and city sidewalks—the pedestrian parts of the streets—serve many purposes besides carrying pedestrians... Streets and their sidewalks, the main public places of a city, are its most vital organs. Think of a city and what comes to mind? Its streets."

"To create an urban environment in all parts of the city that encourages and supports walking," states Toronto's Pedestrian Charter, the City "upholds the right of pedestrians of all ages and abilities to safe, convenient, direct and comfortable walking conditions" and also "provides and maintains infrastructure that gives pedestrians safe and convenient passage while walking along and crossing streets."

On first glance, the above shot could be a generic photo pulled from our Flickr pool to accompany any article about pedestrianism/cycling/active transportation/Toronto. But look at it for another moment, and you may notice that there's something amiss about the City's topiary logo alongside the Gardiner...

In her ambitious new book, The Walkable City (Véhicule Press, 2008), Mary Soderstrom writes: "The walkable city, the oldest kind of city is going to be the key to whatever success we have in meeting the challenges of the future."

Image of The Star's coverage from June 21, 1954.

Photo by Lex in the City.

Jarvis Street, circa 1910. (City of Toronto Archives)

Urbanist is a photo series that will look at developments, architecture, trends and activities happening in various cities––including our own––to inspire the urbane urbanist at home to make Toronto a better place.

With this morning's surprise snowfall, Toronto pedestrians are once again relegated to nimbly navigating slush-covered sidewalks—an unpredictible process that leaves us carefully weaving through each other like mountain goats passing on a cliff.